First day in Victoria, and its weather didn’t fail to live up to its reputation… we had at least three seasons this morning (though, not sure the difference between spring/autumn, so maybe it was just the two…). We had strong cold wind, we had heavy rain, we had small patches of nice sunshine, and of course, we had drizzle.
First stop of the day was Horsham, which was a surprisingly large country town (and it still felt/looked like a small country town). It was also the first Aldi supermarket that we’ve seen since leaving Queensland all those months ago. We resisted the temptation to buy a welder/wood-chipper/green house/canoe or whatever it was that was on sale this week.
It was only a short drive south until we The Grampians came into view. I didn’t actually know much about the area, only that it was one of Victoria’s most popular tourist destinations. I had a vague knowledge of rocks and waterfalls, and considering all the rain we’ve been having, they should be in good shape. I read that rock climbing was incredibly popular in the area, and a friend who is a rock climbing fanatic recommended a tour guide to us (we have shoes/harness with us), in case we got the urge (which I did, but not in this weather…). The rocks seem to protrude out of nowhere, as the area around Horsham is incredibly flat agricultural land. I love rocky mountains, so I was already excited.
We continued driving, and followed a sign for Beehive Falls. Again, not knowing anything about the area I didn’t know what to expect. After waiting out one set of heavy showers in the comfort of Deli-chan, we walked the 1.3km to the waterfalls. We could see the rock cliffs all around us, and we both remarked how much it looked like Northern Territory… but, with green (and rain/clouds). The actual falls were surprisingly small (water volume wise), but it wasn’t that surprising as we’d noticed how little water was flowing in the creek downstream. I thought that with all this rain it’d be a raging mess… Not a particularly memorable waterfall, but was good to go for a quick walk (and amazingly we timed it perfectly between showers).
The main tourist hub of the area is Halls Gap, so that was our next stop. We stocked up on tourist information and headed out to see some more of the scenic locations of this national park.
Boroka Lookout gave a beautiful view over Halls Gap below, as well as some beautiful rugged rocky cliffs. Not ideal weather, but at least there was some sunshine…
We kept driving further into the park stopping next at Reed Lookout. The view was quite expansive, but not as breath taking as our last stop, but there was a rainbow…
The weather turned, so we returned to the car and decided against McKenzie Falls and instead headed south out of the park. There were some beautiful mountains, and no doubt some great hiking in the area, but it didn’t really capture our interests, which surprised me. Maybe it was just the weather…
Grampians visited, but not entirely experienced (in my mind, since we did so little hiking), we headed south towards The Great Ocean Road, which we’ll travel tomorrow. We’ve camped for the night high up on a hill above Warnambool. Million dollar views!
１４０日目 １０月 １日（火） グランピオンズ国立公園
今日も雨が降ったり止んだりのお天気。そして気温も１０℃前半でかなり寒い！
今日の目玉は、グランピオンズ国立公園というビクトリア州ではかなり人気のある国立公園だそうです。
南オーストラリア州のフリンダーズレンジ国立公園に似た岩がゴツゴツとした、ちょっと荒々しい容貌ですが、フリンダーズよりは、緑がとっても色濃く、こんなに青々とした森を見たのは、久しぶりでちょっと感動。
水が豊富にある為、木々も大きく、鳥の種類も豊富。 私の好きなロゼラという鮮やかな赤い体に、青い羽のちょっと大きいインコも久しぶりに見かけました。
激しい雨が降ったり止んだりで、とてもハイキング日和ではないので、残念ながら今日歩いたのは、片道１．５kmの滝へのトラックのみ。 この短い間でも最初の2分で雨が降ってきて、走って車へ引き返しました。
滝は、キレイだったけど、特にとっても大きい訳ではなくまぁ普通かな〜。 だけど、滝が流れている岩には、小さな木や、草が生えていて、こんなに緑に囲まれた滝は、久々かな。
それにしても、お昼ごろには気温があがるかなーと期待するも、１０℃台前半から一向に上がらず。 風も強いので体感気温は、１０℃以下。 さむい！！
その後は、展望スポットを何カ所か車で回りました。 大きなテーブ状の岩が斜めに並んで山を作っているように見えました。 山の麓には広大な牧場が広がっています。 すぐ近くに虹も見えました☆
一方通行の細い山道を下って、国立公園を出た後は、ひたすらグレートオーシャンロードへ向けて車を走らせました。
この辺は、羊の牧場が非常にたくさんあります。 もこもこしてかわゆい♡
日が沈む前に夕食を作る為に、道の途中でみつけた大きな公園らしき場所へ行ってみる事に。
ここは、Tower Hillという場所で、思っていたよりとってもステキな場所でした。
ずっと昔の火山の跡地らしくクレーターの跡は、湖になっていて水鳥が泳いでいて、森の間は、たくさんのウサギとカンガルーがぴょんぴょん跳ね回ってなんともメルヘン♡
もっと早く到着していたら歩いて見て回りたかったなぁ。
明日は、いよいよグレートオーシャンロード！ ７、８年程前の学生時代に友達とツアーでも来た事があるけど、自分の車で回れるし楽しみ！！
でも明日は、今日よりもお天気が悪化するらしい、、、
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