Day 4. Today, we (I) are (am) in for a long drive to the Grampians. From Melbourne, the journey one-way takes almost 3hrs! Get your coffee ready, and have a good playlist. We left the house at 8am. Though the drive gets monotonous on the highways, there are some really beautiful golden canola fields en route once you get off the highway. This makes the drive quite enjoyable. Fuel costed about AUD$60.
First stop, Grampians visitor centre (Halls Gap Visitor Information). You can collect map of the area, and speak to the staff who can recommend a day tour itinerary. As some parts of the Grampians are without reception, do download the area’s map offline first. Around the visitor centre are some shops, such as a mini-mart, and some eateries. Wife said there’s a stall selling kangaroo burgers, but we couldn’t find it (or it closed…).
I will present the best route to take below, at the end of the post. However this was not the route we took and you will see why below.
Our plan was to head to the Silverbands Fall via C218, and then continue down C218 to Sundial, before making the big loop to the other attractions. However, this turned out to be a disaster and cost us about 30-40mins wasted time. Along the way to Silverband Falls via Grampian Road, there is a small carpark on the left offering scenic view of Lake Bellfield.
Intending to follow C218 to Sundial carpark, we were met with a road block, saying that there is no through road to sundial carpark via C218 in our direction, and that to reach sundial carpark, use C222. So we turned out back to Grampian road in frantic search for C222, but there were no signs telling us which direction to take to hit C222. It also doesn’t help that there is no reception, and we didn’t download the map beforehand. To make things more confusing, sometimes there are 2 names for the same road, i.e. Grampian road is also C216. After turning around in circles, we gave up and head back to the Visitor center, only to see signs for C222. The least they could do is to have a sign that says take C216 (Grampian road) to C222.
Taking C222 (which is also called Mt Victory Rd… omg…), the first stop was Boroka lookout, which is about 20 mins from the Visitor Center. Remember to look out for the right turn to Mt Difficult road to get to Boroka Lookout. This is a scenic lookout offering panoramic views of the surrounding area. And I think the lake in the distant might be Lake Bellfield. We ate our packed lunch here, and were joined by a crow-like bird (its definitely a crow, but its not fully black. It has white and blue feathers). It flew and perched on the car’s side mirror staring at my wife’s food.
Next stop, the Reid Lookouts and Balconies. From the Boroka Lookout, return back to C222 and follow the road another 10mins, and the Reid Lookout carpark will be on the left. The main attraction here is the Jaws of Death at the Balconies, so do make the 1km walk. We spent about 45mins here, as there are so many photo spots. My favorite is a stone looking like a tortoise. There seems to be a path to get to into the Jaws, however, as the ground was wet and stones were slippery, I decided not to make the climb. On a dry day, one can definitely get a nice photo of being in the Jaws. But, safety first…
After the Reid and Balconies, we return back to C222 and make our way to the famed MacKenzie Falls. There are actually numerous lookouts here at the fall. Given the shortage of time, we headed straight down to the fall itself. Be warned, that the path is steep and has numerous steps. Though this is one of the larger waterfalls where one can get really close to, in terms of the volume of water, and the overall feel of power, this pales in comparison to the Niagara falls (visited it during my stint in the US, but have yet to write up on it), or even to the Shifens Waterfall in taiwan. Overall, we spent about an hour and a half here… again… too much posing and photos. By the time we got back to the car, its almost 5.30pm.
safety first
As it’s too late to head towards the Sundial (and there is no more sun), we decided to head home. Just as we were exiting the Mt Victory Rd part of C222 to the unnamed C222, we spotted kangaroos in the Halls Gap Recreation Reserve, and immediately took a turn into it.
This kangaroo was earlier kick-boxing with another kangaroo. And they really do sit on their tail and kick with both legs.
En route home, we stopped by a KFC to grab 15 drums/wings for $10. Cheap and nice :D.
Going to the Twelve Apostles tomorrow.
| Philip Island | Day 5 |
September 2017
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