Horsham and the Grampians
Our first playground stop over the border in Victoria was in the quaint town of Kaniva, where weatherboard houses and the corner "milk bar" announced that we were no longer in SA.
We tested our walking legs with a short amble through the Little Desert National Park which was flush with flowering muntries and very friendly flies and mozzies. The mozzies are clear beneficiaries of the prolonged wet. But we kept them at bay at our first campsite with a morning and evening smokey campfire.
The gorgeous, spacious bushland camp at Jane Duff Highway Park was our two-night base for visiting Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park. We scaled both Mount Arapiles and Mitre Rock and watched in wonder as adrenaline-charged rock climbers clawed their way up and along the sheer cliff faces.
From Arapiles we headed to Horsham and stayed with my great friend Ann for three very comfortable nights. We got our first taste of the Grampians with a day trip to Mount Zero and Hollow Mountain. Hollow Mountain was by far the superior walk; much more challenging, with some nervy rock scrambling sections and exciting caves which kept the kids engaged and moving forward. I almost stepped on our first Victorian snake, a sizeable brown that was crossing the track just at the wrong moment.
We took a break from hiking on the Saturday and instead joined the Wimmera River parkrun. Hugh did his first parkrun in Adelaide and is keenly working his way towards his junior 10 t-shirt. Ann then made Hugh's day by arranging a private tour of the John Deere harvesters at the Emmetts' workshop. Hugh drove his imaginary harvester all around McKenzie Falls the next day, dreaming of the day he can drive the real thing.
The kids' Saturday only got better when they got to spend the evening with their new best friend Annie (or Anj as Claire liked to call her). Ann insisted that Matthias and I go out for a date night, something we didn't think we needed given how much time we have together on the road. But we surprised ourselves with how nice it was to spend 3.5 child-free hours together. We couldn't remember the last time we'd had dinner alone without the kids.
We waved goodbye to our wonderful hostess and headed on to the pretty Beehive Falls and an ice-cream at the giant koala in Dadswell. We settled for the next three nights at Plantation campground which wasn't as picturesque as our first camp but had plenty of space to generously accommodate lots of other campers. I was excited to have a noisy mob of Gang Gang cockatoos fly in for an evening snack of acacia seeds in the tree next to our camp. I am also loving the sunset hysteria of the laughing kookaburras. Their raucous mirth as they salute the passing day is a sound that was missing from the west coast. The West Australian blue winged kookaburra doesn't have the same sense of humour.
This second tour of Aus I’m unreservedly embracing my ornithological interest and extending myself beyond last year’s tunnel vision for the Gouldian finch. Now armed with a comprehensive bird ID App I’m keeping a record of every new bird that graces the field of my binoculars.
The kids got their playground fix in Halls Gap while I dialled in for a work call then we all tackled the popular and very impressive Mackenzie Falls. We also squeezed in the Balconies walk and a quick squiz at the Boroka lookout.
We had a big following day of walking on what was perhaps our best hike in the Grampians. From the Sundial carpark we trekked out to the dramatic Pinnacle Lookout, with a short detour to Lakeview Lookout and then returning via the rocky cleft of Silent Street. We then parted ways and I looped back to the car and the kids went onto Wonderland Carpark with Matthias. Claire blew us away, walking the full 9km+ under her own steam. The kids' enthusiasm for walking is definitely better on the higher graded walks where rough terrain and rock scrambling keep them challenged.
Our final night in the Grampians was spent at the perfectly secluded Bush Camp not far from Mount Abrupt. We stopped for a walk across the dam wall at Lake Bellfield on our way out of Halls Gap and then tackled the long steady climb up Mount Abrupt. The kids were defeated on this one so Matthias and I took it in turns to reach the top. Not travelling at child's pace tested the fitness but it was a pleasure enjoying the last stretch alone with my thoughts.
We closed out our Grampians experience with the shorter Piccaninny walk which gave us great views back to Mount Abrupt and impressive displays of Large Duck and Leopard orchids.
