Explore South Australia
Most travellers en route between Adelaide and Melbourne pass through southeast South Australia as quickly as possible, which is a shame, as the coastal route offers wild, pristine beaches and tranquil fishing villages, while inland there are a couple of brilliant wine regions. The Princes Highway (Highway 1) is much less direct than the Dukes Highway but far more interesting. It follows the extensive coastal lagoon system of the Coorong to Kingston SE, and then runs a short way inland to the lake craters of Mount Gambier before crossing into Victoria. There’s another possible route on this last stretch, the Southern Ports Highway, which sticks closer to the coast, plus a potential detour along the Riddoch Highway into the scenic Coonawarra wine region directly north of Mount Gambier.
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Coorong National Park
Coorong National Park
From Tailem Bend, the Princes Highway skirts Lake Alexandrina and the freshwater Lake Albert before passing the edge of the Coorong National Park. The coastal saline lagoon system of the Coorong (from the Aboriginal “Karangk”, meaning long neck) is separated from the sea for over 100km by the high sand dunes of the Younghusband Peninsula. This is the state’s most prolific pelican breeding ground, and an excellent place to observe these awkward yet graceful birds – there’s a shelter with seating and a telescope focused on the small islands where some birds breed at Jacks Point, 3km north of Policemans Point on the Princes Highway.
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Kingston SE
Kingston SE
KINGSTON South East (SE), on Lacepede Bay, is the first town past the Coorong: here the Princes Highway turns inland, while the Southern Ports Highway continues along the coast before rejoining the main road at Millicent. As the Big Lobster on the highway in Kingston attests, the town has an important lobster industry: you can buy them freshly cooked by the jetty. There’s an attractive foreshore lined with pine trees, but apart from locals fishing off the jetty, there’s little else happening.
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Robe
Robe
On the south side of Guichen Bay, 44km from Kingston, ROBE was one of South Australia’s first settlements, established as a deep-water port in 1847. After 1857, over sixteen thousand Chinese landed here and walked to the goldfields, 400km away, to avoid the poll tax levied in Victoria. As trade declined and the highway bypassed the town, Robe managed to maintain both dignity and a low-key charm, and during the busy summer period the population of fewer than eight hundred expands to over eleven thousand. Summer is also the season for crayfishing, Robe’s major industry.
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Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier
Set close to the border with Victoria, MOUNT GAMBIER is the southeast’s commercial centre and South Australia’s second most populous city. The city sprawls up the slopes of an extinct volcano whose three craters – each with its own lake surrounded by heavily wooded slopes and filled from underground waterways – are perfect for subterranean diving.
The Blue Lake is the largest and most stunning of the three, up to 70m deep and 5km in circumference. From November to March it’s a mesmerizing cobalt blue, reverting to a moody steel blue in the colder months. There are lookout spots and a scenic drive around the lake. The second-largest crater holds Valley Lake and a Wildlife Park, where indigenous animals range free amid native flora; there are also lookouts, walking trails and boardwalks.
West of the city centre is the extensive complex of underground caverns at Engelbrecht Cave. The centrepiece of Mount Gambier itself is Cave Gardens, a shady park surrounding a deep limestone cavern with steps leading some way down; the stream running into it eventually filters into the Blue Lake. East of the city is Umpherston Sinkhole, also known as the Sunken Garden for its Victorian-era terraced gardens – they are floodlit at night when possums come out to feed.
