Cape Bridgewater

Petrified Forest at Cape Bridgewater The Blue Lake in an exinct volcano crater

Our DK guidebook really missed the boat on Cape Bridgewater. They assigned the blowholes no stars, not even one. We were going to bypass the sight and head for Mt. Gambier and the Blue Lake. However the tourist placard outside Portland led to debate and a change of mind. I just love those ocean views, and we’ve moved from the Tasman Sea south to the Southern Ocean. It still confuses me to think of anything in a southerly direction as being colder. We skirted the city of Portland and headed for Cape Bridgewater. There are wind farms all along this coast which may be why the DK gives it a miss. However the view of the wild and raging sea is unsurpassed. You know the paintings you see in art galleries of ships in a raging sea? Well that is what we saw. Whitecaps, sea foam, waves crashing into the rocks and blowholes, finally blowholes that were blowing. The view is somewhat diminished by the wind farm along the edge but in a way it adds to the surrealistic feel of the place. You have the ocean, the wind farm and a petrified forest all by turning 360 degrees. I was mesmerized by the sea. We put on our Goretex jackets, secured our hoods and stood there watching the blue black sea and feeling the spray. Returning to the car and licking our lips, we tasted the salt. I would just love to have the time to take a cliff walk here or to stay in one of the rental homes with excellent views of the sea.

We stopped for lunch at a small cafe in Bridgewater. There is a beautiful beach here with turquoise water and shallow waves. Even though it is a cool day, one “polar bear” (brave man) is out there swimming and braving the elements. The signs warn that after Easter Monday there are no lifeguards. We can see whitecaps and blue black sea at the horizon so there must be a shelf here with high waves breaking further out, creating a safe bathing beach though there are lots of warning signs about sudden drop offs and the dangers of diving.

We moved on to Mount Gambier and the Blue Lake. The DK books warns that the water changes to winter grey in April but happily for us, it has maintained its brilliant “Windex” blue hue. This inactive volcano crater holds the town’s precious water supply. We were happy we stopped off to see it, but I wouldn’t have traded this view for the blowholes.