We started the day at the Tantanoola Caves, which are situated halfway between Millicent and Mount Gambier.  Although much smaller than the Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains, the cavern is quite large and has a beautiful array of stalactites, stalagmites, columns and shawls.  These are all formed from mineralised pink and brown limestone called dolomite, quite awe-inspiring.

Our next stop was in the town of Millicent at its museum.  We were given a printed layout of the living history museum to guide our way through on our own.  The exhibits included a locomotive, many wagons and horse drawn vehicles of the period (mid 1800s mostly) and the implements used at the time.  A Maritime Room described many shipwrecks of the era, especially the "Geltwood", wrecked in 1876 with artifacts found as late as the 1980s along the beaches. The Helen Hughes clothing collection showed how fashions changed through the decades of the 1800s and 1900s, very interesting.

After a somewhat wet and cold, but welcome, outdoor picnic provided by our hosts, we were on our own with our individual hosts to drive on for some sightseeing.  Patty and I with our hostess Leonie, drove through the pretty town of Southend and on th Bridgeport.  After a coffee at a local cafe, we enjoyed watching the waves, gulls and boats floating on the sea.

Then we returned home to Leonie's farmhouse, where she had to feed her "crooks" (chickens).  Later we to Leonie to dinner at the Western Tavern where the food was excellent, including the home-cooked vegetables.

Sheila Bruton

(Helen, Linda, Ken and I went 4-wheeling with the Mellor's hosts to Lake George.  Quite an experience!  We saw hundreds of black swans where the fresh water comes bubbling up into the coastal lake.  At times the shoreline was totally black with their bodies.  -Marty)