Grampians National Park- Halls Gap, Victoria

Mountains!!! I'm finally in the mountains and feel at home...ahh. Mike and I have spent the last two days in Halls Gap, Victoria...the intro to the Grampian mountain range and Grampians National Park. We took a combonation train/bus ride to get out here so have no car. Now, this made our time here a bit more complicated because there was a huge forest fire here last January and lots of the park (camping grounds, hikes, even roads) are still closed. The sites that are open are diffiuclt or expensive to get to without a car. So we chose to stay at a local Backpacker's Inn called Tim's Place because we read in our trusty book that they offered free use of mountain bikes for their guests. It's turned out to be the best place we've stayed at in Australia.





Without a car, we had to a bit of eco-traveling yesterday. We got up early and biked 17 kilometers up a mountain to hit a few beautiful lookouts and McKenzie Falls. Now, most of you know that my body is just not meant to be on a bike...I look funny and awkward and complain a lot...but it was a blast. I just kept thinking of Lorig, and wondering how in the world she biked through the U.S./Canadian Rockies considering how much trouble I was having getting up these wussy little Australian "mountains". So I thought of Lorig and forged on. We saw lots of wallabies and parrots in the forest on the way up. Evidence of the forest fires the previous January was everywhere.








McKenzie Falls











We were totally exhausted by the end of the day (45 kilometers in the moutains) but the vistas were totally worth it and we had a great time. At sunset heaps of kangaroos come out to forage in a field right next to the Inn, so we spent both days at dusk watching kangaroos and laughing because they look so silly. At night, as if we hadn't had enough time on bikes that day, we rode our bikes to a local pub with some girls from Germany we met at Tim's Place.













It was so relaxing and settling to be in the mountains, especially after being in the city for a week or so and not staying in one place for more than one night at a time. Today we're headed back to Melbourne for a few days before we leave for The Great Ocean Road and Canberra, the capital of Australia.

Love to all,
Cara

ps. Check out the sweet music video that Whit made about our adventures in Western Australia at their blog under the "Moving On" post.