The Grampians had always been on the list of things we had to do – but never got around to. Well we finally made it, and what an adventure it was. Stawell was a delight, especially as we had no knowledge of this town other than “The Gift” – we were only there because we could not get into Halls Gap on that night. Halls Gap and the Central Grampians were gobsmackingly good. We will never forget standing on the edge of the world at the Pinnacle, walking the Grand Canyon, or walking to the delightful Mackenzie Falls. We will have to return as the severe drought meant that many of the waterfalls were not operating – always nice to have something to come back to at the places you so enjoy.
We were at Stawell and the Grampians from 10 March up to 23 March, but left Mobi at Halls Gap to return to Sydney for a wedding and doctors appointments, between 12 to 20 March 2019. We were at Stawell for 1 night and Halls Gap for 3 days.
Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia
Getting There
St Arnaud > Stawell > Halls Gap ~ 86kms
History
The Grampians comprise four ranges of mountains up to 1000 metres above sea level, running approximately north-south.
While most people know the mountain range as the Grampians, First Nations people have always known this place as Gariwerd. This is a special place, a place central to the dreaming of First Nations people, particularly the Djab Wurrung and the Jardwadjali the traditional people of this area. Their descendents are still at Gariwerd involved in maintaining the culture and the stories of the land.
Gariwerd is a very spiritual place for First Nations people, because of the dreaming stories and the abundance of food, water and shelter it provides. This is evidenced by the number of occupation sites found in Gariwerd and the fact, that still today Aboriginal people are drawn to this place. Further evidence of the Aboriginal presence in the area is the fact that Gariwerd contains 90% of the rock art sites in Victoria. Archaeologists have dated charcoal from ancient campsites and estimate that First Nations people have lived in the Grampians region for over 10,000 years.
To read more about these First Nations people click here
Thomas Mitchell, the New South Wales Surveyor-General, named the Grampians in 1836. The arrival of Mitchell and later Edward Eyre in the 1830s signalled the beginning of European settlement in the region. Encouraged by positive reports of the district, settlers arrived to establish pastoral runs and wheat farming.
The Grampians soon became a centre for farming, mining and timber production, and a source of water. From the 1860’s the Grampians became a water source for the drier surrounding areas, and many large dams harvest the runoff from the mountains. They include Lake Wartook (1886) and Lake Lonsdale (1903). In 1969 Lake Bellfield was formed on Fyans Creek close to Halls Gap.
Settlement began at Heatherlie in 1887. The discovery of gold at Mafeking in 1900 quickly saw the population reach 10,000 but the gold soon ran out and Mafeking ceased to exist by the 1950’s. Halls Gap, named after Hall of Lexington, began as a centre for the farming and mining community but since the late 19th century has grown on tourism. Walking tracks to several features, including Mt Rosea and Sundial Peak had been built prior to World War 1 and major tourist roads were opened in the 1920’s.
Halls Gap became a venue for local holiday makers during the 1890s, and sufficient settlement occurred for a school to be opened in 1890. (It had 25 pupils in 2010). Holidays houses were built at Halls Gap and further upstream at Bellfield. The ‘Borough Huts’ built to accommodate workers and water supply rangers, formed a small village.
The Grampians were designated as state forest in 1872 and declared a national park in 1984. As the majority of the western Victoria plains have been cleared for agriculture, the remnant bushland in the Grampians National Park has become a refuge for native plants and animals. The Grampians support over 975 native plant species, including more than 75 orchid species, representing one third of the total Victorian flora. Many of these species are only found in the Grampians.
Day 1 – Sun 10 Mar – To and at Stawell
We spent a night at Stawell for no other reason than we could not get into any van parks in Halls Gap as it was the long weekend. But our day at Stawell proved a real bonus. The drive from St Arnaud to Stawell was on a good road through farmlands. We saw a few nice looking farming homesteads.
As we got closer to Stawell we began to see the Grampians provide a backdrop to our travels.
