After our quick break we headed North again through the National Park arriving at Halls Gap around lunch time. We had reserved a site a Lakeside Caravan Park near Lake Belford. This is a Top Tourist park and one of the nicest ones we have come across. Our site was in a lovely setting near the rear of the park backing onto the mountains with nice shade trees. It is a fairly large park with two main sections and amenity blocks. They were kept fairly clean during our stay with the top block set up as ensuites. I'll give 3.5 stars. Another highlight of the park was a wood heated swimming pool. This was kept at a lovely 30 degrees Celsius. Sandra and I enjoyed it most days during our stay although it did get busy and it was best if you avoided times with too many kids. Another unique feature for a caravan park in a National Park is that they allowed fires and actually supplied fire drums and wood (at a price). Sandra and I booked a drum and some wood which was delivered to our site later in the day. All in all a great little caravan park and one we hope to return to one day.
After we got setup we took a short drive to look at the dam on Lake Belford. Our caravan park is actually located below the wall. Sandra and I walked across the wall and back for a bit of exercise and a couple of photos. We then drove into Halls Gap to visit the Tourist Information. It was fairly busy with only one staff member but we eventually got the information we wanted and picked up a few maps to aid in our next few days activities. The Park itself appears to be free but the walking maps were sold at a nominal fee. We also took in the Brambuk Cultural Centre which is located behind the Visitor Centre. Was well worth a look with quite a bit of aboriginal art and history on display. Again there was no entry fee but there was a gold coin donation box which we contributed to.
We returned to the caravan park and had a late afternoon swim before planning out our next few days.
Saturday morning we got an early start as we wanted to complete the 6Km walk to "The Pinnacle" before it got too warm. There were only about half a dozen cars in the Wonderland parking lot when we arrived. Loaded up our backpack, water, and camera for our climb. The beginning of the climb took us through the rock formation called the "Grand Canyon". It wasn't the famous American one but it was still fairly impressive.
After a lot more climbing and stairs we made it to "Silent Street" which is a deep narrow passage that you pass through before taking another steep set of stairs.
A bit more climbing with lots of sweating and a few breaks saw us arrive at "The Pinnacle" There were only a few other groups there so we got to spend quite a bit of time enjoying the view down towards Halls Gap and Lake Belford. We got quite a few pictures and enjoyed a snack on the top before we began our trek back to the car.
We took a slightly different route down which was somewhat flatter but longer. Saw some really neat rock formations on the way down near the top. Eventually we returned to the main path and returned down to the car park. The walk was really busy by this point and we passed at least a hundred people heading up to the peak. Amazing how many of them weren't wearing hats or carrying water bottles.
The parking lot was full and cars were lined up the road where we had come in by the time we returned to the car.
From here we headed off in the car again with our next stop at Boroka Lookout on Mount Difficult Road. The lookouts are attached to the parking lot so no big walks at this stop. Stunning views of Halls Gap and surrounding area including the Pinnacle.
Back in the car we headed further West to Reed Lookout & The Balconies. Reed Lookout is attached to the parking lot and give a view to the South West. The Balconies was a short 2Km return walk which was mostly flat. You arrive at a couple lookouts which overlook a rock formation called "The Balconies". Well worth the walk. The area is fenced off but there were still idiots climbing out and posing on the edge of the cliff.
We were fairly tired by this point so began heading back towards our caravan. We took the Silverband Road and stopped at the Sundial picnic area for a late lunch. Not too many tables so we found a shaded area and ate in the car. After lunch we continued on a winding one way section of the road to Silverband Falls. Another short 1.5Km return walk took us in to the Falls. They were a bit unique as the water coming down the falls appeared to disappear into the ground at the bottom. We made our way back to the caravan park and enjoyed a nice warm swim to relax our aching muscles. The fitbit showed our daily effort at about 14Km with a fair degree of climbing up or down. We had planned a campfire but chose an early night instead.
