Enroute today, we stopped at Bendigo for some minor equipment needs (gaslight mantles) and a look at the buildings in the main business distriet.
They were awesome and reminded Sue and I of many of the fine buldtngs in the city section of Sydney. Ornate window arches and cast iron trimmings made them a standout of the country townsities we had visited.
We arrived at the Gramptans about 3:00 pm and chose Jimmys Creek as our camping ground. We will be relatively alone, but are told to expect quite afew visitors from Boxing Day on
We spent Chrtstmas Eve singing carols and doing the traditional things associated with this evening. We lit Helen Goodacre's Christmas candles and sparklers. Santa was left some treats under our Christmas tree - a young eucalpyt. We left a carrot and water for the reindeer, although some concern
was expressed that the Red deer we saw this afternoon may beat Rudolph and his friends to this particular treat.
Christmas Day started early - as you would expect - with present opening, followed by a drive to the top of Mt William so that we could get reception on the mobile phone for contacting our families. This was an extremely pleasant exercise, as the view was
spectacular and the contact with family great.
We returned and had a lazy morning as a precursor to a salad with ham, followed by a Christmas pudding cooked in the billy over an open .fire. Talk about a bush Christmas!
After lunch, we traveled to Lake Belfield and the children tried out their new fishing gear - rods, reels etc. They adapted to it very quickly and by the end of the afternoon., they were casting like professionals and managing to sort out most of their tangles. Santa's faith in them was rewarded and their parents sighed a deep, outward expression of relief.
The day warmed, after a cool start and we eventully reached 32C.
The air mattress repair appears to have been successful and I had a blissful nights sleep, last night.
Boxing Day was our first serious day 's walking of the trip, with the children testing out their practice sessions at the Warrumbungles carrying packs. This was their first attempt at carrying all of their requirements for the day - water, lunch, snacks, rain gear, jumper etc.
We went first to Reid's Lookout and walked out to the Balconies or Jaws of Death. This is the most recognised Grampians icon and certainly the most photographed. We encountered a pot pouri of nationalities on the short walk there and back and felt proud to be natives of this country on the basis of the praise they chose to extol on Australia. After Sue had taken the basic tourist photograph of the kids and I way out on the edge of the Balconies, we headed off in search of quieter pastures.
Next stop was Boroka Lookout, a popular lookout. facing east, that can be reached entirely by car. This gives views over the northern end of Halls Gap and back across to Stawell. The view was spectacular and we perched on some rocks and ate lunch.
After lunch we headed for the Sundial picnic area, which is the jumping off point for several walks in the section of the park called the Wonderland Walks. From here we walked to Sundial Peak. This was a relatively easy walk of about 45 minutes and resulted tn views of the northern end of Lake Belfield and Halls Gap. We were undisturbed on this walk by anybody else and eryoyed the experience as a result. The lookout faced east and as part of the Serra Range, it looked toward the Mt William Range.
The Grampians is basically made up of three ranges of mountains running roughly north-south. These are the Mt William, Serra and Victoria Ranges. Major Thomas Mitchell explored the area in three separate excursions from 1836. He named them after mountains he was reminded of in his native Scotland. He was followed by Edward Eyre and George Robinson and it was their favourable reports on the area that led to squatters coming to the area in the 1840 's.
The Selection Acts of the 1860 's led to the greater subdivision of the area. Smaller lots were occupied and farming began in closer settlement.
The greatest boon to the area came with a gold rush following the discovery of gold by the Emmett brothers - Phillip, Robert, Frank and Arthur. Centred at the town of Mafeking, this led to an eventual population of 10 000 by the end of that year ! However, only about one hundred thousand pounds in gold were extracted and by the end of 1902 people were leaving in droves. There was some resurgence in the depression of the 1930 's but essentially, the town had been left to a few old timers. Bushfires in 1960 wiped out the last remaining miners huts and all that remains now are ruins and mine shafts.
