Where I grew up a blowhole was where ocean waves rushed in to a cave and blew out through a hole in the ceiling of the cave. So I was intrigued when I saw that there was a blowhole at Tocumwal near the Murray river, a long was from the sea. We went to have a look of course.
It was a bit tricky to find because there aren't any signposts anywhere. And the granite outcrop is a minor bump on the horizon, just a few metres above the flat farmland that surrounds it.
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| View of Tocumwal Blowholes from the entrance gate. |
The information board at the entrance calls are the area Tocumwal Rocks and describes the several deep holes in the top of the granite mound and Aboriginal legends associated with the area. They believe that the holes are connected to the Murray River about ten kilometres away, via a tunnel through which the spirit travels. It would have been a sacred place and I can see why.
There is a photo on the information board showing the deeper of the two holes when it is nearly dry.
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| Photo on the information board |
When we visited the holes there was water overflowing from the hole and trickling down the granite slope, supporting a variety of plants. Even in times of drought and low water in the river, the hole will bubble and overflow with water, like a fresh water spring.
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| Tocumwal blowhole |
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| A different (shallow) rockpool on the same outcrop. |
So, we didn't see any 'blowing' but it was a fascinating area to visit.
4 comments:
Hi Lorraine, thanks for posting this - it's very interesting. I'm familiar with some of the granite outcrops on Eyre Peninsula in SA, but had no idea there was one like this near Tocumwal. Tocumwal has always been a place I've just passed through, so I'm glad you're drawing attention to some of its interesting features. Cheers, Paula
This reminds me of the "Bubblers" off the Oodnadatta Track, very interesting.
I lived right across from this in my child hood ...Tocumwal is my home town. The house i lived in its now gone but it's home in my heart its a special place. ❤
Theirs alot u don't know about tht place I grew up n hav bin told treeabl tbings
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