Wonders

The Pinnacle Lookout, Mt Victory, Victoria

"Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day,
I've got a wonderful feeling, everything's going my way"
~ Oscar Hammerstein

I know I should have gone colour here, but I just loved the drama that this mono conversion provides.

The sun was breaking on the hills when I woke this morning and it stayed there all day. The heavy overnight rainfall seemed to have blown the storm out and the forecasted showers through the day never arrived. This is more like it Victoria! :-)

The neighbours dropped by for breakfast. Although there were several Roos, it was a mother and joey who spend most of the time in the "back garden" away from the others. I munched on my bacon buttie while they seemed content with the grass. Heh, lets face it, their chances of sharing my food was next to zero! Besides, there is a strict "no feeding the wildlife" policy. The long zoom was retrieved from the bag and I shot some from the verandah while they ate.

Today was spent in the hills. After a trip to the information centre to pick up a map and some local knowledge, it was off to do some exploring. First on the list was the Pinnacle.

The guide/map describes this as a strenuous walk and as I huffed and puffed my way up the hill I thought I was so out of shape. I don't know if it was encouraging or not that most people I met were the same, but it did mean I wasn't alone in any case! :-) I think this was a good indicator of what to expect in the Red Centre walks although I'm sure there will still be the added element of additional heat to take account of. Fluids, I discovered are totally essential and I made full use of the recommended 2 litres. The landscape was gorgeous and totally different to anything I'd seen. On the lower parts of the walk, the path is lined with forest and brush but as you climb higher this gives way to just the most wonderful landscapes of bare rock, hewn through centuries of erosion. In spite of the torrential overnight rains, there was little evidence, although the creeks that flow through the Grand Canyon and higher up, down to the Bridal Falls were full and flowing. I met a Melbourne couple coming down who had said they tried walking up yesterday afternoon but said that the canyon was just impassable due to the amount of water.

The paths themselves are just the rocks. The guide said there would be some rock hopping involved and it wasn't joking, although going up was a lot less hazardous in parts than coming down, with some greasiness on some patches from the rain. The sight that you beheld though on reaching the top was breathtaking though and well worth the effort. As with all of the lookouts I visited today, the views eastwards across the Mt William range, Lake Bellfield and beyond are just stunning. Turn around and you see across the Victoria Valley and Mt Difficult range. Vast canopies of forest interspersed with bodies of water, roads and settlements as far as the eye can see. On the horizon are summits of other hills and their surrounding slopes. It truly is a beautiful sight. One that reminded me more of home than any I've seen so far. I had a spot of lunch, sitting on the rocks overlooking the valley before descending back to the car park. The guide tells you of a different route back but I think I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere because I ended up thrashing through scrub for a while before arriving at a narrow crevice, through which I could see the Grand Canyon path I had take up. Clambering through and down I made it back on course and down the the car.

Next stop was the Mackenzie Falls. All of the lookouts and walks have their own starting car parks and the drives through, up and over the ranges are every bit as beautiful as the walks themselves. Gosh, but they love tight turning roads here. This is definitely a drivers paradise. To reach the bottom of the falls, you are taken down a laid pathway. Like most things here it is immaculately maintained and a lovely experience in itself. The walking guide warned of steep, sloppy steps but while the steps were steep in places (and uneven heights which is always exciting when your foot falls just a little further than it expects) the walk down was uneventful. The falls themselves were stunning. I chatted with a guy who'd been there a few months ago and said they were just a trickle but all the heavy rain had certainly meant today they put on a show for me. So there were some pros to all that rain after all. The fast flowing water made for some lovely photo opportunities. Heh, the trip back up wasn't quite so easy and a couple of strategic stops along the way to admire the view were in order.

I planned to make as much of the day as possible. After all, who knew what tomorrow would bring. Driving back towards Halls Gap, I stopped off first at the Reed lookout which gave another breathtaking scene over the Victoria Valley, Lake Wartook and the Mt Difficult range, before wandering up to the balconies and the rock outcrops that give the lookout it's name. The last stop of the day, as the sun set, was the Boroka lookout, offering easterly and south easterly views down the Mt William and Mt Victory ranges. Unfortunately there wasn't much colour in the sky but it was still a peachy end to the day. I did encounter my first Roo crossing in front of the car on my way to Boroka, a safe distance away at 100m or so.

And with that, came to an end my first week in Oz. Damn! Only 3 weeks left! :-))