21 Feb: Warrnambool to The Grampians
Everybody had a lie in this morning. François was feeling well
enough to
eat some
breakfast
and
Gaelle's
arm is
slowly
getting
better
(hurrah!).
First stop, the visitors centre, to get some ideas for today's
outings
and to
upload our
Internet
pages
(yes, I
can hear
you
cheer!).
Next
stop,
Safeways
to stock
up on
provisions followed
by a
BBQ
lunch
on
Cannon
Hill. The
free gas /
electric
BBQs at
picnic
sites
all
around
Australia
are really
great.
They help
with fire
prevention
and are
really
handy for
tourists
like
us.
In the afternoon we drove to Tower Hill Reserve for a couple of
walks
around the
volcano.
The
volcano
first
erupted
about
30'000
years
ago
and a
large lake
formed in
its
crater.
Subsequent
eruptions
formed
small
islands
creating
islands
and small
hills. We
walked
around the
crater,
meeting a
couple of
emus on
the way -
how
amazing
to
see
these
big
birds
in
the
wild
only
a
couple
of
metres
away.
On
the
second
walk
we
saw a
Copperhead
snake
(arrgh -
it's a
venomous
snake...)
and 4
koalas.
The birds
in
Australia
are
magnificent
and very
colourful;
here we
saw
lorikeets
and blue
wrens.
We drove inland, direction the Grampians and stopped for the
night in a
National
Park's
campsite
at Jimmy's
Creek,
accompanied
by
wallabies.
 |
 |
 |
| An emu in the
wild
at
Tower
Hill |
A lowland
copperhead
snake
we
met
at
Tower
Hill |
A koala at
Tower
Hill |
22 Feb: The Grampians
We visited the Brumbuk Cultural Centre in Halls Gap to get some
information
about the
Grampians.
We saw an
interesting
film there
about the
local Aboriginal
culture
and
beliefs.
We left
with a
couple
of
walking
maps and a
few
shelter
leaflets
to keep us
occupied.
In town
there was
an
assembly
of Hotrod
cars, much
to
Francois'
delight,
so
we stopped
for a
look.
Next we did a lovely hike through the spectacular Grand Canyon
and up to
the
stunning
Pinnacle
Lookout,
from which
there is a
great
view
of
the
surrounding
ranges,
the
plain and
Lake
Bellfield.
Next stop,
the
MacKenzie
Falls; the
visitor
centre
promised
us that
the
water
flow
is
good all
year
round.
François
and Sophie
decided to
do
the
less
strenuous
walk to
the
lookout
overlooking
the falls.
Jenny
and
Gaelle
walked
down to
the base
of the
falls,
where we
refreshed
our
feet
in
the
cool
waters
- lovely
!
Then we headed to Ngamadjidj, to discover our first shelter with
aboriginal
rock art
paintings.
There are
remnants
of 16
white
painted
figures on
this
panel;
interesting
but not in
the same
league
as
Lascaux
or
Chauvet
!
We
continued
along on
a dirt
track
for
another
8
kms to
Gulgurn
Manja
shelter,
where
there are
red
adult
and
child
handprints,
emu tracks
(->
->
->) and
bars ( I I
I I ). Oh
yes, we
saw an
echidnas
on the
shelter
walk too,
but it was
a bit
shy
and
didn't
want to be
photographed
!
There
are
over a
hundred
shelters
in the
Grampians,
but only 5
of them
are open
to
visitors.
We were
left
wondering
what
secrets
the others
held...
We barbequed sausages at a picnic site for dinner, with the
setting
sun
illuminating
Hollow
Mountain
in the
backdrop,
before
moving the
campervan
to a
quiet
clearing
to spend
the night.
 |
 |
 |
| Hotrod car
show
at
Halls
Gap |
François on
top
of
the
world
at
the
Pinnacle
! |
Gaelle at
MacKenzie
Falls |
 |
 |
 |
| Painted
figures
at
Ngamadjidj
shelter |
Painted hands
and
bars
at
Gulgurn
Manja
shelter |
François
enjoying
the
BBQ
at
Mount
Zero
picnic
site |
23 Feb: The Grampians
We decided this morning to stay another day in the Grampians to
do another
hike and
visit some
more
shelters.
After a
long
homework
session
we
set out
on
the
Hollow
Mountain
walk a
couple of
kilometres
from our
overnight
spot. It
was
advertised
as a
medium to
hard
walk
but
we
ended
up
climbing
up rocks
and over
boulders
with
exposed
ledges,
holding on
tightly to
the girls
hands ! It
took us
an
hour to
reach
the
summit,
from where
we had had
lovely
views over
the
surrounding
region. We
enjoyed
exploring
the caves
and
shelters
near
the
summit,
before
descending
under a
blazing
sun
and 37
degrees
Celsius.