Day four of the Grampians saw us undertake our most challenging bush walk of the trip to date. We went south towards Dunkeld and undertook the very steep 3 km track up Mt Abrupt.
Commencing at 9:30 am and with Sue in the lead, we struck off up the sandy track, quite awe struck by the towering mountain above us. We all felt skeptical about our chances of completion, but we intended to at least give it a go.
The first 1000 metres was reasonable track, with a steady but not impossible grade. This was followed by an extremely steep and at times arduous slope and an ever increasingly rocky footing. With plenty of rests and lots of encouragement to all of the party, we reached the ridge that led to the swnmit and were struck by the incredible view.
A further 500 metres of rocky track, over exposed heath vegetation and we had reached the last peak before the eventual summit. At this stage Sue, Sam and Sarah chose - reluctantly - to stay behind whilst Chris and I attempted the final stage to the top. Unfortunately, our initial exploration of the way ahead turned into the ascent - I say unfortunately, because, as we did not actually think we were climbing to the top at first, we had forgotten to get the camera from Sue.
However, this aside, we clambered and struggled to the top of the mountain and stood, triumphantly, under the trig station at the top. The views were the most amazing I have seen. Visibility was reduced by a haze, but we could still see 90 km in all directions. The panoramic views were inspiring and Chris and I soaked them in, whilst consuming our lunch and waving to the troops below.
We returned to camp tired and rested for the afternoon before rewarding ourselves with a hot shower from the solar shower late in the day.
Another great day !
For our last day in the Grampians NP, we chose to tour by car and in doing so gain the full perspective of what the park has to offer.
After a visit to the NP Visitors Centre for some souvenirs and postcards, we headed north to Mt Zero along a dusty and at times rough, unsealed road. A small parking area and a 500m walk gave way to our first sighting of Koori rock art at the Gulgwn Marya Shelter. This means little hands, as the hand prints on offer here were done by children. Interesting, too, that they were prints and not stencils.
We headed south and happened upon a newly opened camping area at the end of Plantation Rd, called Mt Stapleton Camping Area. It features raised tent sites, individual caravan sites and biologic toilets. Another feature of the camping ground was its close proximity to the Ngmadjidji Shelter - another Koori art site. The camping ground looks very bare at the moment, but a few years and some tree growth and this will be an excellent facility.
We continued south by a variety of secondary and primary roads until we stopped at the Red Rock Picnic Area, which is situated off Red Rock Rd and features minimun shade and a wet area, or lagoon.
The water birds were abundant and so were the reptiles, with the kids spotting our second snake of the tour. Much fright, no danger.
After a lunch of sandwiches, fruit and Arrowroot biscuits, we continued south to the Manja Shelter or Cave of Hands.
This was the most spectacular of the art sites we visited for the day and featured hand stencils, emu and kangaroo tracks, figures and other doodlings by ancient artists. There were over 90 hand stencils in this one cave and we all felt moved.
The visitors book nearby was scathing in its attack on the park for the lack of clear sign posting leading to this spot and for once I agreed. Whilst the signs got us to the car park, there was no clear indication where the track
commenced or how far it was to the cave. Given that the walk was slightly more than one kilometre, this was significant on a hot day.
That aside, it was well worth the walk in, evenfor tired legs from the day before.
We did some back road driving for the next hour and cut through the Victoria Valley down the Glenelg River Rd, before turning onto Green Creek Rd. This was all lovely country, although the view from the road was quite limiting.
We eventually cut across the Serra Range through Burchell Gap and joined the now familiar Grampinns Tourist Rd - the main north-south road running the length of the Grampians.
From here, it was only 10 kms back to camp and we relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon, after
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The promised southerly change arrived in late afternoon and we started our pack up procedures in
blustery conditions. We had found that pre-packing the night before saved a great deal of time on the morning when we had to move camp. Wlth Nelson ahead of us and hopefully some fishing and swimming for four days, we prepared to say our good byes to this wonderful. place.
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