Bunjil and the Boulders

Halls Gap Gardens Caravan Park has lovely grounds and some resident kangaroos and emus that can often be seen wandering around, including near the cabins and camp sites.

Lake Bellfield is a man-made lake and is the water supply for Halls Gap and surrounding areas. It was finished in about 1966. This morning after making friends with a local mother and child we went on a walk along the dam wall. 

The views across the still waters were quite okay.

After some lunch we drove away from the Grampians, towards Stawell before turning off for the Black Range State Park. This is a hilly reserve with plenty of rock boulders, trees and wallabies. The other day, at Brambuk Cultural Centre we heard all about Bunjil. This afternoon we viewed the only known painting of Bunjil. It is protected in a small cave / rock overhand and surrounded by security fencing to preserve it. Bunjil is depicted with his two dingoes.

To quote a local custodian of the land: “Bunjil created our land, our people, the plants and animals, our religion and the laws by which we live. He is the leading figure in our spiritual life, essential in teaching our young people the importance of our laws and beliefs,”  It is not known how long this painting has existed in this shelter.

There was a geocache hidden in a rock crevice nearby which was tricky to get to. Luckily Ethan fit in the gap to retrieve it!

While here, we went in search of another geocache, some 700 metres away. Again, it seemed longer than 700 metres as there was no path and it was uphill. Once near the cache we had to send the kids up on top of the rock boulders to obtain the cache and sign the log book.

We met some local wallabies before returning to the car.

On the way back to Halls Gap we called in at Lake Fyans – where another geocache sat, perched up in a dead tree. Ethan needed a bit of a boost up to it. Can you see the black container up in the hole above him?

Lake Fyans looked a little dark and stormy, with its still waters, dead trees, its backdrop of the Grampians and foreboding skies of grey!

To The Pinnacle and Beyond...

From the Wonderland Car Park we set out on the popular Pinnacle walk. 

After crossing the creek we entered the much smaller cousin of the US Grand Canyon, the Grampians very own Grand Canyon. Towering rocks and boulders some looking very precarious as if they could tumble at any moment. While others rushed past us… we meandered slowly – taking in the grandeur and splendour of our surroundings. It is certainly about the journey not just the destination in the case of hiking to the Pinnacle!

We paused at Cool Chamber – a cave / rock overhang, then again at the trickling Bridal Veil Falls where the kids posed behind the ‘wall’ of water. Not exactly a raging torrent despite recent rain.

Silent Street was where we tried to convince the kids that it wasn’t a name, but an instruction, but we didn’t manage to stay silent as we walked along this very narrow canyon and ascended the steep stairs at the other end.

From Silent Street it was a short walk across the rocky path to The Pinnacle. There we found an assortment of tourists, a magnificent looking jet black crow. His feathers glistened, his eyes were big. So much more majestic than the city crows! Small birds, possibly finches or wrens hopped around on rocks, looking for scraps dropped by the many human visitors.

We enjoyed the views, taking it all in over morning tea. With the sun out and after our 2.1 km uphill hike we had all ditched a layer or two.

Even though it is winter, there were still some of the famed wild flowers to be seen on our walk today. Here’s a couple of examples:

We decided to do a loop circuit, back along part of the Sundial Track which added another couple of km’s to our journey back to the Wonderland Car Park. This allowed us to collect a couple of geocaches on the way, including one that took us off the main tracks and scrambling to the top of one of the countless boulders.

Back at Wonderland Car Park, we decided what was another 700 metres to Splitters Falls? Well, it turned out, it was a longer 700 m than we had expected as it took us down, then up and down some stairs, through the lower section of the Grand Canyon, over the creek then up again around several more corners, over another bridge before back tracking to the falls…. Was worth it though!

I anticipate we walked around 8 kms today – which sounds easy enough, but considering the climbing and descending, the stairs, rocks and ladders, then I think we did very well! So well, that despite it being the middle of winter, we decided to join the crowds at one of the two ice cream shops in Halls Gap.

Back at the caravan, we enjoyed a campfire, eating dinner around it before toasting the obligatory marshmallows.

Axle Grease in Beaufort

We’re happy little vegemites

As bright as bright can be.

We all enjoy our vegemite

For breakfast, lunch and tea.

Our mummies say we’re growing stronger

Every single week,

Because we love our vegemite

We all adore our vegemite

It puts a rose in every cheek.

We found ourselves staying a night in Beaufort, between Ararat and Ballarat on our way to our winter holidays at the Grampians. The caravan park is pretty good, great price for an ensuite site and in a pleasant setting next to a small lake.

Exploring the town which is still part of the main highway between Melbourne and Adelaide was enjoyable. Previous visits have resulted in us stopping for a snack or lunch, but not looking beneath the surface of the town. On our wander around, one thing we learnt was that one Cyril Percy Callister was born nearby. He is credited with inventing that Australian icon, vegemite, which perhaps best resembles axle grease, but is pretty good on toast!

In search of geocaches around town we also discovered a cute old courthouse, learned more about the rotunda we’d seen before and discovered ourselves 4WDing through deep muddy puddles in an area known as the Yam Holes. This is where gold was discovered and the town of Beaufort grew up around it. Today it is covered in pine trees, holes in the ground and the previoiusly mentioned large muddy potholes!

After a chilly night we awoke to a pretty sunset over the lake.

As it was just a short trip to the Grampians, we stopped and explored the now bypassed town of Buangor. The pub and another café / artist’s studio closed down demonstrated what can happen to these little villages when the highway gets bypassed – the place was ghost town like. As is often the case, it was in the pursuit of some geocaches that initiated our decision to visit. This took as to some back roads where we found a cache in an old truck and in an old pine tree in the local cemetery.

Back on the road and by mid-afternoon we had ourselves set up in the Halls Gap Gardens Caravan Park, our home for the next ten nights.

Following a late lunch we went and visited Brambuk Cultural Centre before heading up to Boroka Lookout.