Just three hours away from Melbourne is the shire of Grampians where you will find Grampians National Park, home to one of the natural masterpieces of Australia, the sandstone mountains. The husband and I decided to book a hiking tour at Grampians because we figured, we needed to engage in active tours because we didn't get to exercise for almost a month!
Grampians is a natural park/reserve that is home to abundant wildlife comprised of birds like Kookabura, Crow, Lorikeet, Emu, and marsupials such as the Wallaby, Echidna, and the Eastern Grey Kangaroo. It is also known as Gariwerd to the Aboriginal community and it is also home to the Jardwadjali and Djab Wurrung peoples for the last 5,000 years.
We booked this tour through KKDay. We left Melbourne at 7 am and reached the town of Ballarat at around 8:30 a.m. for a 30-minute morning tea at a park in Ballarat. I wasn't able to take photos around Ballarat because the temperature was EXTREMELY freezing at 5 degrees! I was just hiding in the public bathroom the whole time!
By 11:30am, we reached Halls Gap, the nearest town to Grampians National Park to settle down and have lunch. One thing I loved the most at Halls Gap? The wildlife like these families of Eastern Grey Kangaroos that live in the Grampians mountains and come down to feed during winter; we were lucky to see them in such huge numbers because we were told that these guys are elusive and don't come down for the most part of the year because of the heat. These are wild kangaroos and to see them face to face, living free in their natural habitat is such a heartwarming experience!
TIP: Approach wildlife with caution. Heed the tour guide's advice. Do not taunt or come too close for comfort when faced with a wild animal. Most of all, do not feed because they become dependent on humans and it destroys their survival instincts.
After visiting the falls, we started the hike at Grampians National Park. It's a Level 1 hike because we only had 4 hours to spare before heading back to Melbourne. Trekking the entire park can take about 6 hours back and forth your point of origin so we were only taken by the tour guide around Grand Canyon, which was a 1-1 1/2 hours hike back and forth.
Now at the Grand Canyon, but not the one in the USA! Grampians Grand Canyon is called as such because of the towering cliffs and valleys surrounding the area; it may not be as grand as the one in Arizona, but it has a charm of its own!
Almost done with the hike! I had to sit for a couple of minutes in this area to marvel at the complexity and beauty of Grampians!
On our way down, we visited McKenzie falls, one of the most visited waterfalls at Grampians. The water was freezing cold and swimming isn't allowed for safety reasons. It also took us 1000 steps to get down and go up the falls!
The last part of the tour was visiting the lookouts. This is one of the famous lookouts called Boroka lookout, which gives you a stunning view of the Grampians inlands.
There are actually a lot of lookouts, including natural lookouts (which means no safety railing), but we didn't visit those; I figured it's because most of the participants of the tour were already middle- aged, plus the natural lookouts were probably far from each other, therefore we were only taken to the ones near Halls Gap.
My fave hiking duo: Prana jogging pants and Merrell Capra Rapid hiking shoes!
Things I loved about this tour:
1. It's a much- needed break from the city.
2. Grampians is such a stunning natural wonder; it's something that you have to see and experience.
3. The hike was fairly easy and perfect for tourists as it only provides moderate physical activity.
4. The air surrounding the area was so fresh and breathable, it felt like my lungs had been cleaned out!
The entire experience was wonderful and breathtaking. I highly recommend a Grampians tour when visiting Melbourne; it's worth the trip!
Check out my itinerary for this trip:
Check out my Melbourne travel guides:
1 Comments
Haaaay sobrang ganda naman dyan. Wanna see a kangaroo too!I've only been that close sa deers sa Nara, Japan last year. hihihihi
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