On Thursday we toured through the northern Grampians, taking Roses Gap Road through to Wartook and onto Halls Gap. Whilst we retraced some of the roads covered the previous day, today was the day to take the longer walks. We were really taken with Lake Lonsdale, a vision of mirrored blues and distant ranges. Our walks included the Mackenzie Falls Lookout, the Balconies, Sundial Lookout and the Grand Canyon. We also called into the Boroka Lookout for views over Halls Gap and the plains to the north of the Grampians. The entire trip including walks took about 7 hours. It was a great day.
On Friday we drove down through the southern Grampians. Our first stop was Lake Bellfield, just outside Halls Gap, followed by Mt William, where paved road takes you 10k up to the carpark. The walk to the summit is a further 1.8k up the Park Rangers road. Barbara made it to the top whilst Chris managed 1.2k uphill before meeting Barbara on her way back down, when Chris decided that enough was enough and it was time to head back down as well. (After all there was a warning sign at the beginning of the walk that is was a strenuous walk!)
The drive further south to Dunkeld took us down the eastern side of the southern Grampians. On the return trip we detoured through the Victoria Valley. All roads were paved, however the Victoria Valley Road was mostly a single lane of bitumen. We met very few cars and it was easy work driving the motor home. We were lucky to strike a time when there was little traffic, especially as the drive up Mt William would be a bit hairy in a big motor home if you had to deal with lots of oncoming traffic whilst negotiating bends and the odd low hanging overhead foliage.
The weather set in as we neared Dunkeld, so we saw the mountains in a different light - the moody lighting and rainbows were a treat in themselves.
Tomorrow we leave the Grampians, a place high on the list of areas visited. If you like bushwalking you could easily spend a week here and Halls Gap is a pretty little village with plenty of accommodation styles and good coffee.
In signing off, we want to thank Jim Cox for recommending the Grampians to Chris. To think originally it wasn't even on our schedule!
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