Grampians

Beautiful rock formations in the famous climbing area!

Day one: Halls Gap to Lakeview Lookout

So I got to Halls Gap on Tuesday (29/09/2009) around noon and after a quick preparation (buying a map, planning the 2-day hike, refilling water bottle and obtaining a camping permit) I started yet another hike. This time it was very nice sunny weather and the hiking paths were full of tourists. I walked to the Pinnacle (spectacular view) through Grand Canyon (really interesting rock formations) and then continued further down to the south until I reached Lakeview Lookout where I decided to stay over night. It was wonderful place - no people, great view for dinner, tent sheltered from wind by a rock, simply perfect.

I was really fascinated by the regeneration power of the forest all the time. There was a bush fire in Grampians a couple of years ago and all the trees have completely black burned trunks. But they also have green leaves growing directly from the black branches! Amazing!

Day two: Lakeview Lookout to Borough Huts Campground

I woke up to a beautiful warm sunny day. I descended down to Rosea Carpark and then walked along Stoney Creek Road to a place called Bundaleer. It's a climbing spot and even though it's not so easy to find it's worth visiting (especially for climbers). I was hoping I'd bump into some climbers there and perhaps join them but there was nobody. So at least I did a bit of bouldering there (even though taking on my new climbing shoes was real agony) and took a lot of pics of the routes. There is lots of easy traditional routes and a couple of bolted really hard ones. Pity I couldn't try anything but I think I'll try to organize some climbing trip to Grampians or even better to Mt Arapilles when I get back to Melbourne.

After I got back to Rosea Carpark, I continued up to Mt Rosea and then down to the Borough Huts Campground. There was a surprise waiting for me there again. At the end of the hiking track just at the edge of the campground is yet another creek crossing the track. And again, no bridge... (the water was freaking cold!)

At the campsite I joined a group of european students (studying in Melbourne) for bbq and drinks. One of them, a russian guy named Victor, really appreciated my slivovica, hehe. I just loved how slowly and with such pleasure he drank it!

Day three: Borough Huts to Adelaide

In the morning, those guys took me to the Halls Gap where I started hitching to Adelaide. It was much easier than I'd expected! It took me about 2 minutes to get a lift to Stawell and after I got there and stood at the Western Highway (going from Melbourne to Adelaide), I didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes to get another lift to Adelaide! And it was such a nice ride - young guy named Paul, a dog and an old VW van. Awesome company! They had to drop me off about 50 km before Adelaide which was a bit pain in the arse because I happened to be at a highway exit (I couldn't hitch on the highway) which wasn't busy at all. But I was very grateful I got so far so easily! And just another 30 minutes and I got a ride to the train station in Adelaide CBD by a funny Pakistani guy just finishing his shift (working for some delivery service company).