Intriguing sinkholes, pretty fishing towns, world-class wine, Australia’s first saint, Wagyu steak and fresh lobster – the Limestone Coast is a place of discovery.

1. Dive the Mysterious Sinkholes

Free-diving fanatics and scuba-fiends love the seemingly bottomless freshwater sinkholes. There are more than 50 waterfilled sinkholes, including the famous Kilsby Sinkhole, plunging 60 metres and renowned for glowing a luminous blue. If you prefer to keep dry, visit the Umpherston Sinkhole (Balumbul) in Mount Gambier: this strange, magical secret garden blooms in a 20-metre-deep natural well in the middle of town.

2. Walk the Coonawarra

Meander between six of the town’s best wineries, making necessary pitstops for tasting flights and grazing boards. The route is just under five kilometres, takes approximately three hours to complete and requires no nominated driver!

3. Discover the Two Sides of Robe

With its sublime beach, interesting maritime history and busy fishing fleet, Robe has all the trappings of a picture-postcard seaside town. But there’s another side to it. Cashed-up visitors from Adelaide and Melbourne have seen the rise of a cosmopolitan restaurant and shopping scene – one that blends boutique with barefoot, a bit of ‘sandy glam’. Don’t miss The Caledonian Inn, especially at New Year’s – something of an institution.

4. Chase a Giant Wombat

World Heritage-listed Naracoorte Caves is an 800,000-year-old place of discovery. Join guided tours that range from a two-hour stroll to a hard-hat-and-overalls crawl through deep tunnels. Rich in fossils, the caves have provided a window into Australia’s extinct megafauna, including wombats bigger than cars.

5. Haunted by Mushrooms?

‘Ghost Mushroom Lane’ sounds like something from a Tolkien novel, but you can find it just outside Mount Gambier. Every year between May and June, glowing native mushrooms up to 20 centimetres in diameter grow in the pine plantations around the town. Forestry SA creates a network of trails so you can see the soft green glow of these amazing fungi for yourself.

Read dueSouth Magazine here.