Friday, 25th May 2018
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| Easy walking |
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| Mackenzie Falls |
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| Hand-free selfie |
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| Grampian Mountains |
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| Reeds Lookout |
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| Grampian Mountains |
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| Leech Central |
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| No snakes! |
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| The Balconies |
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| Rock formation |
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| Our caravan park (enlarge and find us!) |
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| King Kong |
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| Wading wrens |
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| Venus Baths |
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| Reflections in Venus Baths |
A beautiful autumn day in the Grampian Mountains – clear,
blue skies, chilly and no wind – just right for a bit of exploring (the modern
way, naturally!). Completely ignoring
the instructions of the caravan park receptionist, who seemed geographically
challenged, we set out to cross the mountains to Mackenzie Falls. The road was fairly windy and steep, with
some magnificent views at times between the trees. We decided to give the 260 steps down to the
base of the falls a miss (this would have meant 260 steps back up) and walked
to the lookout instead. This area
suffered badly with bushfires in 2014 but is regenerating really well. The 2km walk was easy and well worth the
little effort, with the sunlight providing some lovely light patterns on the
vegetation and there were even a few wildflowers to photograph.
Our next stop was at Reeds Lookout, with spectacular views
across the Grampians and then another 1 km walk to The Balconies. Although only supposed to be 1km, it felt
more like 10, being uphill all the way!
The Balconies is the classic photo one always sees in advertising for
the Grampians, however the vegetation did conceal the bottom balcony a
little. Some nice scenery along the walk
to keep us interested. Our final stop of
the morning was at the Boroka Lookout with its amazing views of Halls Gap and
the valley. Our caravan park was
directly below and we were able to spot our caravan without any trouble.
Following a quick visit to the local bakery for some bread,
then an alfresco lunch at the caravan, we visited the Venus Baths. The pathway started in the Halls Gap Botanic
Gardens (no need to get excited!!!) and followed the creek until we arrived at
the pools. These were very pretty, with
some gorgeous reflections from the sandstone cliffs and a few small wrens
enjoying a paddle.
Halls Gap has been a very pleasant place to visit; we have
enjoyed the scenery and peacefulness.
2 comments:
You need to travel north quicker so you can discard those jackets. 29 deg here today. I got hotter when two wiz bangs pulled in and one where our awning should be.
Just love the Grampians ,but you should have went down the falls steps !!
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