Blue Lake Myths and Legends

Questions:
1. Is the Blue Lake bottomless or have people always know the depth of the lake?

2. Did Adam Lindsay Gordon really jump on horse back over the craters edge and down into the lake?

3. Was the crater once formed to make a giant cooking oven?

4. Is it true birds do not fly over the centre of the lake? (take a close look next time you are at the lake or ask one of the locals).

5. Is the surface lower than the Central Business District of Mount Gambier.

Why the lake changes to blue is the biggest mystery of all. This question is best answered by your tour guide from Aquifer Tours as you wander past the scenic gardens, through the heritage listed pumping station and then down to the lake's surface via the lift inside the original well shaft.

Answers:
1. No, average depth is 75 metres
2. Yes, but only onto a ledge
3. Yes, it was an oven made by Craitbul the Giant Spirit
4. No, but it is rare to see one
5. Yes, by over 20 metres

The Craitbul Story tells of the giant ancestor of the Booandik People who long ago made an oven at Mount Muirhead to cook for his wife and family. In hearing the groaning voice of the bird spirit "Bullin" warning them of the evil spirit "Tennateona", they fled to another site where they built another oven (Mount Schank). Again they were frightened off by the threat of the evil spirit and moved to "Berrin" where they again made their oven (Mount Gambier). One day, water rose and the fire went out. They dug other ovens, but each time water rose putting out the fires. This occurred four times (the Valley Lake, Blue Lake, Browne’s Lake and Leg of Mutton Lake).
Finally Craitbul and his family settled in a cave on the side of "Berrin’s " Peak