Wet & Misty in the Grampians
27th May, Melbourne, Australia
We had an unusually early start today - unusual for us because with so much time on our hands to explore all the places we have been to so far, there's rarely justification for waking at 6am. Today was different. We were going to meet with Eric, another of our Aussie friends that we met in Turkey in 2002. Why so early? Well, Eric had offered to take us for a drive up to the Grampians, a good three hours away from his place in Caroline Springs.
We left auntie Chris just after 7am (promising to call in on her once more after we had been to Tasmania) and took the main road route to Eric's place, a journey which got us caught up in all the morning traffic into the city and ended up taking an hour and twenty minutes - slightly longer than the 30 minutes we had hoped for. And if that wasn't bad enough, we found out later that there was a much quicker route (and more scenic one) that avoided all those roads that would have taken just 20 minutes. That's what happens when you consult maps without a lot of detail in them.
Eric, today's visitee, had visited Turkey once before, and had broken his camera, resulting in no pictures of the holiday. What are the chances that on his second trip to Turkey - when we met him - his new camera would fail on him and give a repeat performance? Well, I don't know what the odds are, but that's precisely what happened. I had been something of a lifesaver, then, having used a digital camera in Turkey as I was able to send him a CD full of photos to replace his underexposed set. This probably explained why Eric was happy to be taking us on what turned out to be a 500km round-trip. In the rain.
We stopped briefly on the way at a place called Ararat for some morning tea and cakes (I opted for the most outrageously sticky sugary cake on offer) then continued on in to the Grampians. But not before passing a group of kangaroos who decided to cross the road. Luckily, Eric saw them coming from a distance and slowed down in time. This was the first time we'd seen a group of roos hopping along together - even Eric, a local through and through, had never seen this before. We felt privileged!
The Grampians - Mini Blue Mountains
Some people had described the Grampians to us as being similar to the Blue Mountains near Sydney. It was difficult to say whether that was accurate or not, as the weather was not on our side. Mist turned to icy cold drizzle and once we reached our first lookout, there was very little to see - unless vistas of white nothingness are your thing. "There are polar bears down there," Eric deadpanned. We took a walk up a track towards some rocky features known as The Balconies, although the nearest rock looked more like a dragon's head to me.
The Balconies in Victoria's Grampians region.
We drove on to another lookout called Boroka Lookout and were confronted with similar views - mist and more mist. However, we could see some faint shapes in the distance, and slowly some windows appeared in the mist offering views over the valley below. As we were stood at the peak of that range, we could feel the icy wind as it rolled up the hills straight into us. My hands were barely able to work the camcorder as I tried to capture the brief glimpses of the valley.
The view from the car park at Reid's Lookout - as glimpsed through a short
break in the misty clouds.
For lunch, we opted for an Aussie tradition - the meat pie. Actually, these were probably what some people refer to as gourmet pies (I had a delicious peppered steak pie ... and an egg and bacon pie, piggie that I am). We stood there in the relative shelter of a tree, the three of us, in a semi-circle with our pies in hand, watched over by a family of magpies who were waiting for whatever morsels we would drop (we couldn't sit because the benches were all soaking wet).
We didn't spend a long time in the Grampians area, as Eric wanted to be back before it got dark (he had to go look after his mother who was not well). However, despite the drab weather and the limited time we had there, it was a good day. Eric was a great guide, pointing out various native birds and keeping us entertained throughout with his dry wit - and I thought that tax auditors usually had their humour glands removed at birth.