2013.04.12 The Grampians: Traveling and Arrival

A month or so earlier I signed up for a trip called the All Aussie trip.  It was a two night trip out into the outback to The Grampians National Park.  The Grampians was added as a national heritage center in 2006 for two key reasons: its natural beauty, and for boasting some of the richest indigenous rock art in the entire country.  It is located roughly 235 km (146 miles) west of Melbourne.

We were going to stay in a cabin in a tiny town called Halls Gap, located right on the border of the national park.  And at 3 pm on the 13th we all met on campus to board a bus to take us there.  Equipped with only a backpack and a pillow, me and many fellow study abroad students climbed aboard, and off we went.

On the bus the student coordinators passed out a paper that had the weekend's itinerary.  We would be hiking throughout the park during the weekend, seeing some of the key views and sites in the Grampians.

On Saturday we would be doing two hikes: one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  One included Reeds Lookout, The Balconies and Silverband Falls, while the other, longer, more difficult hike would be to The Pinnacle (these are detailed in a separate post).  Finally, on Sunday, we'd be waking up and hiking to MacKenzie Falls, before heading to a cultural center and leaving back for Melbourne.

It can be surprising how fast Australia becomes a very rural terrain when driving towards the center of the country.  After about forty five minutes, houses were already spaced miles apart.

Sometime shortly before 6 pm we arrived at the cabin.  It consisted of two rows of rooms centered around an outside courtyard, and one building that served as a common room and dining area with a small kitchen on the side. 

 Above: Outdoor courtyard lined with 6-person cabins.

 Above: Wild parrot

Above: Cabin room that Tom, Wilfrido, Carol, Philippe and I were sharing.

The trip included three free meals and snacks set out all day every day, so there was plenty of food.  When we arrived, dinner was waiting for us and we all stuffed ourselves.

Now, we were 30+ unsupervised college students from countries throughout the world in a cabin in the middle of the Australian outback, located in a small town that is miles and miles away from any other sort of society.  What happened next is the only thing that can be expected in a situation like this: a lot of drinking.

It started off somewhat innocent, only the single largest game of Kings I had ever experienced.  For those that are unfamiliar, Kings is a card game for drinking.

Above: One very large game of Kings

 Above: Our bus driver was not afraid to join in on the game as well with some beers he brought

But soon enough it escalated to flip-cup and pong.

This night and the next night were possibly the two most ridiculous nights of my time here in Australia. At least so far.  I won't detail it, but we all made mistakes that night... some more than others...