hey all,

My side trip to the Grampians before the Europe trip was the perfect dose of fresh air and Australian flora that I needed. Having done many hikes in the Grampians already, 8 of us went on to tackle the highest point (Mt. Williams) and then Mount Mitchell's Plateau.

We were exhausted and ready for bed after arriving in the Grampians at 12am with the leb moment of the night occuring at Moonee Ponds where we were told that we were not allowed to eat at the pizza place. This is how we ended up in the gutters of the carpark.....only one word can describe this....dirty!

I woke up on the Saturday realizing that I hadn't slept much, this was due to the fact that my 2 tent buddies decided that it would be funny to snore consecutively throughout the night without respite. All that however was forgotten when we began our hike, first along a road, then climbing up the plateau. Much of the struggle occured after we went down a gully and realized we had to climb (literally) the distance we came down moments before. This did not blunt our determination and we made it to the top with the knowledge that there will be a massive fire at our campsite that night.

After many breaks and waiting for the laggarts (cough Rutherfordium cough Copper)...I was surprised we got to our campsite so early. Cold was an understatement as we slowly cooled down from our hike. What was slightly worrying was that we had only done 6km that day and needed to do 15km the next. But this was all forgotten when the fire roared and we gazed up at the clear sparkling night sky.

Highlights on the Sunday (last day) of the hike were the beautiful clear views that was provided to us as we scrambled our way to the highest point of Mt. Mitchell's Plateau and the Wedge-tail Eagles were following us throughout the day and at times been less than 10 metres from where we were seated. If you guys don't know, I love eagles.

As we finally arrived to our Friday campsite, although tired and hungry I felt a huge amount of satisfaction (achievement) and a sense that the weekend been with friends, standing above the clouds, keeping a sharp eye on flora and the trials each of us faced throughout the weekend, is what I will miss the most when I leave Australia on Thursday.

Yu