Australian Walk: Umpherston Sinkhole a walk

One of Mt Gambier’s top tourist attractions is a walk through a park, down and around a hole in the ground, called a sinkhole.

The Umpherston Sinkhole, also known as the Sunken Garden, in South Australia is to experience one of the most stunningly beautiful marriages of man and nature.

The sinkhole is no ordinary hole in the ground. It is a natural wonder in its own right, forged from millennia of acidic ground-water eroding the porous Gambier limestone.

This was once a cave formed through dissolution of the limestone. The sinkhole was created when the top of the chamber collapsed downwards. Now the topsoil down on the floor of the cave forms the perfect 26 Walking New Zealand, issue no 296 - 2022 www.walkingnewzealand.co.nz

Umpherston Sinkhole - a walk around a hole in the ground environ-ment for the sunken garden. An Australian icon of the most When James Umpherston first purchased the caves, it was described bazaar type, the sinkhole was estab- as an eyesore. He turned it into a lished as a recreational garden for tourist attraction, with ferns, shrubs the people of Mount Gambier and and trees. visitors to the region to enjoy. A broad footpath was cut from the In 1869 James Umpherston pur- highest point to the bottom of the chased 250 acres at Beswicks Farm, cave and a wooden staircase erected near Mt Gambier. It included the where previously there had been a cave, which bears the Umpherston dangerous descent. name. A 1/3rd of the bottom of the cave Umpherston Cave, just east of was covered with water and a boat the city on the Princes Highway, is let visitors and friends view the grannamed after James Umpherston, who deur of the cave. On a small island arrived in 1860, and was a founda- in the lake, at the bottom of the cave, tion member of the Show Society and a Robinson Crusoe type hut was lived on a property nearby. erected to create a fairyland scene. An interesting display on the Wooden steps now hidden behind steps leading into the cave explains cascading vines take you down into its colourful history, and a Mack logging truck and an old bull-dozer are among logging displays in the beautiful gardens surrounding it. Above: Hanging vines hide the caverns beneath of limestone and water.

the centre of the sinkhole and its picturesque garden full of hydrangeas.

The city of Mount Gambier obtained the site in 1994. The site was identified as an important heritage feature and listed on the Register of State Heritage Places in October 1995.

The water features and the enormous cascading vines conceal the caverns beneath where water over time has etched patterns into the limestone.

The geological processes that have created the sinkholes in the region inspired the sculpture at Umpherston.

At the bottom is a large undercover shelter with group settings for up to fifty people.

A free barbecue is provided.

It is free to look around, but to experience the real charm of this sunken treasure you will have to wait until night falls. At this time about 40 brush tail semi-tame possums venture out to feed. Tourists are able to go down and feed them any night of the week.

Above: Looking down on the garden floor of flowering hydrangea beds. Below: At the bottom of the garden is a sheltered area for picnics with a barbecue.

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