And when we got to the town we were very surprised at how large it was and how many lovely old homes and buildings it contained. So many towns in Victoria have beautiful heritage buildings… so nice to see they are renovated and maintained (better than Sydney when so many of them are “redeveloped”)
Our van park was a bit out of town, quite large and only partially full. The receptionist offered us a grassed site or one on hard packed sandy dirt. Basically we could get out there and have a look at what suited us best. The cost was $35 a night. The grassed site was a bit awkward and not all grass, so we went to a drive through dirt site and put the groundsheet down. We had no problems setting up. The park facilities are very clean but a tad dated. The camp kitchen is good. We got both Optus (our 4G modem plus my phone) and Telstra (Kerry’s phone).
After setting up we drove around looking for the tourist information office and finally agreed that it was not there, despite what the map told us. Being a Sunday there were not many people around to ask. So we parked and walked around to admire all the lovely buildings and homes.
We thought the Stawell Hall of Fame was at the main entrance to the stadium – nice gardens but no HoF.
The HoF was in fact further along but closed. We saw the plaques in the footpath through the town honouring the winners of the race each year. We were very surprised to see the first plaque was way back in the 1870s.
The “Stawell Gift” began in 1878 at the end of the gold rush, as the “Easter Gift” of ₤24 (several thousands in today’s dollars) held by the Stawell Athletic Club. It has been raced every year since, except for four years during the Second World War. Originally it was the townspeople putting together an entertainment package to happen over Easter, complete with ‘special trains’ to the event. Today it is the most prestigious footrace in Australia, with a $40,000AUD first prize. The Gift is run on a 120 m grass track in front of the 100-year-old Stawell Grandstand, on a handicap basis.
But then the rain came and we hurried back to Mobi. After a couple of hours the rain disappeared so we drove up to the Big Hill Lookout. Great views across to the Grampians.
We then drove out to the Stawell Gold Mine Observation area. There is an open area next to the mine to allow visitors to have a look. The entry to the mine is right next to the observation areas so we could see the truck coming out with the spoil. There is also a large lump of rock with a plaque telling us the gold content at 5-10g per tonne. I have to say that I expected a lot more “glitter” emanating from the back of the truck rather than a load of black coal-looking stuff.
We also read that there is a Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory 1,025m deep in the gold mine. This is studying “dark matter” – the information plaque left us none the wiser. I think its an amazing thing to be doing in Australia… Whoever thought this one up – WELL DONE. You might save the world one day.
Day 2 – Mon 11 Mar – To and at Halls Gap
It is a very short drive to Halls Gap so we left our packing until late, but still got to our van park at 11.00 – the Halls Gap Lakeside Tourist Park, about 5km out of town. They told us that we may need to wait a while as there were hundreds of vans leaving that morning. We had parked on the street so we walked around the park and found quite a few sites empty including one that is drive through with a slab. We went back and negotiated that site. But even though it was a drive through we succeeded in stuffing up the set up. We have been parking the van – backing in and drive-through for so long… hard to credit how it can still stuff up so much (very occasionally). Had to go around and come in again. But we got there. The worst aspect is that the sites are on a slope and the front of Mobi is well up in the air.
The cost was $35 a night. The park facilities are very clean and modern – but there are not many toilets and showers for this sized park. We would hate to be here at a busy time. Fire pits are available for a cost. The camp kitchen is great. We got both Optus (our 4G modem plus my phone) and Telstra (Kerry’s phone).
After setting up we went to Brambuk – the National Park and Cultural Centre. We got lots of information, with a strong focus on the central area. The NP Visitors Guide is good but the best information package we found was from the van park. We were incredibly sad to see that there were massacres of the First Nations people around this area too.
We drove into town and went on the Venus Baths walk. This is a lovely walk with some dramatic rock formation and very unusual rock pools, rated at 2 to 3 kms, depending on whether you take the loop option or not. Our walk was partly spoiled by the fact that behind us was a group of 2 women and 6 or 7 young kids – not the lovely peaceful stroll we had envisaged. All was well though, until a few of the older kids started scaling the massive curtain rocks – then the little ones were off after them like a shot. I think I was more panicked than their mums…
The pools are hard to describe – take a look at the photos. These are also in our video – click here.
