Engelbrecht Cave

The cave is located on a parcel of open land within the residential area bounded to the north by Jubilee Highway West (the name used for the Princes Highway within Mount Gambier) and by the following roads on its west, south and east sides - Ehret Street, Chute Street and Victoria Terrace. The cave consists of a collapsed area known as a sinkhole with two main passages - one running in an easterly direction and one running in a westerly direction. The east passage which extends about from the doline's opening, leads to a lake where a water-filled passage leads to an air chamber. The west passage which extends about , is only accessible by cave diving for the majority of its length and includes a major air chamber is located immediately below Jubilee Highway West. Access to the cave within Mount Gambier's street system is via Chute Street. ==Naming==

The site is named after Carl Engelbrecht, a German immigrant who settled in Mount Gambier during the 19th century. The cave is also known as Engelbrecht's Cave, North Terrace Cave and Vansittarts Cave. The Cave Exploration Group (South Australia) Incorporated (CEGSA) has classified the cave as being two sites and has identified both using its unique numbering system. The passage running in the easterly direction is numbered as 5L-19 while the passage running in the westerly direction is 5L-20. ==Geological description==

The cave is located in a limestone known as Gambier Limestone which was formed between 35 and 45 million years ago and has an estimated thickness of about at the cave itself. The topsoil surrounding the cave is volcanic in origin and dates back to the last eruption of the Mount Gambier volcano from between 2,800 and 26,000 years ago. ==History==

The cave was first described in writing published by Julian Tenison-Woods in 1865 where the name Vansittarts Cave was first used.I was only nine or ten years of age at the time, but I can clearly remember how the current caught the canoe and carried us along as soon as we got into the stream. We must have gone 200 yards, travelling directly towards the Blue Lake. The stream took several turns, and the current was so strong that we had considerable difficulty in getting back…However, one source points out that the description of the cave in 1864 does not match the cave system surveyed in 1986. In 1964, the district council invited expressions of interest for “investigations for tourist potential of the cave.” One investigate include a team of four divers including “the well-known Dave Burchell” who carried out an exploratory dive with the following outcome: In December 2019, divers including Matthew Aisbett and Josh Richards started looking around the end of Engelbrecht East Cave's air chamber, and in what was a random reflection off a tiny surface lake a few years ago, has now evolved into an enormous new cave network running under the centre of Mt Gambier, believed to be the 2nd largest cave in the Limestone Coast. In July 2024, the City of Mount Gambier started running guided tours of Engelbrecht Cave and providing visitor servicing from the site. ==Present day==

The cave is operated by The City of Mount Gambier. The facility includes light refreshments, visitor servicing, an accessway into the cave system including viewing platforms at the lakes in both passages, toilets and range of open spaces with varying degrees of shelter for picnics and associated activities. The City of Mount Gambier also offers guided tours of the dry sections of both cave passages. Access for cave diving is limited as follows: those wishing to dive the eastern passage need to have the CDAA Cave grade while those wishing to dive the western passage need to have the CDAA Advanced Cave grade. ==References==