We Paid to Stay in a Gaol!
We didn't stay long at the sinkhole.....we had to check in to our accommodation for the night. We were staying at the Old Mt Gambier Gaol.
Yup. You read right. G-A-O-L or J-A-I-L!
We didn't speed. We didn't smoke. We weren't picked up by the keystone cops.....but our accommodation for the night was in a cell block.
Room 21 was our room. It was right next to the showers. Ordinarily, you might have thought it would have been noisy with people coming and going. But it was pretty obvious when we checked in that there only about 4 groups of inmates that night. In fact, I'm pretty sure only DH and I used these showers during our stay.
(There are other shower rooms in all parts of the jail, and the groups were obviously spread out to give them as much privacy as possible.)
The Mt Gambier gaol is one of about 17 gaols in the world that has been converted to hotel lodgings.
The prison was opened in 1866 and eventually closed in 1995.
There are parts of the grounds that are positively medieval.
You could even say.....spooky.
I think I would have hated to have been here when it was a fully operational jail.
Today, I would say the accommodation is more a hostel than anything else. This was the old Chapel that had been converted to a shared sitting room for guests. There was a communal kitchen beyond that door. It was functional and basic.
Our room? It really was a cell. A very comfortable, snug cell room. For one night, it was a fantastic place to crash.
Whilst the showers were next door, we had our own ensuite toilet and sink. It was clean.
The cost for this room? DH and I paid AU$100 (or about US$75) for this cell.
In any other circumstance, we may not have stayed here. But we can truly say we paid to stay in a prison!
The sinkhole was discovered in the 50's. What's really cool is that you take a tram to the bottom on this little winding path (not really even a road!).
