Weekend Camping trip to the Grampians

Grampians National Park is about a 4-hour drive from Melbourne's CBD (downtown area). I headed there on a weekend camping trip with a couple of friends a few weeks ago.

The Grampians are pretty in a rugged, rocky sort of way. To me, the scenery isn't as spectacular as in other parts of Victoria (like the Great Ocean Road or Wilson's Prom), but it's definitely really nice. Hall's Gap, the main town, is quite pretty, with a few shops and restaurants, and a creek running next to it, and that's about it.

What's really special about Halls Gap is that there's tons of kangaroos here. This was the place I saw (and got to pet!) my first-ever wild kangaroo in Australia! At dusk, they all come out and graze on people's front lawns and along the main road through town. They're completely used to people. Pretty cool.

On this trip, we mostly stuck to the northern part of the national park and did a few short walks: the walk to beautiful McKenzie Falls, probably the highlight of the whole park; the walk to the Balconies, a sandstone rock formation that looks like two ledges; and the little walk through the woods to pretty Silverband Falls.

Here are some pictures.

Cool clouds in the sky above our campground:


Gum trees at our campground:


The lake just behind our campground:


Forest on the way to Silverbend Falls:


The top of McKenzie Falls:


Windsurfing beach at the lake behind our campground:


Silverbend Falls:


Creek through the town of Halls Gap:


Halls Gap's main street. And only street.


Pretty clouds above gum trees:


Reflection over the lake behind our campground:


Halls Gap:


I think this building was in Ararat, a city on the way to the Grampians:


Mountain backdrop for the town of Halls Gap:


Shops and cafes in Halls Gap:


Beautiful McKenzie Falls:


Our campground:


Flood damage on the trail to Silverbend Falls:


More flood damage:


View near McKenzie Falls:


McKenzie Falls:


McKenzie Falls:


Cool clouds:


Sunset over the Grampians:


Sunset near the Balconies lookout:


Looking back at a lake at sunset:


Rock piles:


SO MANY ROCK PILES!!!!! CREEPY!!!


Red dirt path through the trees:


The Balconies, a famous set of sandstone ridges:


Looking back toward the sunset:


Crazy fuzzy flowers in Stawell:


Wildflowers near the Stawell wetlands walk:


Close-up of one of the Stawell wildflowers:


Stawell wetlands walk:

Mt. Dandenong Lookout over Melbourne City Lights

The Dandenong Ranges are Melbourne's nearby mountains.

OK. I'm using the term "mountains" loosely, because these are no gorgeous snow-capped Alpine peaks. They basically just look like hazy green hills in the distance.

Still, Dallas is so flat that the joke is you can watch your dog running away from home for three whole days. So coming from Dallas, the Dandenongs look pretty durned nice to me.

Mt. Dandenong is the highest peak in the ranges with an elevation of 633 meters or 2,077 feet. At the top is a little park and observation tower with an overpriced restaurant for fancy-pants events like weddings and corporate events. The view toward Melbourne is pleasant enough in the daytime, but it doesn't really becoming stunning until twilight, when the city lights start to twinkle.

The Dandenong Ranges are east of Melbourne, so when you're at the Mt. Dandenong lookout (which is called "Sky High"), you're looking west over the city. Which makes the sunsets pretty noice.

The day I went, it was partly cloudy, party sunny, so I got some interesting shots of the clouds wreaking havoc with the sun's attempts to set. I went with my friend Triana, and we spent a couple hours walking around the area's gardens and hiking trails before stealing a table at the cafe to watch the sunset show.

Pretty flowers at the Sky High garden:


The clouds get interesting:


Walking trail through the forest near Sky High:


Sky High gardens:


Sunset:


Carved tree:


A bee hanging out in the lavender bush at Sky High:


Triana took this picture of me on the walking trail:


Very odd purple/orange leaf/flower thing:


Balcony at the lookout. The view was too hazy to photograph:


Cool purple flowers:


Another sunset shot:


Hidden garden (I think they hold small ceremonies here):


Speckled flowers:


Sky High patio:


This kid needs to get out of my otherwise AWESOME photograph:


Twilight and Nighttime shots of Melbourne city from the Sky High lookout:










Some people admiring the view:


Triana took these of me at the lookout:




Goofing off with a statue:




By public transport, it takes about an hour and a half to get up to Sky High. First you have to take a train from the city to Upper Ferntree Gully or Croydon, and then the 688 bus to the intersection of Ridge Road and Observatory Road. And then walk a little ways to the top of Observatory Road.

If you don't plan it correctly (which we didn't), you could get stuck waiting a long time in between the train and the bus (which we did). But we had some excellent milkshakes while we waited, and the bus ride definitely had pleasant views, so it wasn't too much of a hardship. Just make sure you get the off the mountain by the time the last bus goes by! I think it was around 9pm.

All in all, it was a nice day out and definitely worth doing if you're visiting Melbourne on a clear day.