North to the Grampians

Having decided at the end of the Great Ocean Road that it really was getting too cold and wet to continue trundling along the coast at the bottom end of Australia, we drove due north from Warrnambool for about 200km - our first real adventure away from the coast - to the Grampians National Park. At the tiny community of Halls Gap we camped for two nights in the middle of town - actually it seemed like the campsite IS the town, with the necessary shops and services arranged around it.

We soon found that we hadn't quite escaped the chill and drizzle of the coast, and were in bed in the back of the van by about 9:30pm! (it's better than sitting outside in those conditions...) The next morning we were again awoken by rain and feared the worst. But after a trip to the excellent local aboriginal cultural centre (a good wet weather activity - complete with roaring log fire!) the weather cheered up and we felt confident enough to bother ourselves with actually seeing some of the national park.

In the north of the park we visited a couple of aboriginal 'rock art' sites which were interesting enough, but probably more interesting were the unsealed roads that we had to drive down to reach them. We probably spent a couple of hours trundling along at less than 20km/h, trying to avoid the numerous potholes and practically shaking the van to pieces on the more corrugated stretches. Thankfully Tara the Tarago proved up to the challenge and we didn't need to call for help - good job, as my mobile wouldn't have worked out there anyway!

Driving around on that Saturday we were treated to loads of encounters with the local wildlife - lots of roos, some in herds grazing in the late afternoon, and even one that tried to stare us down before blithely hopping off. We even came across a herd (I have no idea if that is the proper collective noun) of emus. Hannah had also seen an echidna on the roadside on the drive up from the coast, so now apart from platypuses and crocs, we'd seen pretty much every big famous aussie wildlife species in the wild. Thankfully our snake count is still on zero, though.

On the way back to Halls Gap we stopped at a famous lookout point and looked out upon the strange scenery of the Grampians. They were named so by a Scotsman (predictably) who was reminded of home by the landscape. Strange, as I have been to Scotland several times, and don't recall seeing loads of scrub and gum trees, or lots of craggy orange rock outcrops. Or kangaroos. But I could be wrong.

Another chilly night lay ahead so we bought some firewood from the shop at Halls Gap and kept warm beside the fire all evening, totally entranced by the flames. We even cooked some jacket spuds on it and ate them with beans and cheese. Not quite bush camping yet but close enough...!

Robin