So we met our friends, Wayne and Lan, and had a quick lunch before venturing off toward the park. Lilly fell asleep as we entered the town right outside the park. So while everyone piled out and tried to get information, I read a magazine so Lilly could get a little bit of sleep. The first information center was for the town so we had to find one for the park. Once found we discussed options for camping and decided where to go hiking for the day.
We got our gear to hike and began walking up a rocky mountain path. I took Lilly in the hiking pack. It was sort of a crazy hike and there were rails and stairs in the first section. Our friend, Wayne, had been here a few years before and said the rails were all new.
It took us about 2 hours to get to the top of the lookout. Lilly only walked about 10 minutes of that but if she would have continued walking it would have been 4 hours. The walk down only took 30 minutes and Seth took Lilly for this part. We went a slightly different way so we didn't have to climb over anything. I know I was tired on the way up but poor Seth had jello legs from going down hill with the kid!Next stop was our campsite. Seth and I got there first while our friends stopped at the grocery store. We turned off the main road and it was another 8 km down a dirt road. It was rather curvy and part of the time was spent looking down the side of a mountain (no railing)! The camping sites were much bigger than most places and each had a picnic table and a metal fire ring.
The fire ring surprised me the most. In 2006 a large bush fire swept through the park. There are telltale signs of this fire and there are still numerous projects going on to restore areas.
Seth and I put up the tent (Lilly had fallen asleep in the car) and got everything ready to cook our dinner. Once Lilly woke up we took her to the tent to rest. At this point I knew she was getting sick and didn't want to push her at being outside too much. Our friends arrived and set up camp. They brought several pounds of meat but we hadn't really discussed the food situation and so we had also brought our own food. Oh well. We convinced Lilly to come out for dinner although she wasn't hungry. She got our friend Wayne to color with her for a while. After dinner she headed back into the tent and watched a video. She loves camping because she thinks it always involves watching videos in the tent now. Our bad.
Meanwhile we got a nice fire going and we introduced our Aussie friends to the S'More. I think they liked the different parts but they did say it was rather sweet. Um yeah, that is the point. They were delicious. Maybe I failed to mention that I had been to USA Foods (which you can imagine what sorts of food they stock) and purchased graham crackers (which they don't have here) and marshmallows (which are different here).
I ended up going to bed a little early since the kid wasn't feeling well and didn't really want to be left alone in the tent when it was so dark. We had left the lantern close by but she still wasn't all that happy.
Next morning we had a little brekkie and cleaned up our tent and the area. As we were finishing up two wallabies wandered into our site for a little breakfast. We were able to get pretty close and got a couple of pictures and video. In case you haven't heard of them, wallabies are similar to kangaroos only they are smaller. If you ask an Aussie what the difference is, all they can tell you is size.
We wanted to go see a waterfall so we started back up the dirt road. Our friends pulled off at another lookout and we took a quick 2 km hike (round trip). There was a nice view but Lilly was not happy at this point and just wanted to cuddle with me on a bench. Seth carried her to the lookout and I ended up carrying her back. I didn't get to see much but Seth did take some good pictures.Off to the waterfall and another little hike. The hike wouldn't have been bad but we went down to the base of the falls. It was a nice resting place but the falls weren't very big. Wayne said that it used to be much bigger and falls looked more like a large blanket of water rather than the smaller hoses. Did I mention Seth carried Lilly down to the bottom? Guess who carried her up?
Last stop on our trip was to the Giant Koala! This Koala stands at 14 meters high and was built in 1989. I'm hoping we get to see more Giant stuff while we are here. This was definitely a high light!
I did forget one last thing! Here's a picture of the next car we will be getting when we trade in our Mondeo! It's just called a Ute (short for utility vehicle) but I like to call it the new El Camino! |
| Grampians Camping March 2009 |
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