Written 4th September 2011

Hello, I am now sat in Uncle Len's living room watching Heartbeat after a weekend in Port Elliot, more about that later…

I arrived in Halls Gap after a train, bus ride and a hitch hike! After arriving in Stawell about 30 mins from Halls Gap I tied my bag up and headed out the station door. An old man was dropping his friend off at the station so I asked what I could do for an hour and half before my final bus. Luckily he was heading off to Halls Gap to deliver a painting so I hopped in and off we went. As we drove the hills got bigger and bigger… it was beautiful! He dropped me off at Tim's Place, a backpacker hostel owned and run by Tim himself. I checked in and then he showed me my room. Basically a brick shed… quite cold but nice enough. I then went off to the local tourist information on my bike, provided by Tim. The place was empty, not a sole in town. It was just like the Alps, small village in the mountains with campsites, rivers, cafes, restaurants and a few shops. After a while in the tourist info trying to figure out what the hell I would do in this place for 3 days I ended up going into the local primary school. There were two classes and 3 teachers. Just as I got there the head teacher rode off on her motorbike! How cool is that! Anyway, inside I was shown around both classes and introduced to the kids. It was just like the schools in England, but everyone had their own mini laptop! It was very well resourced! I then asked the kids where I should go for my lunch. About 3 kids shouted out the names of a few restaurants/cafes in the village… their own businesses! I couldn't go to them all because this country is so bloody expensive, so… I got them to stand up one by one and sell theirs to me like dragons den. To keep all happy I said I would visit all during the week but only actually went to the one of the fattest kid. It looked like he enjoyed the food so I thought it must be good! After a pie and caramel slice I rode it off by biking down to the Brambuk cultural centre, about 2km. There I watched two videos about how the Grampians were created. One a traditional Aboriginal creation story about a how a Giant Emu was chasing a bird into a crack in a rock and then kicked it to get it. Consequently the rock split making the mountains. Someone then threw a snake or something and 3 rivers were created. All a bit far fetched if you ask me! Anyway, they were great videos about the local area anyway. After that I spoke to the staff, Rooney and Frank, and then booked a tour to see Aboriginal rock art. I had another look around before biking all the way back to the hostel, via the supermarket to by some tea, and had a great evening chilling out, planning my next few weeks in Auz and had an early night. The day after I planned to get up and out… at 11.30am I woke up so that kicked the up and out bit into touch! I ate some free breakfast, bloody Muesli, and then set off on my hike. I chose the ones closest to the hostel called Chatauqua Peak which passed Clematis Falls on the way, a combined total distance of 2.2km, one way. While I was on my way to the start of the path I passed the cricket oval. It was covered in wild Kangaroos! Small, big and baby ones, they are sooo cool! It was miles better than when I saw them in the zoo on the Ocean road. I walked right into the middle of them all, set up my tripod and got some fab pictures! I even lay down next to a few of them and chilled! When I finally started my walk it was about 2pm… it was such a shame I would only be able to fit one walk in before dark! When I got to the waterfall it was pretty impressive. I put my stuff down and again set up my tripod, my best buy of the year! After one photo I decided I could get further underneath the water, after attempt two I decided I could get further underneath so I decided I would try the other side. After attempt three I decided I would have one more go at getting right under then water! After attempt four my jeans, boxers, t-shirt, shoes, socks were all wet through and I had a sore backside, but……. I also had a fantastic picture! During the 10 seconds, after pressing the button, I managed to hop over a tree, slip on a rock, go flying into the water, get up, and pose for the picture while smiling. What a pro…

Update… I have now just taken off from Adelaide airport and will land in Sydney in a few hours! Now is the perfect time to finally get up to date with my blog. Here goes…

So after my epic attempts to get my perfect waterfall picture I hiked a further 1.4km to the top of the Chatauqua Peak. Leaving my soaked T-shirt at the bottom, I was now pretty damn cold but I soon warmed up as the track got harder. At the end of the path I must have jumped around 30 times to try and get a great jumping picture. The views were fantastic. I could see all over the valley containing the village of Halls Gap, a beautiful lake and an amazing dam. I then followed little orange arrows climbing up and over rocks to the actual peak! It was very windy up there but again the views were great! I then headed back down the rocks and path, collected my t-shirt and went back to Tim's Place for a well earned cuppa. After getting changed I booked my bus to Adelaide and then went for a walk to the oval again. I watched the Kangaroos hopping around; there must have been about 50! When I got back to Tim's a guy called Andrew had checked in. He was doing a similar route to me after working in the Middle East as an engineer for 3 years! We went out for dinner in a local restaurant and then both just chilled before going to bed. The following day it was time to explore the Aboriginal rock art on my tour with Rooney from the Brambuk centre. I was ready and waiting at 10am to be picked up by the bus that never arrived. After a few phone calls I found out the tour had been cancelled as Rooney was ill, b******s, so I biked back to the centre to get my money back! It didn't turn out too bad though as I managed to get out of them a free Didgeridoo lesson, boomerang throwing lesson, and a paint your own boomerang session. A total saving of $17 J While painting my boomerang, which I took a great deal of care doing, I came to a point where I thought I had finished. So… I picked it up to put it on the window to dry, then what did it do… dropped it face down! My fantastic kangaroo was now a smudged kangaroo! I then spent another 30 mins touching up and rescuing it. I must say that the I am very proud of my finished product and the 2nd kangaroo was miles better than the first attempt. So with the morning now gone after a relaxing/stressful painting session I headed up to the mini golf. This wasn't just any old mini golf, it was a world class mini golf! One that Grandma and Grandpa would be proud of! It was immaculate, had a great surface, walls and activities/bloody hard bits! It was 10/10 and after many visits to mini golf's as a child with 'mini golf inspectors' I know a good mini golf! I didn't think a hole in one on the 1st was a bad start! However, it then went down hill. There were some crazy holes though and it was great fun. From the mini golf I headed another 2km up the road to the lake and dam. The view from the top of the dam was again fantastic. On one side a massive lake, on the other a village covered by trees! On the way home I thought I would call on my new friend. Remember I mentioned a guy called Frank from Brambuk, well I went to find him. Frank is about 60 and is the gardener at the centre. He lives alone at the back on the centre in a garage, with a bed, shower, couch and fire all in one room. When I visited on the first day he showed me around so I kind of knew where to find him. We sat in his garage by the fire and had a beer. He was telling me all about living in the mountains and what he gets up to, it was great to chat to a local and that's what I'm loving about travelling alone! After a drink I said goodbye to Frank and went back to Tim's along the bike track. I again found another load of Kangaroo's just chilling so spent about 30 mins setting my tripod up, creeping into position and then jumping. The only problem was every time I jumped, they jumped and ran off! It took ages to get the prefect 'all jumping' shot but I managed it in the end. I had another fantastic meal of Sausages, Mash and Carrots before getting a good night sleep ready for my bus to Adelaide.

My time in Halls Gap had been great! When I planned to come to Australia I didn't expect or think I would spend a few days in a place like The Grampians. Mum and Dad you would be proud of me walking and hiking after years of dragging me up mountains. Something tells me Lucy would have got straight back on the bus to the city! I had met some great people and chilled out about after a hectic none stop few months. Now though it was back on the road to Adelaide, South Australia, to visit Uncle Len and Lianne Fisher!

Bye for now

Tom x