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Published: March 24th 2011
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Paul was drawn to the Grampians because of its reputation as a climbing mecca. A beautiful range of mountains, covered in forests, with rocks just demanding to be climbed, and glistening in the sunshine (yes, we had the most amazing weather for our Grampian days - yippee!) Just like many areas of Australia though, the Grampians have been seriously affected by the very changeable weather patterns of late. In January this year, quite unexpectedly, heavy rains caused flooding and landslides which damaged a lot of the roads, climbing routes, and hiking trails. We did however manage to find a lovely remote spot to camp, where we were pretty much by ourselves. Close by were some great boulders which kept Paul happy for an afternoon, but unfortunately for him that, plus his morning at Mt Arapiles, was the only climbing he could do (not from lack of strength - he said he surprised himself at how well he is still climbing - but from a lack of climbing buddies and equipment). Instead, we found some great hikes to do, and we also spent some time schooling the boys and teaching them some card games. Oliver even relented to getting his hair cut.
The boys are proving to be exceptional hikers. On one of the days, we found a lovely trail to the top of a mountain, but it was about 13 kms. We started off together as a family, and walked along a small trail through a range of flora. We saw lots of kangaroos, and plenty of birds, which slowed our walk down a bit, as Quinton has become quite the bird watcher. With his bird map, we all must ‘shhh’ on his spotting a bird, to give him time to open his map and determine which bird it is. Then we must observe the bird a while, in silence, before being allowed again to proceed. Quinton and I managed about 2-3kms, but when it started getting quite steep and rocky, we decided to call it a day and headed back (which naturally, was another 2-3kms, so it was quite a long hike for Quinton as well! - I also saw my first snake in the wild, right where I was about to sit with Quinton - it was a dugite so made me a bit more wary of our surroundings, particularly when Quinn wanted to sit very very still
on a sunny rock to watch for birds!) The older boys managed to summit the mountain, Paul says with a lot of ease. We both expected them to be shattered when they returned, but Paul and I are slowly coming to accept the fact that the more strenuous the boys’ day is, rather than exhausting them, appears simply to recharge their batteries! There is no tiring them! though they do sleep well when they finally go to sleep.
We were planning to spend three or four nights here, but we were forced to move to a proper caravan campsite with water and electricity because, firstly, our water ran out (we had to drive on some seriously corrugated dirt tracks and the jolting seemed to have cut our water pipe, and we had lost quite a bit of water before we realised what had happened - the joys of caravanning) but then, and of a more serious nature, our Waeco fridge/freezer unit, ran out of power, and as it had a huge stash of fish (still left from Baird’s Bay) I did not want the contents to defrost. And, I was about ready (ripe?) for a shower, after three days
of hiking. I am not a hardcore camper yet. So, we moved into town (Hall’s Gap) and had another three very pleasant days at a caravan park there (the boys were in Heaven here, as there was a games room with free computer games, a great pool, roads to cycle on). It was here that I had the most wonderful Sunday lie in - the boys were so preoccupied with stuff outside the caravan that Paul and I managed to have some peace and quiet before he got up and made pancakes which I ate in bed while finishing off….dare I say it….a classic Mills & Boon book which I had picked up the evening before in the laundry. That afternoon we went for another hike together, so all in all, a very restful time.
Oh, I nearly forgot to mention one of the highlights of our stay in Halls Gap. It was our discovery of the Aboriginal Cultural Centre, where the boys learnt how to throw a boomerang, and rose to the challenge of getting a free boomerang should they catch one that they themselves threw. They tried very hard, and Paul actually did catch one on its
return journey. We decided to buy some boomerangs as well which we all painted - kept us busy for hours, and the boys were totally intrigued by the concept that pictures can really tell a story. We also went on an Aboriginal bush food tour, and tasted for the first time kangaroo, emu, crocodile and duck meat, all of which was devoured by the boys, and they are now eagerly awaiting the time when I finally cook kangaroo or crocodile for them in the caravan (potjie perhaps sometime soon…?)
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