South Australia (Southeast Region)
Naracoorte
Naracoorte is one of the South East's largest commercial centres, servicing a prosperous pastoral and agricultural industry. Its earliest settlers were Scottish - names like Macintosh and Riddoch are common today. The town has many beautiful old buildings that reflect its prosperous past.
Naracoorte Caves Conservation Park
In 1994 the system of limestone caves east of the Riddoch Highway, midway between Penola and Padthaway, were proclaimed a World Heritage Area, now accessible as the Naracoorte Caves Conservation Park. An interpretive centre at the park headquarters (tel 08/8762 2340; daily 9am–5pm) gives insight into the area and its highly significant Victoria Fossil Cave – the chamber, discovered in 1969, revealed fossils of extinct Pleistocene megafauna including giant kangaroos and wombats. 

These caves have been a tourist attraction with organised tours by a local publican dating back to 1869. Located twelve kilometres south east of Naracoorte on the road to Penola, there are at least sixty known caves, many of which are in the Naracoorte Caves Conservation Park.

Guided tours take visitors to the main chambers of Blanche Cave, and the beautifully decorated Alexandra Cave. Most significant to science is the Victoria Fossil Cave, with its many fauna fossils, discovered this century. During school holidays and on long weekends special adventure caving expeditions are held, taking children and adults into caves not normally accessible to the public. The Naracoorte Caves Conservation Park has picnic areas, a camping ground and an interpretive centre.

Another notable feature is the Bat Centre, the only place in the world where you can watch bats in real time with the help of infrared remote control cameras filming inside a cave. You can watch the small common bent wing bats on tours (daily Christmas and early January; around 7.30pm).

You can camp next to the centre ($15 per car) where facilities include powered sites, hot showers and even a free laundry, or at the more basic campsite at nearby Bool Lagoon Conservation Park ($12 per car; water and toilets only), which is a magnet for birds; camping permits are issued at the centre. For a little more comfort, there are self-contained cabins set in bushland near Victoria Fossil Cave. For meals, the licensed Bent Wing Cafe at the centre is surprisingly sophisticated, dishing up everything from a Greek salad to chargrilled kangaroo fillets with native plum chutney.

Naracoorte Town
On the highway 12km west of the caves, the town of NARACOORTE is a small regional centre with a supermarket (open daily) and several places to eat and stay. Kincraig Hotel, 158 Smith St, has basic pub accommodation and decent meals. Naracoorte Hotel Motel, in parallel Ormerod Street at no. 73 has motel rooms and cheap meal specials. At 81 Park Terrace, a ten-minute walk north of town, Naracoorte Caravan Park is in a shady spot by a creek, close to a swimming lake.

Attractions
  • NARACOORTE MUSEUM This privately owned museum has one hundred collections, including a fine display of antiques, gemstones, butterflies, and many other items. Its collection of fossil shells and bones from local limestone quarries and caves are a great feature. Local species of venomous snakes can also be viewed in safety.
  • THE SHEEP'S BACK WOOL MUSEUM This museum depicts the history of the wool industry in a series of excellent displays and interpretive information. An historic flour mill (1860) is its home, and displays incorporate life-size models, photographs, artefacts and audio- visual presentations. It is a great reminder of the days when Australia rode on the sheep's back.
  • THE TINY TRAIN PARK This park is for children. The miniature electric train pulls five carriages on which children sit. The park also contains an extensive and safe playground for children and an eighteen-hole mini golf course.