Danger: Giant Wombats Ahead

'Giant Wombats Ahead' may have been a road sign near Naracoorte in South Australia if they had road signs 100,000 years ago. Naracoorte Caves, north of Mount Gambier, is a World Heritage site listed by UNESCO for its fossils of ancient mammals, one of only two such sites in Australia.

This happy chappy, shown being tickled under the chin by Susie and Michael, is a life-size statue of a Diprotodon, a forerunner of the wombat. Fossil bones from these and other super-sized ancient mammals (short-faced kangaroos, marsupial lions, etc) are still being found at Naracoorte. Fossils there cover the period from 500,000 years ago to about 60,000 years ago when the animals became extinct. Many fossils are there because the poor animals fell into caves and holes and couldn't get out. We saw real fossil bones on display and did a tour of Alexandra Cave, one of the limestone caves noted for its lovely formations, including 'cave carrots'.

We're in Adelaide now after stopping two nights at the beautiful and historic town of Port Elliot on the Fleurieu Peninsula. We caught a steam train along the dunes there - the Cockle Train. It made up for the fact that our caravan park cabin was pretty basic!