2013.04.14 The Grampians: MacKenzie Falls

On the third and final day of the trip to the Grampians we started the standard morning procedure.  We woke up at 8 am for breakfast, eating the food on uneasy stomachs before climbing onto the bus for the day's hike.  The itinerary for the day was to visit MacKenzie falls, a large waterfalls in a river and rapids system within the Grampians.  We were to spend a considerable amount of time at the falls before heading to a cultural center, and finally departing back to Melbourne.

After breakfast we got on the bus, started the windy mountain roads along the mountain ridges to a parking lot near the falls.  First we stopped at a nearby platform, overlooking the park again.

This was one of my favorite views, but after seeing so many we were off on the walk down to the falls soon enough.

This time it was a steep climb down a set of steps cut out of the rock face.  Once we were at the bottom the view and the rapids were awesome.

Some students went into the water and swam under the waterfall.  For me, after having done that at Millaa Millaa falls in Cairns it was too cold, and I sat and enjoyed my lunch instead while chilling with other students.

Tom and I found a slightly worn track that lead up the side of a mountain that is probably not meant to be hiked.  And when I say slightly worn, I mean you could tell that some people had hiked up this way, but barely.  We were grabbing onto branches that were protruding out of the mountain at 45 degree angles just to climb up.  It was a fun climb and took about 30 or 45 minutes to get up, but headed back down pretty soon since nobody else knew where we were.

After getting back down we headed back up the steps to the top of the falls to head to the cultural center.  At the top I grabbed this neat picture.

Don't let that bird trick you, it's not the most friendly.  It behaves pretty similarly to seagulls at the beach, grabbing food out of your hands.  During lunch, as Tom was eating his sandwich it swooped down and took the entire thing out of his hands.

By 3 pm we were back on the bus heading to the cultural center.  I didn't take any pictures at the cultural center to show you, but it was pretty neat.  It had exhibits explaining the migration of aborigines throughout history, their hunting and survival methods, etc.  It was definitely worth a visit, but after a while most of us were napping on the benches or relaxing.  Soon enough it was time for the 2-3 hour drive home, stopping for food on the way.

Once finally back in Melbourne that night, I finally got a full nights sleep for the first time in days.

2013.04.13 The Grampians: Reeds Lookout, Silverband Falls, Balconies Lookout and the Pinnacle

This day was the first of two hiking days in the Grampians.  And as both days would start out, at 8 am we dragged ourselves out of bed for a breakfast waiting for us in the common room.

While eating we were split into two groups: one that would do the Pinnacle hike first, and one that would do the other three, easier hikes first.  I was chosen to do the other three: Reeds Lookout, Silverband Falls and Balconies Lookout.  After cooking breakfast we headed onto the bus, dropped off half the group at the start of the Pinnacle walking trail, and headed over to Balconies Lookout.



I wish I knew exactly where each of these trails were located in the Grampians, but I didn't remember to get that information.  The best I can do is tell you that these trails were spaced pretty well along the eastern ridge you can see below, extending south of Halls Gap.

Anyway, we started with Balconies Lookout.  We climbed off the bus and started on a fairly flat walk towards the lookout.  Along the walk itself was only 1 km or so, but it has a lot of cool sights on the way.

Balcony Lookout

 Above: Tom shows how most of us felt hiking that early in the morning, especially after the previous night

 Above: Wilfrido and I contributing to the little rock stacks

Soon enough we were at the lookout, and it was the first of several amazing views of the Grampians.

After soaking it in and goofing around dangerously close to the edge of these precipices we headed back to the bus for the next stop:  Silverband Falls

Silverband Falls

According to some signs we saw on the side, Silverband Falls was a much busier waterfall and river until a large bushfire that altered the landscape and rerouted the water stream.  We hopped off the bus and went to check it out.  It was a very short walk.


Above: Rocks that used to help hikers get across the river

 Above: Wilfrido thinking about drinking the water.  I tried it, it was pretty clean.  One of the student coordinators even filled his water bottle with it.

Another short walk back and we prepared for the third and final view of the morning: Reeds Lookout

Reeds Lookout

Reeds Lookout didn't include a hike, the bus was able to take us right up to the lookout.

It was now nearly 1 pm and we were ready for lunch.  The bus driver, Rob, took us back to the cabin where lunch was waiting and headed to pick up the other group.

After eating, Wilfrido and I went out to look at the kangaroos outside.  There was no shortage of kangaroos in the outback, it took us two minutes to find a troop of them.

They would watch you and hop away if you got too close, so after checking them out for a while we headed back to the cabin.  For the record, kangaroos are the funniest animal on this earth.  When you walk up and they notice you're coming, they all stop, turn there heads at you and stare in unison, with all their tiny little arms just hang in there.  I laugh every single time they do this.

Back at the cabin some of the students were kicking around an Australian football and we joined in.

Soon enough it was time for the other group to do the hikes we did in the morning, and for us to do the hike they did.

The Pinnacle: Climbing

The Pinnacle walking trail was the mother of all hikes we went on during this trip.  It took at least two hours to hike to the top due to how steep it was, I forget precisely how long it took.  It was a seriously tiring hike up to the top of the mountain, and even pretty dangerous at times.  At many points we were climbing up, even using our hands to make any progress.

 Above: The very beginning of the hike

We headed across the bridge, beginning the hike; most of us didn't fully understand how difficult.  There really is no way I can narrate the hike, but here are several of awesome pictures we took throughout the two hour ordeal to the top.

 Above: Many of us climbed into this cave.  It went pretty far back, but we stopped exploring when we saw a collection of snake skins inside...

The Pinnacle: At the Top

Finally, we reached the top.  The view was really amazing.

 Above: I have a picture of myself on that ledge like this, I need to get it off of Wilfrido's camera and upload it here!

 Above: Philippe, Wilfrido, Carol and myself at the lookout

After a good long while at the top we headed down.  And the hike down was much quicker and easier than the climb up, but tiring still.  After 30-45 minute hike or down we climbed the bus and head back to the cabin before nightfall.  This single hike took as slightly longer than the three in the morning did combined, so it was time for dinner now.

On our way back Rob spotted a large troop of kangaroos and pulled over for us to go look at them.  Only Wilfrido and I had seen the troop earlier in the day, so for most students this was the first wild kangaroos they had been able to approach.

Above: The one on the far left has a joey in it's pouch

After getting back to the cabin and eating dinner, most of us napped until night-time festivities were to begin.  This night the student coordinators started a bonfire outside to sit around and start drinking while other coordinators prepped something else.

Wilfrido, Carol and I walked over to the field we were playing ball at earlier and looked up at the sky.  Because we were very well secluded and the field was far enough from the cabin as matters, I saw more stars than I have ever seen before.  I didn't even know that when there is little enough light pollution you can see the stars organized linearly with a blue glow behind the entire band: the milky way.  Very cool to see, and an even better place to see it for the first time.

We headed back to the bonfire and started drinking and chatting about the hike.

Once the majority of us were... animated... the coordinators set out containers of paint.  We had all been instructed to bring clothes that we wouldn't mind departing with, and now we knew why.  Again, I won't go into much detail, but here are some memorable pictures from the night.