Three hours drive north-west of Melbourne sit the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park. A massive 1,672 km’s square, this ancient landscape has heritage listing for its Aboriginal legacy, flora, fauna, and abundance of mother nature’s gifts. Rugged mountain ranges and challenging hikes are the main characters here, but there’s definitely more to explore.
Driving through Pomonal en route to Halls Gap, we witnessed the avenue of charred trees lining the road, the result of a very recent bushfire, and it hit home how vulnerable these communities and bush environments are to the forces of nature and human negligence.
Halls Gap, or Budja Budja, was named for Charles Hall, a drover/pastoralist who founded the town in 1842, and Gap…obvious when you get there. It was a Friday, after a Thursday public holiday, and the tiny town, nestled in the palm of the Grampians, was absolutely teeming with tourists. I assume they were partaking in the proud Australian tradition of snagging a sneaky sickie after a Thursday public holiday to round out a long weekend (it’s what us Aussies do).
We stayed in a delightful Airbnb, the view from out back was to-die-for soaring Grampians ranges. On arrival, we were greeted by a super friendly white cockatoo and shortly thereafter by a pair of OCD red and purple lorikeets who repeatedly pecked at our glass sliding doors to announce their arrival and demand food. Obviously conditioned by previous tourists and serious bully boys! At night, we arked up the fire pit, and while enjoying a quiet vino, we heard thump, thump, thump, grrrr, and a massive, grey kangaroo hopped through the back fence and into our backyard. This macropod was gargantuan! The welcoming committee had all arrived.
After having done the Pinnacle the day before, we hit the Chatauqua Peak trail, mainly because it was Grade 3 and we were looking for a moderate, meandering climb. A gentle, canopied bush walk to start, with roo sightings on the regular, then the walk opened up with breathtaking views of Halls Gap and surrounding mountains. And then the rocks. The first part of the rock hop was easy, but the last fifteen metre scramble to the summit required the flexibility of an Olympic gymnast! Yeah, nah. View’s good from where we were.
As we commenced our descent, we passed an Essendon AFL icon, and embarrassingly, my die-hard Bombers supporter partner asked for a selfie! Bless, he was most gracious, and then he literally skipped past us, shimmied over the rocks, and summited spectacularly, taking his own selfie on top of the world…and I was a little bit jealous.
We had the recovery lunch at Barney’s Bistro and Bar at Pomonal, arriving smack bang in the middle of a country wedding. The groom and groomsmen were in Akubra’s, the tiny flower girls adorned in pretty tutu’s and country boots, and the bride accessorised her sparkly, satin wedding dress with even sparklier white sneakers. The male guest attire ran the gamut of the traditional country uniform of chinos, white shirts, and RM Williams boots to jeans, checked shirts, and yep, RM Williams boots. The ladies were a mixed bag of Allen’s lollies (there was even a whiff of taffeta), and just about everything had a pair of country boots on the bottom of it!
The bridal party’s photo session was hijacked with a frenetic visit from the neighbouring farm’s 4-month-old Border Collie Susie, who wanted to make friends with everyone and be included in the wedding pics. It was a lovely wedding, the Grampians providing a spectacular backdrop to their day.
Three days, two hikes, one wedding….so little time, so much more to explore. We will be back!