Despite the raucousness of the mob of young kids we did get a chance to absorb the peace of this place. Lovely. We crossed the bridge to take the loop track back to Halls Gap. No noisy kids on this leg!
We next went out to see Lake Bellfield – a major dam just up from the van park. The water level is down but there is still lots of water there.
Day 3 – Tue 12 Mar – Halls Gap
During the night we lost power in Mobi. In the morning, I tried resetting all trip-switches and using other sockets, but we still have no power. At the office I was told there had been a blackout in the early morning and that an electrician would be out shortly to check things out. The electrician came to our van and used a hair dryer to show that there was power going into Mobi – the source and cables were ok. I went inside and flipped the switch a few times and then the power came on. But soon after Kerry put on the kettle and the switch tripped. We deduced that the kettle was faulty and put it in the bin.
We had another problem – the arm for de-flappers. This fits into a little bracket attached to the van just below the edge of the awning. The rivet holding the bracket came away so one end is loose.
This was all a bit of a worry as we are leaving to return to Sydney for a week.
We have a very important wedding to get to, and also doctor and dental appointments. Our aim was to drive the 1,066 kms to Sydney the next day. But while we were dealing with the electrical issues, it had started to rain heavily with low clouds closing in. We quickly realised we would be lucky to do any walking or viewing that day. We made a quick decision to pack The Cruiser and get on the road. We left Halls Gap at 10:00 and got home at Newport at 9:30 that night. It was a long day but we stopped and changed drivers every 2 hours. We did the return journey on 20 March 2019 – everything was fine with Mobi electricals and the fridge was still going strong. I repaired the bracket for the deflapper arm. I did leave the fridge set on battery mode before we left – just in case the power went off as the power (when its working) charges the battery anyway, and if the power fails, the battery is still there.
Day 4 – Thu 21 Mar – Halls Gap
What surprised us was that is was so dark at 7am – such a dark and cool morning. I had a little walk around and saw a pair of deer at the back of the park. Very cute.
We got away by 9 and called into the camping/touring place in town to get a new gas cylinder for our little gas burner – it is great to boil a billy (actually a stainless steel milk frother) for a coffee/tea on the road. Then we made our way around to the Mount Victory Rd to get to Wonderland Carpark – driving through some beautiful country. At the carpark we walked the 100m that was on the signpost to The Grand Canyon. But could not see anything that we would have labelled a Grand Canyon. We walked around a track, and yes, it was lovely country, but not really much of a canyon. We found ourselves back at the car park.
“This can’t be right”, I said to myself, we had not seen anything like the photos of the GC on the information panels. So I went down again, leaving a skeptical Kerry at the car, and at the stated 100m in, I saw the same signs – to the Pinnacles via the GC. So I followed that track and sure enough I did then find what is indeed a Grand Canyon. But why was there not a sign that simply said “Grand Canyon this way”. I went back to get Kerry and we absolutely loved the Canyon and the walk up. Stunning place.
We loved the giant stepping stones and the twisting walkway up the Gorge. There are 2 sets of stairs and handrails.
We walked further up hill out of the Gorge and looking down into it – great to see the Gorge set in the context of the mountains of the Grampians.
We had thought of going on to the Pinnacle from here but we talked to a couple who were returning from there. They thought that it was still a 1.5km walk or even more and that it was very steep at the end. So we headed back down on the track direct to the carpark, then drove around to Sundial Carpark. From there we had been told that the walk to the pinnacle was easier than from the Wonderland Carpark. We are always suckers for the easy option.
While it was a shorter track it was not all easy walking. There are 2 or 3 very steep walks up stone walkways, interspaced with flat shady tracks. Felt like I had been walking all day – tired legs even before we started. Must be unfit. But it is a lovely walk as we are soon up onto the ridge and there are some stunning views up there.
At one spot we have brilliant views down the escarpment – incredible.
Then we get amazing views down over Lake Bellfield.
