GRAMPIANS

Last weekend Simon & I packed up the car & headed east! Ever since our failed camping trip over the Easter break (including such fails as purchasing a brand new $600 tent that broke into a heap within minutes after a few gushes of wind. Nothing like a tent made out of sticks, that mother nature will huff & she'll puff until she blows that tent down!!), we promised ourselves that we would give camping another go before the year ended.
So we left town at sunrise on Wednesday morning and drove 6 hours to the Grampians National Park, in Victoria. We decided to enter the park from one side and drive to the opposite side (only 15km but very windy, so took about an hour!), but the drive was amazing. I guess you'd describe it as a mountain range, with waterfalls, lakes, forests, deep cliffs and more. A hikers delight! We set up camp as soon as we arrived at the Plantation Camp Site (about 15minutes drive from Halls Gap - the main town centre of the Grampians). Lucky for us, the camp site was empty, thanks to us arriving mid week. After such a long drive, and the fact it had already got dark by the time we set up the tent, we spent the rest of the night eating our cheese platter for dinner, drinking port, and stoking the fire. It was blissful!
We woke to kookaburras, and a kangaroo scoping the camp site for some food. That day we got active! Walked to Mackenzie Falls, the Balconies Cliffs, the Grand Canyon, and then when we ran out of breath we headed back to our campsite and chilled out with a magazine & marshmallows for the rest of the arvo/night. Oh and we still had the whole campsite to ourselves that night apart from a small group that arrived just before we went to bed.
By Friday morning it was time to leave for our next leg of the road trip - Jan Juc (next to Torquay on the Great Ocean Road) to pay a visit to one of our SA friends Jo! Her other half had left for Italy a couple of weeks prior for some work, before she was meeting him over there in July. Well let's just say I think she enjoyed the company, going by our daily hangovers! We had an amazing time with the gang, as we always do!
Sunday came around and it was time to start the trip home (about 10 hours worth). We originally decided to drive along the Great Ocean Road and then take the highway from Port Fairy. Well, we did do that, but let's just say we weren't exactly in the best state to enjoy it! We drove straight past almost every tourist spot, including the Twelve Apostles, and the gloomy rainy day didn't help either. We stayed the night at the old historic Inn, called the Seacomb House, doubling as a Comfort Inn and a backpackers. It was a really nice place, but once again (& shamefully too) we were too hungover to fully enjoy it!
By Monday afternoon we were safe & sound back home on Old Pelham Street. The trip went way too quickly, as they always do, but gosh did we have fun!!

{grampians}

{birdseye view}

{jan juc}

{home jane!}