Tuesday 14th April 2009
Pack up day for us today as we head off to Halls Gap for a few days before returning home.  After farewelling all the others before we left we followed Navman's directions and  passed through Boort, Charlton, St Arnaud, Stawell and on to Hall's Gap. We stopped for coffee in Charlton and lunch in Stawell.  The trip took us about 3.5 hours driving through undulating farming land.  On arrival in Halls Gap we noticed a few changes since we first were here about 25 years ago.  The place had expanded and had been developed.  It is still busy in the town as the school holidays are on till the weekend.  We booked into the Lakeside Top Tourist park (now called the Takaru Resort) and set up before going into town to look around.  First impressions about the CP, it is dusty and the tall trees and high ridges  prevent sat TV because you can't point the dish.  Local TV is woeful, Too much interference from high rocky ridges and the Dam wall cause ghosting.  The transmitters are on Mt William which is beyond Lake Belfield.  We did a bit of grocery shopping; top up of the victuals so to say. In the evening we watched a DVD (the latest from C&M magazine,).  

The Balconies, Grampians National Park.    (Inset 25years ago.)

Wednesday 15th April 2009
A big blow came through overnight, strong winds and rain from about 3am onwards.  Still windy and cold now, the temperature dropped to around 10c from 18c in about an hour.   Luckily, I was aware this was going to happen when I checked the weather for Halls Gap on the internet so we stowed the awning and put away the chairs. Good thing too, some people didn't,  so we have bits and pieces everywhere!! , especially from the tenters.  We went into town and had a coffee at a cafe in town around 11:00 before driving out to the Boroka Lookout for an overview of Halls Gap.  We then drove to the Mt Reed lookout and the Balconies to see if you could still walk on to them. But alas, the powers to be have fenced it off and now you can only get to a platform that overlooks it.  Thirty years ago I took my young kids out on the balconies for a photo shoot.  It was scary but the kids loved it. I can't handle heights.. lol!!  Next was Mackenzie Falls, a popular tourist attraction.  There are walks to a lookout that overlooks the Falls and another that takes you all the way down to the base of the Falls.  This one is very steep and has many steps.  Over the years the path has been improved with stainless steel handrails and concrete steps.  The walk down wasn't too bad, but the walk back up was difficult with many rest stops and heavy breathing!!.  Afterwards we were glad to get back to the van for a rest as all our muscles were aching!! lol!!

Our van in the Lakeside CP	Geraldine at the Boroka Lookout
Alby at the Boroka Lookout	A kookaburra in the tree

Mackenzie Falls, Grampians National Park

Thursday 16th April 2009

First thing this morning we stopped at the bakery in town to buy the 'best vanilla slice in Australia', so the sign says.  We then washed it down with a coffee at one of the cafes nearby.  We then decided that we would not do the 'Pinnacles' walk today as it would have been a repeat of what we did 25 years ago!!  Not to mention that it was a 2-2.5 hr walk of medium to hard difficulty!  Nah! , we've already done that one years ago, says Geraldine.  We've got the photos to proof it! lol!!,  says I.  So, we decide to do an easy walk to Silverband Falls instead, 1.5kms and about 40 minutes of mostly flat paths.  More our style!!    Silverband Falls is interesting as you can walk right to its base. The water coming down just disappears into the ground below the falls and re-appears down stream into Dairy Creek.  We drove back towards town and stopped at the Lake Belfield Observation point near the Dam wall.  The dam water level is very low in the Lake.  Like everywhere else, it needs several years of heavy rainfall to re-fill.   
After lunch we drove to Mt William the highest point in the Grampians.  We were planning to walk the 2 kms to the summit from the car park, but as luck would have it ,when we arrived at the car park to get ready, it started to rain, so we changed our minds, hopped back in the car and drove back down the mountain, stopping at a lookout a couple of kms down the road.  Took some nice panorama shots of the ranges that should stitch together well.  After that we headed back to the CP and had a rest before having a BBQ tea in the evening in the camp kitchen. 

Silverband Falls	Geraldine takes a rest.
The water disappears into the ground	Lake Belfield  Dam wall.

Friday 17th April 2009

Early start to the day today, we are packing up and heading home to Adelaide.  We depart around 8:45am and travel to the Stawell turn-off for the Western Highway.  We stop in Horsham for breakfast and then continue on till lunch which we had in Keith, at the local bakery.  We dumped all our left-over vegies and fruit at the border quarantine bin.  We then followed the Dukes Highway to Tailem Bend and turn off the freeway at Murray Bridge to drive along the back roads through Palmer, Birdwood, Kersbrook and One Tree Hill until we arrive in Craigmore.   The drive goes smoothly and we arrive home at 4pm.  That is the trip for this month.  Next month we go to Wallaroo for a few days.

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