Grampians (2 + 3)

Sunday saw the arrival of an unexpected frost and the hikers rising early. The confusion of daylight savings starting was not solved until later that night, so we spent the day an hour behind everyone else!

We had put Sunday down as a nature day – seeing the lookouts, the waterfalls and just exploring the hills. Of course, on crutches, we were quite limited, but did our best. First of all was the Boroka lookout, which gave stunning views down over Hall’s Gap. While there, some hikers from our hostel emerged from the bush at the end of their first hike. It had taken them 4-5 hours to walk from the hostel up to the lookout – which we drove in about half an hour. I was impressed to say the least! After standing in awe for a while and taking photos, we used the eco-friendly toilets and were on our way. On emerging from the bush, we saw a red stop sign. But it wasn’t a normal stop sign, as you can see below.

We were still laughing a while later when we arrived at the waterfalls. Although we knew we were unable to reach the bottom of McKenzie falls (290+ steps), we were able to reach the appropriately named Broken Falls without too much trouble. Surprisingly, there was a fair bit of water in both, and stood in the beautiful sunshine watching it all for a while. We stopped to have an ice-cream and encountered one of our first friendly locals, who advised a spot just 5 minutes away on the other side of the hill where you could stop and look at the falls. After a quick lunch we headed off on his advice and had a look – you could certainly see, but not very well. We will definitely have to go back and walk those stairs to see the McKenzie falls.

Next we decided to go back to a lake which we’d seen a sign for and have a quick look, but there was little to see and we were getting tired. On the way back, we stopped at the Wonderland lookout, which we’d seen the day before. Kat and Trav decided to have a nap but I wanted to explore so took the opportunity to walk up the Grand Canyon on my own. In the heat of the afternoon, it was hard work up a steep slope and I was glad for my hiking boots. Unfortunately I didn’t make it up to the Pinnacle (a lookout point featured on most tourist information of the area) as I had to get back to the car when I said I’d be (the lack of mobile signal was frustrating) and my knees were struggling. The views I did see were beautiful though.

We took it easy for the rest of the afternoon, just playing some Trivial Pursuit and table tennis back at the hostel. We also had to leave town to get money from an ATM – the only one in Hall’s Gap had run out of money!

That evening, we had made a reservation for dinner at a restaurant, but due to immense confusion and lack of exposure to helpful people, we hadn’t realised the clocks had changed the night before. We missed our reservation, but managed to find a place which was still open after 8pm and had some delicious, if a little late, dinner. My nose was running and my throat was sore; the cold was there to stay.

Three

Monday dawned cloudy and raining, but a little warmer than the day before which was appreciated. After a quick and quiet breakfast, being the only guests left, we packed up the car and headed off on our way. Before we left Hall’s Gap though, we had to visit the bakery and pick up some vanilla slices, which Kat had been told by a colleague we delicious. They won a prize in 1998, but I think we can safely say they aren’t as good as they were then. We also had a quick look at a craft fair before getting back on the main road.

On the way in, we’d seen signs for olive farms, glass blowing, lavender farms and wineries. So we had decided to stop on the way out and see all of these. Unfortunately, for some of them, the only signs were at the end of their driveways, and when doing 100km/h, it’s hard to brake and turn in time with that much warning. In the end we visited the lavender farm (plus highland cattle) and just one winery (which wasn’t too bad, but only worth 1 bottle).

It continued to rain on and off all the way back to Melbourne. In Ararat we stopped at McDonalds (reasoning they couldn’t over-charge us for anything) before again, getting out as fast as we could. Next stop was Ballarat, where we had some lunch at the Pancake Kitchen and left before a calisthenics group came in – 4-year-olds wearing false eyelashes, full makeup and leotards just isn’t right. The rest of the drive was uneventful, as we were all tired and sick and just wanted our own beds again, but we’re definitely going back to do some walking at some point.

There will be many photos to come.

The Living End and the Grampians (1)

As most of my friends will know, I am quite partial to the band The Living End. Although I was excited to be seeing them on their new tour, their new album had not lived up to my expectations. Nevertheless, I attended (minus Kat and Trav) to see their full set. I arrived to see the last of the support band (which failed to impress) and readied myself for everybody to lose their shit. Standing at the back, there was less shit-losing, but enough to enjoy myself and sing along without looking crazy! Their setlist was pretty much as expected, with a few of their older classics (including Prisoner) and most of their new stuff. The venue wasn’t too bad either. I must be growing up though because I just didn’t enjoy standing around sweaty fighting drunks as much as I used to. Afterward I didn’t hang around, because I knew that the next day would be a long one..

Rising at 5am to start preparing for our trip to the Grampians wasn’t as hard as I expected! The neighbours had kept me awake most of the night anyway so it wasn’t a challenge to stay awake and not have my alarm go off. After a quick shower and the last bits of packing, I started loading up the car while Kat organised her driving shoe.

Let me explain – Kat has a stress fracture in her heel. Now while it probably isn’t advisable to be driving long distances, let alone going somewhere the main attraction is walking, we wanted to go. So we did.

So, once Trav and I had loaded everything up, put our road-trip CDs in the car and organised the lollies, we were on our way. We decided to wait until the West Gate to put the CDs on, and when we finally did, they didn’t work. I died a little inside, as I had spent a fair while making them, but thankfully Trav had brought plan B – 2 iPods and a radio transmitter dealie. Surely a tape connector dealie would have been easier I hear you shout. Yes, yes it would have. By the time we got it working, we were well and truly out of Melbourne and just kicked back until we hit Ballarat and breakfast (no. 2).

A delightful breakfast at Beechworth bakery and we continued onto Ararat where we had the first hint that we weren’t liked. Kat and I went into a small cafe to buy a drink and use their toilets. I asked for two bottles of juice, and the girl asked her manager, “These are $2.50 aren’t they?”. The manager, with her mouth forming a ‘yes’ shape, looked at us and quickly changed and said, “No, they’re $3″. With a smile on my face I grit my teeth, paid, used their toilets (I wish I had left a mess) and we got out of Ararat as fast as we could.

The rest of the journey was uneventful and we arrived in Hall’s Gap with no more problems. Weather was beautiful and our room was small (cosy?) and clean. After getting the grand tour and putting some bits away, we headed to the information kiosk to see what it would be possible to do on crutches. We were told not very much. Not to be defeated, we picked up some brochures and headed over to the mini-golf course, where we didn’t cheat at all. The course was really hard too. Oh, and I won, by 1 point (with Kat second and Trav last. By lots).

After this, we experienced our first bit of country driving. Having put in the address of a craft shop/cafe into the GPS, we headed off into the great unknown. It was beautiful, and we kept getting distracted by the stunning views. Eventually though, the GPS lost us and we were driving into nothing. Undeterred, we kept going and decided to turn around at the next driveway to get back for dinner. The next driveway just happened to be the craft shop we were after, so we had a quick look and a chat to the locals (ex-Melbournians) before heading off with warnings of kangaroos. As if on cue, as we leave the driveway, some ‘roos come out of the scrub and hop alongside the road for a while.

The night was uneventful, a delightful dinner at the Quarry before back to the room for a relatively early night. At this point I came to the conclusion I would get sick. Sharing a room and car with Trav who was just getting over a cold, and Kat who had the cold – I was bound to get it. Thankfully it wouldn’t emerge until Sunday evening.

Sunday and Monday to come..