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City of Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier, the city that grew around a cave, is the South-East's unofficial capital and is renowned for its tourist attractions, industry base, shopping and business centre, sporting mecca and conference and convention centre. With about 23,000 people, Mount Gambier is endowed with all the facilities you'd expect of a regional city and is set in a unique and ancient landscape of extinct volcanoes, natural limestone and mysterious underground waterways. Its heart is still the cave, now the focal point of the beautiful Cave Gardens. The sweeping green lawns and vivid flower beds are typical of Mount Gambier's extensive parks and gardens, which helped to earn the city the Australian Tidy Town title in 1991.
The cave in the park now called the Cave Gardens, is the main reason for the present
site of the city of Mount Gambier. For thousands of years the Boandiks, the local aboriginal tribe,
used the generous supply of fresh water at the bottom of the cave, and when the first white settlers
arrived in 1841, they decided to take advantage of it too.
The Civic Centre in the heart of Mount Gambier was officially opened in April
1981 by his Royal Highness, Charles, Prince of Wales. The main entrance faces the beautiful Cave Gardens,
while native plants thrive close to the gracefully modern exterior walls. Within the Centre are the offices
for the Corporation of the City of Mount Gambier, Council Chambers, the City Library, the South East
Cultural Trust and the Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre, where seating is available for over 500 people.
View of the Civic Center from the Cave Gardens
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Caves have been formed under and around the city through dissolution of the limestone.
Umpherston Sinkhole beautifully floodlit is a popular night time attraction. It has become very
popular for weddings,especially in summer, and is also a popular barbeque area with tourists.
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To Midnight Lady's World of Romance
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