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| Umberton Sinkhole |
I call into the visitor centre to see to ask if there's any must-see things that I have missed in my planning and apart from one lake near Blue Lake there's not much at all.
I do get a suggested diversion for my journey tomorrow though.
I go through their little discovery experience and sit and watch the cave diving video. Pure insanity in my view.
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Scrambling over rocks that would daunt me in walking boots in a pack.
Except cave divers do it with full scuba kit and dive booties |
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| And diving through gaps with as little as 50cm clearance, without stirring up silt |
I proceed to Blue Lake and while I had thought I would walk around it this afternoon, finding that I can in fact drive around it and stop at some amazing lookouts seems like a good thing to do before I head down to my exciting booked adventure for today.
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| Blue Lake - in an ancient volcanic crater |
At one of the lookouts I noticed a couple of little v patterns on the surface of the lake and assume they are being caused by a water bird that I cannot see. If it really is rather a beautiful lake, even if it is only blue for a brief period of time around November.
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| Paths of ducks, I presume |
I find the lookout that the lady in the visitor centre described to me as the best of them and proceed via the underpass to another magnificent view.
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| Blue Lake |
And it's on to the day's main event. Snorkeling at Kilsby Sinkhole. Kilsby Sinkhole is on private property and it's open with limited access to snorkelers, divers and free divers providing they are appropriately guided and accredited. The sinkhole has a lovely open section of water and then other sections that go deep into caves. That section requires cave diving accreditation.
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| Kilsby sinkhole from the entrance chute |
When I first looked at the snorkeling option at Kilsby Sinkhole, their website didn't show any availability for today, so I phoned and asked whether that was in fact correct or an error on the website. They hadn't planned to offer snorkeling today but were happy to open it up for bookings for me which was incredibly kind. I advise them that I had my own gear and they expressed a preference for me to use theirs. Suspecting that they've had experience of people turning up with 2 or 3mm wetsuits, I clarify that I'm a Tasmanian diver and my suit is full pro 7mm; they are happy for me to wear my suit.
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| Feeling pretty rapt with the experience |
I am joined by another snorkeller who booked very late after finding but she could, and we receive a briefing, some information about Silsby sinkhole and its history and the little bit of information that 90% of Australia's sinkholes are in about a 20km radius of there. They are just dotted all over the landscape, many on private property. Kilsby is the only one on private property that is opened for access.
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| It seems a long way up! |
The Aboriginal people apparently did not use the sinkhole for food or water, probably because there was no access.
The military commandeered the sinkhole for a while and even the landowners had no ability to access it during that time. Their developments were top secret and they created their own means of access, which would not suit the majority of people.
Subsequently the property owners constructed access with mechanical aid and then then, by hand, with jackhammers. Strong ladders were installed and a platform at the bottom.
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Looking down into Kilsby Sinkhole
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As we descend, I do remark that I'm very glad to not need to be carrying dive gear back up the ladder and the steps.
In my thick wetsuit, I feel incredibly clumsy as I try to manoeuvre in the water.
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In Kilsby Sinkhole: Sunlight and reflections!
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While I had packed camera and underwater housing, I thought I had actually packed the wrong camera for the housing. I had a waterproof pouch for a phone and I'd tested that in the bathroom sink and the phone appeared to stay dry. So that is what I used. It proved very difficult to use in the water. I had to remove the glove from one hand to even have a vague chance but it didn't want to switch on and off while it was underwater. So what I had to do was take video clips starting them above water and then ducking down and then turning them off above water. They didn't always turn off promptly when I tried, so there's going to be a lot of trimming needed.
It have been raining on and off all morning but the sun shone through down the access chute and lit up the cliffs opposite and penetrated the water, to our great delights.
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| Looking up from back in the cave |
Snorkeling was a matter of admiring the walls of the sinkhole and the roof of part of the cave and the little swallows nesting. The only native animals in the sinkhole are a couple of invertebrates - little water fleas and something else I can't remember but a very ancient life form. They have recently been joined by the owners pet turtle, native, of course, and another of the same species and same gender from one of her friends. So while we did not see Turty or Sheldon, they are there somewhere.
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| Looking towards the access chute and guide Jo |
The visibility was of course amazing and we are told it can be up to 50 or 60 m. We were in a depth of between 12 and 24 I think, metres and it seemed as if one would be able to just reach down and touch the bottom.
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| Sunlight and clear water! |
I think we had about an hour in the water and it went all too fast. Our guide, Jo, took some amazing video footage with her mobile phone in it's plastic protector, way better than mine!
I head towards Mount Schank with the intent of walking the volcanic rim, but when I get up to the lookout I see that parts of the crater rim are pretty narrow and it's windy, so I just enjoy the spectacular view from the look out before tackling the thousand plus slabs of limestone that have been made used to make steps.
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| The crater Mount Schank |
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| A rather attractive house nearby |
My next stop is Little Blue Lake, another rather beautiful sinkhole. The sign informs me that I could swim there or snorkel there if I feel competent. No permissions, no restrictions. Given it's from 25 to 45m deep, the snorkeling experience may or may not be exciting.
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| Little Blue Lake |
And my last stop for the day is Valley Lake, another pretty lake and this is used for water recreation - boating, swimming, etc
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| Valley Lake |
The day has cleared and the sunset is a promise of good things to come tomorrow.
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Valley Lake
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I had communicated with the park owners about the spa earlier. Apparently the small key that I assumed was the key to the screen door goes into a little slot in the bedroom wall to turn on the power to the spa. So I enjoy that before bed. The spa relaxes me amazingly!
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