The Grampians

Australia 2013 Backblip #17

Up early at our boutique hotel in Port Fairy and our first cooked breakfast of the trip. We had home made granola first and the Tim had baked beans, bacon and toast whilst Sharon scrambled egg, bacon and toast. We then went for a walk out to the coast at Griffiths Island.

Sharon then drove inland to Penshurst (which on the way took in Kirkstall) and we stopped at Mount Rouse which is a dormant volcano. First of all we walked down into the crater, which has a small wood and a very green pond at the bottom, populated by ducks. On the way back up, we noticed a kangaroo on the far side of the crater. Further investigation showed that there were many kangaroos, all around us! We then drove up towards the summit and walked the last bit for good views over the surrounding area and up towards the Grampians. It was very flat! We did mean to call in at the Volcano Discovery Centre, but it doesn't open on Mondays. We then drove on to Dunkeld and had lunch.

Next, we drove into the Grampians National Park. We were looking for somewhere to stop for a drink and some nibbles so turned off the main road when there was a signpost for a car park at Mount William. It was signposted at 10km, but little did we know how thin, windy and high it would get! We did get some great views from the top carpark (we didn't walk to the summit), and drove back down very carefully, stopping whenever we had a view through the trees. We did see some lizards here too, some up to 8 inches long.

We then drove on to Halls Gap, bought milk and then found our accommodation. We were happy to spot a kookaburra in the car park! We're in a cabin in the bush, called The Treehouse, for a couple of days. Shortly after unpacking, we noticed another kookaburra in the tree outside watching us, and with more looking found five! Not so special after all!

Took a short drive back to Lake Bellfield and took a short walk along the dam wall. We saw lots (and lots) of kangaroos on this drive - some outside people's gardens, others just at the side of the road. There were even some in the playground! Wherever you'd find rabbits in the UK, here they have kangaroos. And they're a bit bigger!