The Grampians

The Grampians are a sandstone mountain range to the west of Melbourne and can be reached by a very good freeway for most of the way, passing through wheat and grazing country. We stopped the first night at Ballarat which owes its prosperity to the Gold Rush of the late 1800s. There are many grand Victorian buildings to be seen here.

Ballarat is also renowned for the famous Eureka Stockade rebellion when the gold diggers recognised the inequalities between themselves and the privileged who held the land and government. In 1854, about 800 miners, led by Peter Lalor, burnt their licences and built a stockade at Eureka, prepared to fight for their rights. The short lived rebellion was successful and the licence fee was abolished.

Halls Gap is a very popular small town in the heart of the Grampians and the starting point for some good walking trails. In Halls Gap, there is the Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre which houses a poignant photographic history of the area's original inhabitants. Very interesting, with lots of artefacts and aboriginal paintings on display.

Early in the day, we visited the Silverband Falls following a trail through the bush. A very sensory walk as we heard and saw lots of different birds, especially cockatoos and the aroma from the gum and myrtle was all around.

The bushwalk we chose to do was starting from the Sundial car park and walking up to the Pinnacle overlooking Halls Gap. This starts as a gentle walk then makes its way up the hill through the bush and some fairly steep rocky steps. It is 2.1km from the car park and it took us an hour but the view was well worth the effort. Spectacular scenery!

(Many thanks to Louise for her delicious fruit cake which gave us much needed nourishment at the top). It took us a further hour and a bit to get back to the van and then down to the Lakeside Tourist Park where we were treated to flocks of cockatoos all around us and a mob of kangaroos who hopped into the campground in the early evening!

Highlight of the day: Reaching the top of The Pinnacle again.