Mount Gambier - Surroundings

Beachport (pop. 410), which in earlier days was an important whaling station, features sheltered beaches which have made it a popular holiday resort with a variety of accommodations.

From the Bowman Scenic Drive there are fine views of the Southern Ocean. Between Lake George and the sea is Beachport Conservation Park.

Offshore is Penguin Island, to which there are excursions in summer.

90sq.km.

Canunda National Park features traveling dunes, rare coastal vegetation and many species of birds.

Millicent (pop. 5000) is an important commercial and industrial town with a large paper mill. The marshland surrounding the town was drained in the 19th C to provide land for pastoral farming and the growing of wheat. In the former schoolhouse (1873) is a museum with interesting material on life in pioneering days.

There is also an attractive Shell Garden, with fuchsias and begonias.

Penola (pop. 1200) preserves some timber cottages of the pioneering period. The mansion of Yallum Park dates from 1880. The former post office houses a museum of local history.

At Tantanoola are a number of interesting limestone caves.