About our Kanawinka Geopark 

The Kanawinka Geopark runs along part of the southern edge of the Australian continent. It is Australia’s first Geopark and extends for over 400kms throughout a wide limestone region and one of the world’s large volcanic plains. It is named after the 150km long, deep and ancient Kanawinka Fault which crosses the Geopark and separates the Limestone Coast in the west from the Volcanic Plain in the east. Near the Kanawinka Fault, the youngest volcanoes have pushed up through the limestone plain itself.

Kanawinka is an indigenous word meaning “The Land of Tomorrow”. This applies to our hopes and ideas for the improvement and development of our geopark for all our future visitors.

Kanawinka has over 1000 caves west of the Kanawinka Fault and nearly 400 individual volcanic eruption points to the east, starting 4.5 million years ago. Our youngest volcano is Mount Schank, near Mount Gambier, which erupted only 6000 years ago when the Egyptian Pyramids began to be built!

Kanawinka Karst

Your Dong Van Karst Plateau is a wonderful series of high and deeply eroded karst mountains with major river systems. Your limestone ranges have been cut by extensive rains and flowing waters.  It is spectacular!

In complete contrast, our Kanawinka karstfield is broad and flat, nearly at sea level, and with no streams and only a single river gorge. The caves have formed underneath the karst plain by slow-flowing groundwater dissolving the limestone, not carving it. The karst plain has a number of low limestone ridges which record the last 13 ice ages when sea levels were higher (eg Woakwine Cutting near Beachport).

We have the highly-decorated Tantanoola Tourist Cave, Princess Margaret Rose Cave and Englebrecht’s Cave (which shows the dissolved passages). There are also world-class cave diving attractions, in particular the large clear freshwater-filled sinkholes, known “cenotes”. Finally the groundwater emerges though deep clear water springs and caves at the coast. All these features have given the region its tourism name - “The Limestone Coast”.

On our northwest boundary, the World Heritage Fossil Caves at Naracoorte have the world’s most outstanding Pliocene/Pleistocene mammal of over 120 species preserved in dry sand within the cave system for public display. These caves lie above the Kanawinka Fault.

Volcanoes and Lakes

Lava flows have spread evenly across the existing plains through the Tertiary and Quaternary eras where it followed valleys, flowed into the sea, and in some cases forced upwards into rough, stony hills called tumuli, or exploded into steeper scoria cones. Our coasts have large dark basalt cliffs, breached volcanoes and headlands where lava flows have been driven into the sea, leaving several offshore islands.

Many shallow volcanic lakes (eg the large Lake Corangamite) occur across Kanawinka, some with low lava islands and springs, supporting over 20,000 Asian migrating water birds - coots, ducks, banded stilts, grebes, ibis and cormorants. The lakes are used for bird watching, picnicking, sailing, boating, duck hunting, trout angling, eel fishing and environmental studies.

Several volcanoes have emerged through the karst plain itself at Mount Gambier forming spectacular maars and large freshwater crater lakes that have filled with the groundwater. The Blue Lake at Mount Gambier is the most breathtaking example of these. It occupies a large crater where the limestone is exposed all around the lower walls until it is covered by lava and ash layers above.

History

Indigenous peoples of the area have inhabited this region for up to 45,000 years and they witnessed many eruptions which feature prominently in their legends. Where groundwater flooded the craters, their legends describe them as campfires of the Giant Craitbul being extinguished y water wherever he travelled in that land.

They made use of the lava rocks construct stone weirs, fish traps and stone huts with excellent examples created by the Gundidj Mara people around the Lake Condah region near Heywood. 

During the mid-1800s, European settlers used the volcanic stones to build drystone walls for farm fences and many early buildings – stations, storehouses, shops, and forts – many of which are open to the public. In the karst country to the west, similar buildings were faced with a beautiful pink dolomite formed from limestone baked by the volcanic heat.

Visitation

A coastal highway network links all these features along the Geopark almost from end to end. The Geopark can be reached in several hours’ drive from two large Australian cities, Melbourne and Adelaide, both with international airports (see map).

At the heart of the Geopark is the Volcano Discovery Centre in Penshurst which displays DVD’s of the earlier volcanic landscapes that are popular with school groups. It is next to the Mt Rouse volcano where there is a Crater of Eagles, where the young eagles practice their flying and gliding across the crater.

Further west are the beautiful basalt Wannon and Nigretta Falls. At Tower Hill near Warrnambool visitors can see wonderful ash layer exposures in the crater and learn about the Indigenous stories from the Worn Gundidj Interpretation Centre in the Crater of Emus and Kangaroos where these animals live freely and can be seen up close by visitors.

There are also two special trips into very different volcanic craters. At Cape Bridgewater near Portland, a short boat ride over the bay takes visitors along half a giant volcano cut open by the sea, to a spectacular sea cave seal colony. And at the Blue Lake in Mount Gambier, a trip down a cut tunnel suddenly opens out to the blue waters of the deep lake in the crater.

Management

Kanawinka Geopark has two cities, twenty towns, and 100 smaller villages - totalling less than 100,000 people. Our Board has 14 members – seven from the communities and 7 from the local councils. All are unpaid volunteer positions. The Councils provide funding for Geopark promotional activities and publications. Our subcommittees cover Education, Interpretation, Business, Promotion, Geology, Geotourism, Creativity and our Website.

Conclusion

There are many good things to achieve – geological heritage, sustainable geotourism, conservation, government and private landowner cooperation, engage local communities, attracting national and international visitors. We wish to inspire communities pass the message to future generations that geosites are fascinating, precious and need protecting for the future. After all, “Kanawinka” means “The Land of Tomorrow”!