Day 166- June 9- The Grampians "Queen's Birthday" Weekend

Day 166- Saturday, June 9- The Grampians

A group of exchange teachers sent an email around suggesting a rendezvous in the Grampians, a mountain range 3 hours west of Melbourne past the city of Ballarat. Most of us booked into the Brambuck Backpackers Hostel, which, as you shall see, is significant later on.
Late Friday, the night before we left, we received an email from Mary Ellen, Colleen's sister, and Sean, her partner, saying that they would be returning to Melbourne on Tuesday after an 18 day adventure tour of the centre of Australia. It occurred to me immediately that they would probably be passing through the Grampians over the next few days, so I emailed back telling them to look out for us.
We headed off early Saturday morning, as the long weekend traffic had discouraged us from attempting a Friday night departure. Once past Ballarat, the drizzle changed to sunny skies and pleasant temperatures. We arrived at the hostel just after noon and checked in, and immediately met Blair and Susan, from Alberta. We all headed off to the Balconies walking track together. The scenery was breathtaking, the crowds on the trail heavy.
We also walked to Mackenzie Falls, which actually had water flowing and was quite spectacular. The Grampians National Park was mostly decimated by a bush fire in early 2006 and the regeneration that has occurred since then was astounding.
We met up with all the other exchange teachers and families in Halls Gap, at a lovely restaurant, and enjoyed celebrating June Potts 65th birthday! June is from Mississauga, Ontario and brought her grandaughter, Stef, on this her second exchange (Stef had secretly spread the word of the birthday using the Exchange Teacher's website I set up).
Sunday morning, Colleen and I walked to town along the trails back of main street. The village was hosting a craft fair and we bought egg and bacon on buns from the Primary School. One of the ironies of being in this country for almost 6 months is that we had not ever seen a LIVE wild kangaroo! We saw pademelons and wallabies (small cousins) in Tasmania, but none of the larger varieties. In Hall's Gap, kangaroos are prolific and we saw them everywhere! Huge ones!
Later, we walked the Pinnacle track, a challenging climb to the edge of the mountain top overlooking Hall's Gap. The view was worth every hard step along the two and a half hour climb. The boys explored every cave and crevice on the way up, and on the descent.

We returned to the Hostel where we had all planned to meet for supper. Sarah and Leon Baker (UK), who were staying in a motel in town joined the Michaud family (Alberta), Winser family (Manitoba), Jeannie Whitehead (UK) and ourselves for a BBQ at the hostel. We had been told a backpacker tour was going to be arriving by bus, and wondered if this was going to be Mary Ellen and Sean's group. Colleen confirmed with the staff that the group were on a 3 day tour from Melbourne and sadly, we concluded that we would not meet up with them. We spoke with the driver as he was preparing the dinner so we could work out which group would use the dining area first. He said he had to pick up a couple in town who had "upgraded" and would be back in a few minutes and then have his group finish dinner, then we could have the area to ourselves.
Our rowdy group was sitting in the common room enjoying snacks when the bus driver returned, this time with a huge bald guy and a woman following him. Yes, it was none other Mary Ellen and Sean! After introductions, we spent the evening catching up, and towards 11 pm, Colleen drove Mary Ellen and Sean, along with Leon and Sarah, back to their respective hotels in town.

Monday's holiday was in celebration of the Queen's Birthday. We headed back to the city early to avoid the traffic.
It was a great weekend, and the weather was perfect for walking, sunny with light breezes and +12-15 °C temperatures. The Grampians are worth a return trip!


Click here for the Grampians Slideshow