Winter has officially begun and it's our last chance to hit a camp ground before Melbourne freezes in to an ice cube. This time we decided to head West of Melbourne and explore and indulge in the great Grampians. Two of our best buddies joined us and we left homes in the wee hours.
After no more than 3 and a half hours we managed to arrive at the destination. The park office which issue camping permits is in the Brambuk Cultural Center. It was still closed when we reached there, so we decided to checkout the camp grounds to see if we've got space.
The Jimmy Creek camp site was almost full on that day and we finally decided to settle down at Borough Huts as it seemed peaceful and relatively spacious and empty at that time. It was complete with a scenic stream just few feet away with sparkling waters.
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| Our water supply for the next 2 days |
The park was full of wild Kangaroos who roamed freely. We managed to take close ups and even pet a few which was amazing.
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| Chilling kangos |
We pitched the tents as usual and went straight to get the permit and a of course a few maps.
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| tents in the sun |
By the time we came back we were starving and feeling stiff so we decided it's tea time. After a snack and a hot cup of coffee we were energized to set off for the much looked forward exploring.
There were so many tracks on the map and we had to select a few easy ones for the first day. We missed few places like MacKenzie Falls, due to road closures. But managed to get a sneak peek from a distance and drove through the regrowing trees and bushes. The color combination was amazing.
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| Dirt roads |
The next on the list was the Reed Lookout and the balconies. An easy 15 minute walk from the car park to the balconies. And the same to the Reed lookout. Both were nice high points or lookouts to capture a nice view of the area below. It rained a little and the view was covered my the mist for the most part. When the mist cleared for a few seconds, we could see the beautiful scenery that was underneath it. A was truly mystic.
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| Breath taking view |
The walk is very crumbly yet beautiful and it wasn't boring as the scene kept changing at every bend.
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| Another mystic scene |
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| Balconies |
As it started to get dark we decided to get back to the camps. And we stopped to buy some stuff for a BBQ in the town and saw more Kangaroos sun bathing in a ground.
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| Kangaroos, completely oblivious to the crowd |
We managed to gather some fire wood from the jungle and lit a small fire. But the non stop drizzle was not helping at all. So we gathered up in to one tent and chit chatted over a drink and dinner until it's time to sleep. I am sure the temperature was below zero that night.
We woke up early the next day as we have a long circuit to walk. After cleaning our selves in the ice cold water from the stream down the park, we got ready for the hike. With all the food and water packed we set off for the famous Pinnacle.
We decided to cover few other places as we go and started from Halls Gap car park and headed towards Venus bath. The path was very diverse and the stream was decorated by rocks which gave it a strange look.
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| Rocky scenery |
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| Venus bath |
Then, we continued towards the Splitters falls. The track is thoroughly enjoyable with lots of flora and fauna to see. Even thought the falls didn't have much water, it was beautiful and clean.
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| Splitters falls |
We filled out water carton from the fresh waters. After resting a while on the way we headed towards the Great canyon which lies on the way to the pinnacle.
That was a sight to see. the formation of the rocks resembled the Great Canyon of Colorado in the US.
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| Mini canyon |
The climb wasn't very difficult and it was full of beautiful views. After another few minutes it brought us to another fork junction. We decided to take the loop with extra 2.2 Km to the pinnacle over the 0.7 Km short cut just to make sure we don't miss anything and to add some cardio to the hike.
After absorbing the nice view we had a quick snack and a few minutes rest before climbing down to the Halls gap. The return was just 3.3 Km. But it was a steady descend and bit of a challenge to the faint of the heart.
It was nearly 5 in the evening when we reached the Galls gap town. We hurried back to the camp sites determined to enjoy a nice Bonn fire and a BBQ dinner as it was a clear day with no rain at all.
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| Dazzling bonn fire |
We sat around the fire chitchatting over some nice burnt meat and few beers and called it a day. That was some nice camping to remember.