Sunday morning we had a bit more relaxed start before we headed back West towards Mackenzie Falls. We did the more difficult walk first which went to the base of the falls. Was about 2Km return but involved a number of stairs. We didn't find it nearly as challenging as "The Pinnacle" walk. There were a number of different view points to see different portions of the falls. They were very impressive and the water was pouring over all stages. We got some nice pictures with the sun shining through the mist they generated. We enjoyed a good 15 minutes relaxing and enjoying the view at the bottom.
We returned to the carpark via a lookout for Broken Falls. These are much smaller than Mackenzie Falls but beautiful in their own way. They are on the same river just above where Mackenzie Falls begin.
We finished off our trip to the falls by taking the 2Km return walk around the rim where you can view the falls from above. A lovely view but we would definitely recommend the walk to the base to really appreciate their power. That being said the base walk may not be suitable if you aren't in reasonable shape or have knee problems.
We took a short drive out to Lake Wartook which is another huge dam area. Lovely looking and accessible to boats it would appear.
We decided to a different path home which followed the Old Mill Road. The road is unsealed and described as 4WD. The Smith Mill Campground is near the beginning of the road and is suitable for small or larger caravans (special area). There appears to be toilets and showers and could be a nice area to camp. That being said I wouldn't take our caravan from the Halls Gap end as the main road was very winding and hilly. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad if you came from Horsham?? The 4WD track was narrow but was dry and there were no overly difficult sections. Other than meeting a few vehicles the route was almost as quick as the main road. Once we came out the end of the road we returned to the campground via Mount Difficult Road and Mount Victory Road.
We enjoyed another swim at the pool and a relaxing afternoon. The pool was pretty busy with young children so we had to huddle in a corner. They were well behaved but exuberant! We enjoyed a BBQ and a nice campfire to finish off the day. Very nice!
Monday morning we set out to explore the Southern end of the Grampians. We returned to Dunkeld but took the Victoria Valley Road this time for part of the journey. This road involved a bit of climbing to begin with but eventually ended up taking a more rural route back to Dunkeld. We topped up the diesel there and checked out a few of the local stores. A very nice looking small town. There is a nice walk there called the Dunkeld Arboretum. Is supposed to be nice early in the morning or evening when a lot of wildlife is around.
We headed a few kilometres North of town where we did the Piccaninny walk. The carpark is not well marked and the short road in is rough and narrow. There was one other couple just finishing the walk when we arrived. The walk was about 2.5Km return with a fairly gradual climb to the peak. The path isn't very even so you needed to keep your eyes open for logs, rocks, etc. There were a lot of grass trees along the walk but most had been damaged in a fire. Most were recovering but some were all black. From the peak you got a good view of Dunkeld, the surrounding pastoral area, and Mount Abrupt. Very nice and we had it all to ourselves. Nice sunny day with a bit of wind as you can see from Sandra's hair.
We headed back North stopping at Jimmy Creek campground for our picnic lunch. Not really suitable for larger caravans but did have a number of bush setting sites and toilets. We continued North again after lunch before turning on the Mount William Road. This winds and climbs some 10Km up towards the summit of Mount William which is the highest peak in the Grampians. There is a carpark located about 2Km from the summit where hikers need to stop. A road continues on to the top for access to the communication towers but is gated and locked. This walk particularly the start would be one of the steepest walks we have done without stairs. There were several stops to rest the legs and grab some extra breaths along the way. That being said it was a great walk with some incredible views. It is amazing how the view changes as you rise the 250M elevation along the walk. From the top you truly felt like the king of the world looking out over the park and other mountains.
We enjoyed a good 20 minutes at the top taking in the views from different aspects. We had a drink and a bit of a snack as well before heading back to the car. The walk back down was a bit easier on the bodies although the legs were still feeling the burn. Got lots more photos on the way down from different viewpoints as well.
Back at the caravan we enjoyed another swim with the pool being much less crowded. We had drinks with our neighbours before another easy BBQ meal. We planned on another fire but struggled to get it started as the wind had come up. We gave up and enjoyed a shower and a quiet night in the caravan. I realized I didn't mention that there are numerous birds and wildlife that call the park home as well. Lots of cockatoos, parrots, kookaburras, kangaroos, and emus to name a few. Really fun to see all the foreign tourists enjoying meeting Australian wildlife up close.
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