The Grampians - Nature at its Finest!

The day after I finished exams, Zac and I headed to the Grampians for a couple of days. I had to choose between the Great Ocean Road or the Grampians, which kind of sucks, but I definitely made the right choice. The Grampians were amazing! Below are some of the highlights of the trip!

Blue Wren Lodge

Since I'm used to bumming it at hostels everywhere I go, I figured I'd splurge (kind of) on an accommodation. I'm so happy I did - Blue Wren Lodge was absolutely amazing! 

The lodge was easy to find from the bus stop and when we walked in, everything looked perfect! We were welcomed with a basket of food - including tim tams! So yummy! And within the first hour of being at the lodge, we already had two visitors in the backyard - two kangaroos! We also had quite a few cockatoos come to the backyard, too, which I thought was awesome since I've seen them in the wild before! 

Since it was relatively cold when we finished hiking our second day, we spent some time in the spa bath! It was perfect after a day of hiking.

If you head to the Grampians, you wouldn't regret staying at this lodge, everything was great! More pictures below.

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Hiking - Day 1 

After we checked out the lodge, we figured we would do some hiking nearby and see Chatauqua Peak, Bullaces Glen and Clematis Falls. After we left, though, I realized I was still wearing my Sperry boat shoes. Since I figured we were just doing some lighter trails, I thought it wasn't worth going back to get my runners. Little did I know…

On our walk to the trail, we saw tons of kangaroos just hanging out in the yard in front of some of the houses! I couldn't believe it. This was the first time I've actually really seen kangaroos in the wild, so I was definitely taken aback by how many there were!

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Then we saw a deer! I know there are lots of deer in America, but I thought since there were kangaroos in Australia, there weren't any deer. Clearly I was wrong! She was actually relatively close to us!

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We went to Bullaces Glen first, followed by Chatauqua Peak and then Clematis Falls. Getting to the glen and the falls were no problem, the walking was relatively easy. However, to get to the peak, there were tons of rocks to climb over and up and down. I could not believe I was able to make it to the peak in my Sperry's, let alone make it without them falling apart! It would've been so much easier if I just wore the runners! We got some pretty great views from the peak, but I wasn't really impressed by the falls or the glen. Since it hadn't rained much, the falls were barely falls. And the glen… well, it was a glen. Kind of boring, but it had some beauty to it. Below are some pictures!

Hiking - Day 2 

Our second day, we decided to do The Pinnacle, Grand Canyon, Splitters Falls and the Venus Baths. We walked SO MUCH and at some points it was really steep. It made me realize how out of shape I actually am! I actually remembered to wear my runners, so it was a lot easier than the day before in that regard. After taking a couple of Tim Tam and bread breaks, we made it to the Pinnacle and enjoyed some GREAT views. We had a nice view of Lake Bellfield and we could even see some of the neighboring towns quite a way out. 

I'm constantly amazed by how different the landscape in Australia is from anything I've seen before. The rocks just look different for some reason and it's so cool! While we were walking through the Grand Canyon, we saw some people abseiling. It looked like a lot of fun and I'll have to try it some time! Once we were through the Grand Canyon, we walked through Silent Street. It's called Silent Street for an obvious reason - it's quiet! You can't hear the wind or any noise from outside as you're going through the two big rocks. 

I wanted to do Mackenzie Falls, but we since we didn't have enough time, we decided to go see Splitters Falls. .I really enjoyed Splitters Falls, though. I love the sound waterfalls make, it's so soothing! It was nice because the falls were kind of off the beaten path, so we had time to relax and just enjoy the falls and the nature surrounding us! We didn't see many people all day, which was also pretty great!

We ended with the Venus Baths. At that point, it started sprinkling, so it was a bit cold and we didn't stay too long. If it was a hot day, after all the walking, it would've been so nice to go in the water or just put our feet in it! I like how the rock seems to have bubbles filled with the water. Again, the rock formations are pretty awesome here!

This was a fantastic trip and the perfect way to end my time in Australia. I don't know what my obsession is with kangaroos, but I was very happy to see so many of them, especially in such a beautiful place. 

Halls Gap, while extremely small, was the perfect little mountain town. I hope to come back again one day!

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