We've
gained 20
degrees in
the last 2
days since
we
left
the
coast...
After lunch we drove to the west of the Grampians to visit a
couple
more
aboriginal
rock art
shelters.
After
almost 10
kms of
dirt
roads
we
arrived
at
Manja.
We
decided
to
rest an
hour
or so
in
the
cool
of
the
campervan
before
setting
off for
the 20
minute
hike
to
the
shelter.
Manja was
more
impressive
than the
two
previous
shelters
we'd seen;
there are
many hand
stencils,
emu tracks
and
human
stick
figures.
The walk
was
slightly
spoilt by
the
horseflies
which were
intent on
sucking
our blood,
but we
escaped
with only
one
bite
between
us... Next
stop
Billimina
shelter,
where we
were
rewarded
with many
painted
bars in
horizontal
rows as
well as
human
stick
figures
and emu
tracks
after
another
short hike
through
the
bush;
we
disturbed
a wallaby
along the
way. We
camped for
the night
a
kilometre
or so from
the
Billimina
shelter,
in the
bush with
only
the
noise
of
birds
chirping
to keep us
company.
 |
 |
| A cave up on
Hollow
Mountain |
Hand stencils
at
Manja
shelter |
24 Feb: The Grampians to Maldon
A second bad night's sleep for no apparent reason... We even went
as far as
recording
the
orientation
of our bed
to
understand
what
factors
may
interfere
with our
usually
good
night's
sleep...
François'
sleep was
so
disturbed
that he
resorted
to
watching
the
film
Pearl
Harbour
between
2am and
4:30
am...!
This morning we drove from the western Grampians to Stawell via
Rose Gap.
We decided
to treat
the girls
to a
McDonald's
meal
whilst
we
consulted
our mails.
However we
must have
found
the
only
McDonald's
in South
Australia
without an
Internet
connection...
After
lunch we
visited
the 5th
and last
remaining
shelter,
the
Bunjil
Shelter,
in the
east
Grampians.
Here
Bunjil,
the
local
aboriginal
equivalent
of God,
who
created
their
land,
their
people,
their
animals,
their
plants,
their
religion
and their
law is
painted
in
a rock
shelter
together
with his
two
helpers
(dingoes).
The
shelter is
easily
accessible
but
somewhat
less inspiring than
the other
4
aboriginal
rock art
shelters
we've seen
in the
Grampians.
The
boulder
rocks
surrounding
the
shelter are
beautiful
however.
We then hit the road, following the Goldfields touring route from
Stawell
through
Avoca and
Maryborough
(with it's
impressive
train
station
built in
1890) on
to Maldon,
where we
spend the
night in a
National
park's
campsite.
Today we
lost 15
degrees
compared
to
yesterday
despite
the
skies
being
beautifully
clear and
the
minimum
forecast
for the
night
is 8
degrees -
brrhhh...
 |
 |
 |
| Dirt track to
aboriginal
rock
art
shelter |
Benjil and his
2
helpers |
Rock boulders
around
Benjil
shelter |
25 Feb: Bendigo
After a good night's sleep (is a north-south orientation
better?)
and
breakfast,
the girl's
completed
their
diaries
and did
their
homework.
We are
getting
more and
more worn
down by
Gaelle's
attitude
and
tantrums
during her
daily work
sessions
and
our meal
times,
which we are at
present
powerless
to cease.
Even the
threat of
sending
her home
to
boarding
school is
having little,
to
no effect... We
knew it
wouldn't
always be
easy
spending 6
months
with the
kids, 24
hours, 7
days a
week, but...
We drove from Maldon to Bendigo where we headed straight for the
Central
Deborah
Gold Mine.
We went on
an
informative
75 minute
guided
tour of
the mine,
visiting
the
galleries
61 metres
below
ground
kitted out
with hard
hats and
miner's
lights.
After the
tour
we
were
able
to
try our
and at
gold
panning.
Between
us, we
found 3
tiny
pieces of
gold ! We
then went
on a tram
tour
around the
town on
the
"Talking
Tram" with
a stop off
at the
historic
tram
museum.
When
the
tram
as a
means
of
public
transport
was ceased
in 1972, a
trust
bought
everything
for a
symbolic
$1 to
continue
running
the trams
as
a
tourist
attraction.
The tram
we went on
dated back
to the
30's.
Late afternoon we drove to Echuca, where we had a BBQ dinner at a
picnic
area with
a
playground,
before
moving on
to a very
remote
camping
area on
the edge
of the
river
Murrey for
the
night.
 |
 |
| A trip on the
Bendigo
Talking
Tram |
Bendigo tram
museum |
BACK
| 
