One of the recent things we did was climb Mount Schank, and then proceed to walk to the middle of the volcanic cinder cone and climb back out again! My legs were screaming for mercy on the way back up from the centre, I'm sure they wished I would fall down and die right there. I made it and am so glad Izzy convinced us to do it. She bounced all the way and didn't tire AT ALL! If you do decide to visit, make sure you wear walking shoes and bring a drink bottle.
Mount Schank is about 12 km from Mount Gambier in South Australia's south east. It is part of Australia's first geo park, Kanawinka, which extends from Millicent in South Australia, to near Melbourne in Victoria. Kanawinka is a Buandik aboriginal word, which means 'Land of tomorrow'.
It is the youngest of Australia's volcanos, erupting 5000 years ago, and rising about 100 metres from the flat lands surrounding it.
Mount Schank was sighted and named by Lieutenant James Grant in December 1800. Grant named it after Admiral John Schank, designer of Grant's ship, HMS Lady Nelson.
From the carpark, where there are toilets, a bbq and picnic area, it's a 15 minute walk to the rim. The views on the walk up, and at the rim are amazing. We could see all the way to the windtowers near Millicent, about 60km away, and to the ocean at Port MacDonnell. It was a drizzly day, so the views on a finer day would be absolutely amazing.
If you want to further explore, you can walk the 1.9km rim, or venture down to the floor of the crater, which we did.
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| Summer could see a face in the rock. We think it's the fossilised remains of Jabba the Hut. Can you see it? |