Suddenly we saw the Pinnacle, with lots of people crawling all over it. But we still have quite a walk around to the final assault up to the actual Pinnacle – and how amazing this is. Lots of mushroom shaped rocks all different shapes and sizes, with twirled and curves on the rock edges.
The actual Pinnacle is well protected with fencing and so it should be – but what a magnificent experience. The views are awesome.
Near the Pinnacle there are a number of other headlands jutting out into the void. All opportunities for more amazing photos.
As we walked out, we saw a couple taking pictures of a very large arch in the rocks. Hard to see the arch in our photo.
The walk down was a reminder that we we had done a lot of walking that day – we were very tired. An amazing experience. I would love to have seen just a little more information about the landscape – just a few little tit-bits about an interesting tree or rock formation – good excuse for a breather too, rather than just a long haul up.
Back at the car park we had lunch and then drove down the one way Silverband Rd back to the van park. Incidentally we had been advised that a lot of the waterfalls were pretty much totally dry – we have seen that the whole country out here, and indeed all the way back to Sydney, the lands are incredibly dry. We did not go to Clematic and Silverband Falls for these reasons.
Day 5 – Fri 22 Mar – Halls Gap
Another cool and dark morning with a misty field at the end of the park. You need a jacket for the first few hours, but then it warms up. And today it really warmed up – high 30s in the afternoon.
We first drove up to Boroka Lookout, it’s not far up the Mount Victory Rd, and you can literally drive to the lookout. Which is just as well as our legs are tired after a big walking day yesterday. The views are stunning, although the blue haze makes a clear photo impossible.
From there we drove back out and got to the Reed Lookout, providing views into the Park
It is about a 1km walk, a gentle walk we reckon, to the Balconies. More amazing lookouts on the walk and when you get there. Excellent. A great gravel path out there – and stunning views.
Next was the second icon of the Grampians – Mackenzie Falls. There are options here – to go on the steep walk down to the falls (which I did) or to go out the Lookout to the Falls (which Kerry did); and/or to go to other features in the area. We went to Broken Falls first. These are pretty good Falls but tree growth right in front of the viewing platform restrict our views.
As we’d had all the steps yesterday, I opted for the Mackenzie Falls Lookout walk – 850m from the top of the steps, which were already around nearly a km from the car park. A lovely walk with the track even enough to actually look at the plants near the path… some beautiful little ground covers and flowering shrubs. Finally, (a lot longer than 850m), there was the lookout. Over I peered and there was Des (I think it was him anyway)… a few photos of the falls, and then I just stood and took in the area – incredible… multiple falls and a gorge going downstream. Then Des disappeared so I thought time to head back….
I walked down to the viewing area at the top of the Falls, where there are smaller falls taking the water to its big jump to the bottom. This is great. I looked up to the viewing platform and I was sure I saw Kerry looking down.
The descent to the rock pool is lovely as at times you are right next to the falls themselves.
At the base rock pool, the falls are stunning and well up there with any we had seen on the big drive around last year. Beautiful – great to sit aside and wonder at nature.
I noticed that there was a walk down along the river from the rock pool, so I took that. Very pretty, with many little falls to enjoy. I only went along a few hundred meters but it was great.
Then I faced the climb up – we had seen that there over 250 steps to contend with. But with many stops to let the downward walkers get through, it was not so bad. All in all it was an excellent experience. Except Des didn’t tell me he was extending his walk – so I ended up walking way back down to the top of the steep steps to look for him…. then he appeared.
Back at the van park, it was filling up quickly. It had gotten warm through the day so I went for a soak in the pool – lots of people but very small pool, just as well that all I wanted was to cool off. Later a motor home pulled in and said that they had been told to get onto our site. We went up to the office and quickly sorted out this misunderstanding. They took the site next to us.
We really loved our time at the Grampians and are sure we will be back.
To see photos associated with this post, click here
To see a video (9 min) of our time at The Grampians, featuring the Vends Baths, The Grand Canyon, The Pinnacle and Mackenzie Falls, click here