Anna and Gordie: Grampians

From the coast we drove back to the inland, to Grampians. Driving there is quite funny – it’s totally flat, even when you get right up to the mountain range. Then these rocks just suddenly rise up right in front of you. We picked up some maps in the local info centre we headed to the first campsite. On the way we saw some emus – first time we saw those in the wild. The look soooo funny when they run!

First night we spent at the northern tip of the park and next day did some walks nearby. The weather was ok, it wasn’t raining, but it wasn’t sunny either, the sky was grey the whole day so the photos didn’t come out as impressive.

As we realized over the next couple of days walking in the Grampians means rock hopping, possibly rock scrambling. The tracks are well marked but the are no highways built so on many occasions you you fid yourself crawling over rocks of various shapes and sizes. It makes it really good fun but on the other hand while you feel like you have just conquered Everest, in reality you walked one kilometre to a lookout.

Next 3 nights we spent in the middle section as we discovered that we can camp there for free. Adjacent to the national park is a tiny state reserve where the Plantation campsite is. Last year the reserve was meant to be joint with the park and so Victoria’s Parks built a beautiful new campground with facilities there. The reserve however hasn’t been joint yet so they can’t charge fees as it doesn’t belong to them yet.

The first there was a massive downpour so the next morning we woke up in a huge mud puddle. Despite our best efforts soon mud was everywhere and on everything in the car. Fortunately rain eased off after the night and so we were able to sweep out sand out of the car over the next three days.

In Plantation we met a very lovely Dutch couple who spoke good English, so we spent the next two nights hanging around a campfire exchanging travel stories. They are now in Adelaide and later heading north to NT so all the best to them and safe journey!

After three nights in the middle we spent another night in the southern section before heading back to civilization. We absolutely loved Grampians, it is a stunning place with breathtaking views everywhere you go and any direction you look.

Z pobrezi jsme zamirili do vnitrozemi, do pohori Grampians. Cesta tam je super – je to uplne placaty, az do chvile, kdy clovek stoji u upati tech kopcu, je to krasna rovinka. Poridili jsme si mistni mapy a vyrazili do kempu. Prvni noc jsme stravili na severni spicce parku. Cestou tam jsme videli nekolik ptaku emu, poprve co jsme je videli ve volne prirode. Mimochodem vypadaji desne legracne kdyz utikaji!

Rano jsme vyrazili udelat par treku v okoli. Jak se ukazalo, “chodit” v teto oblasti muze take znamenat “lezt” ci “plazit se”. Trasy jsou tady sice dobre znacene, nicmene na vetsine z nich drive ci pozdeji clovek preleza sutry ruznych velikosti. Coz je sice celkem sranda, nicmene zatimco ja mela pocit, ze jsem prave zdolala Everest, ve skutecnosti jsem pouze “dosla” na vyhlidku jeden kilometr od parkoviste.

Dalsi tri noci jsme stravili ve stredni casti. Tam se totiz dalo momentalne spat zadarmo, nebot kemp je v prirodni rezervaci, ktera nepatri pod Spravu narodnich parku. Loni se to melo spojit, tak tam Sprava narodnich parku postavila ze sveho rozpoctu krasny kemp, ale ke spojeni zatim nejak nedoslo, tak za nej nemuzou vybirat.

Prvni noc tam desne lilo. Rano jsme se probudili v bahennni lazni a ac jse se snazili jak chteli, behem rano bylo bahno vsude a na vsem. Nastesti pak uz neprselo, tak jsme pisek dalsi tri dny vymetali z auta.

V tomto kempu jsem narazili na velmi prijemny par z Holandska. Oba umeli celkem dobre anglicky, tak jsme dalsi dve noci porovnavali cestovatelske zazitky u taboraku. Touhle dobou by meli byt v Adelaide a pak miri na sever, tak jim drzime palce.

Posledni noc jsme popojeli na jih, odkud jsme se pak vydali zpet do civilizace. Grampians nas naprosto nadchly – nadherne vyhledy kam se clovek podiva, vsude kopce a skaly. Klidne jsme tam mohli zustat dyl, ale byl cas se poposunout. Mam mraky fotek ale vybrala jsem opet jen ty nejoblibenejsi: