10 January 2012 - Halls Gap Caravan Park, Grampians National Park, Victoria

We survived the winds of last night which probably seemed so much worse in a caravan than in a solid house. We were thankful we were not holed up in one of the three Jayco slideouts next to us, their canvas extensions flapping about. It rained too, much more than we noticed at the time; a godsend to the fire watchers, I am sure.

While sitting over breakfast, Chris suddenly remarked that there was a roo just outside the window, and sure enough there he was. He just stood there, right in the middle of the park, all six and a half feet of him, looking all about, before bounding on to astound others.

Our National Parks brochure had several walks highlighted and the day looked like it might only have a few opportunities of walking weather, so we set off in the landcruiser promptly after breakfast, heading steeply up into the mountains above Halls Gap.

Our first port of call was Baroka Lookout, easily accessible from the car park, from where we could look down the Halls Gap valley up to and beyond Lake Bellfield, and out onto the eastern plains. Despite the rain about, the views were stupendous and everything the glossy brochures had promised.

Views out from the Grampian heights

From there we continued up the Mount Victory Road, stopping at Reeds Lookout, from where one could see south down the Victoria Valley, toward the spot we had free camped just two days ago. The southerly wind was bitterly cold so we did not stand on the lookout deck for too long, but instead walked the kilometre along the ridge to the Balconies, through rocky outcrops and a stringy bark forest, to high rock ledges from where we had yet another view of the Victoria Valley and beyond.

It was close enough to lunch to deter us from starting another walk just yet, so we drove on to Lake Wartook, the dammed McKenzie Creek now an extensive reservoir. Surprisingly, this dam was started in 1882 and completed in 1886. There have been modifications done over the intervening years, however one has to say, it is a very old dam! In fact, the statistics and history spelled out on the interpretive signs state that the first damming of creeks around this area for irrigation was way back in 1856. Today there is a complex irrigation system, the Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline Project with 8,800 kilometres of pipes replacing the earlier open earth channels and is one of Australia’s largest water infrastructure projects. The rural areas all to the north and east of here reap the benefit of this huge system.

Like all water infrastructure in this country, or at least most of those we have encountered, recreational land has been set aside for the public to enjoy, and it was at the lakes picnic area we parked. Here we enjoyed our standard lunch with many noisy sulphur crested cockatoos and one lone wallaby, who grazed comfortably close to us, rotating her antennae like ears to the slightest variation of sound, and paying attention when spoken to. At one stage she picked a flower with her mouth and then delicately pulled the stem from her mouth with her tiny paws. In a less ladylike fashion she stopped occasionally to have a good scratch, and while I would dearly loved to have scooped her up for a cuddle, I suspect she would have happily shared her fleas with me.

Down to the McKenzie Falls

We left her to her solitude, and went to see the McKenzie Falls, the one attraction that everyone heads for here in the Grampians, even if they must forsake all others. Here we walked to a lookout on a craggy cliff from where we could look out and down to the falls, and then descended the 270 or more steps and downward sloping paths to the base of these majestic falls. There are several viewing spots and truly a visit to the Grampians is not complete without seeing these spectacular falls, even after so little rain.

With the afternoon only half gone, we decided to pop into the Wonderland car park, spotted as we had ascended the route earlier, and find out what the Wonderland was. This car park is the starting point for the rather strenuous climb to the Pinnacle, high above Halls Gap, a walk we were not too keen to attempt. However the Grand Canyon walk looked interesting and so we set off up through the most amazing rock formations, passing under abseilers, shrill with excitement as they descended sheer rock faces of perhaps sixty metres. We wound up through leaning rocks and tunnels, sometimes on sets of iron steps, and then left the path that would have otherwise continued to the top, and came down over rock faces patterned like a quilt.

All walked out, we returned to the caravan park, satisfied that we had done enough exercise for the day, and certainly seen enough of this beautiful park to justify the detour we made in coming north as we have.