Sorry to post again, but I canât help but share more of my holiday photos! 
I went to the sinkhole and Blue Lake at Mount Gambier this morning. Itâs only the second time that Iâve ever been to South Australia, so it has been great to check out/explore more of the state.
Also took these at a nice little seaside town called Southend, which I had never been to before.
Glad you enjoyed the blue lake & the umpherston sinkhole, pity it wasnât more sunnier & more of a blue sky yesterday morning, otherwise the blue lake would had more of a brighter blue colour about it. Did you manage to go to the cave gardens, valley lake & centenary tower during your visit to Mt Gambier?
I love Mt Gambier. Beautiful part of Aus. Thereâs also a cave tour around there which is a must see.
I will try and get to Mt Gambier later in the year⌠Iâve been to Warrnambool and to Adelaide but nowhere much in between. Sounds like a nice town.
Years ago, i met a bloke from Mt Gambier when i was in the USA, I asked him where he was from⌠His initial reply was "Victoria "⌠When he mentioned Mt Gambier, i pointed out to him that it was in South Australia, his reply to that was âWell, its near VictoriaââŚ
Thereâs nothing wrong with being from South Australia, is there!?
I was literally down at some of those exact spots this time last week. Wednesday was a very smokey day (at least up until lunchtime). Apparently they were doing some back burning.
Thanks! Yeah, itâs a shame that the weather wasnât nicer on the day. I actually went to the Blue Lake & Umpherston Sinkhole back in 2011 as well, but it was overcast then too. 
No I didnât, unfortunately. I only stayed in Mount Gambier for one night and then I had a 5+hour drive to Victor Harbor the next day, so I didnât get a chance to see or do everything that I would have liked to. The Engelbrecht Cave looks like they would be really good.
The area around Mount Gambier is definitely beautiful in terms of scenery and it probably has one of the best coastlines in Australia, but to be honest, I didnât really get good impressions of the town itself.
The main street of Mount Gambier had a few âcharactersâ loitering/walking around and it just seemed a bit rough to me overall. I guess itâs a bit unfair of me to judge it though since I was only there for one night. However, based on first impressions, I would definitely much rather choose to live in Warrnambool or Portland if I was wanting to move to the area.
Mount Gambier is definitely worth checking out. You could probably spend up to 3 nights there and have no trouble finding things to see or do during that time. Southend, Beachport and Robe are nice little seaside towns to visit in the area, although I wouldnât spend no more than an hour in each of them. Kingston SE has The Big Lobster.
The drive between Mount Gambier and Adelaide isnât too great though, especially once you get past Kingston SE. Itâs a long, boring drive through flat farmland; I found it very monotonous. If you do go to that part of South Australia, I would suggest doing it as part of a larger road trip.
Lol, what a coincidence! Yep, there was back burning down near Lorne on that day, but the conditions worsened and the fire got out of control.
Hereâs a few more pictures which I have taken over the past couple of days: 
I happened to discover this lookout by accident while I was heading out of Goolwa on Wednesday. Iâm glad I did though, even if the view was a bit hazy!
Hahndorf has been one of the highlights of my trip so far! I had heard it was a must-see place to visit near Adelaide, so I decided to check it out on Wednesday and iâm seriously glad I did. I loved it! You donât see too many German-influenced towns in Australia, lol.
I also went up to Mount Lofty yesterday morning and took this.
Adelaide interests me as a city. Itâs a city of almost 1.4 million, but it doesnât really âstrikeâ me as being an outright major city. Many of the shops donât open until as late as 10:30am or 11am (which seems to be an SA thing) and it feels more like a âbig townâ in a lot of ways. Itâs also quite easy to drive around in. From a distance, my home city of Wollongong seems to have more high-rises and a denser CBD, even though itâs got way less people than Adelaide.
Also went to the Adelaide Zoo yesterday.
I have this impression of Adelaide too.
No internal freeways and a lsck of high rise (i think thereâs only 1 building over 30 storeys and its been like that for a long time now).
And the drab suburban malls, Westfield Marion felt like i went back to the 1980s.
Donât get me wrong, itâs still s nice place though.
I agree on your thoughts. The town itself isnât super special but it has some beautiul places to see as youâve shown.
Took these today:
A view of Port Augusta from the water tower lookout in town. Port Augusta was a surreal experience, as it was the first time I had ever truly been to an arid/outback area.
However, my impressions of it werenât great to say the least. The motel I stayed at had high-wired fence around the entire perimeter and was guarded 24/7. That in itself really said a lot. The streets were dead by 5pm, except for a few Indigenous kids who were loitering around the main shopping area. I had dinner at a local pub and everyone in the bar turned around/stared as we walked in. It was an experience, lol.
Whyalla took me by surprise, tbh. Itâs not the greatest place in the world, but Iâve actually got a soft spot for it due to how similar the town is to Port Kembla. It really felt like a âhome away from homeâ for me as someone who has born and raised in the Illawarra.
Took these from Hill 60, I mean⌠Hummock Hill in Whyalla.
Yes I liked Hahndorf too ,have been there on day tours from Adelaide more than once,very pretty town.Last time I was there in May 2015 it was a very cool day ,top temperature of 10 degrees ,cold day for a Queenslander
so I visited the ACMI/SBS building today! Been loving Melbourne so far, beautiful city
Will I start calling parmis parmas? I hope not, but Iâve had the best parmis of my life so far
Welcome to Melbourne!
Definitely the best city in Australia :- )
AND NOW THE BIGGEST 
State of Origin, so not just an NRL match!
Thatâs not being held at Optus.
The 3 games this year are in Adelaide, Brisbane then Sydney. So Perth doesnât get one this year.
South Sydney play my team (Cronulla Sharks) at Optus Stadium on Sat 5th August.
