Walkers: Helen, Irene, Linda C., Linda H. (leader)
Photos:
Report:
HOW LUCKY WERE WE???
After a week of heavy rain I was very reluctant to go ahead with the Halls Gap weekend. If it wasn’t for the fact that we had booked and paid for a cabin I would have cancelled. The 4 of us arrived at the caravan park at 6pm, unpacked and headed straight to the Hotel for tea. We all agreed that there must have been a change of owners or chefs because the meals were not up to the usual standard.
The next morning we drove to Sundial Car Park and headed towards the Pinnacle. It was bitter cold but not raining. I had to stop to try and work out what the strange noise was, finally it dawned on me, and it was water pouring down the streams. After a week of rain all the creeks had water gushing over rocks and waterfalls. It was exhilarating, we were so excited. “How lucky were we??”
At the Pinnacle we rushed out to the lookout and rushed back. The wind was like ice on our faces and we could not stand still. We decided not to stay for long and made our way to Wonderland Car Park for lunch. This second section had a lot of work done on it after the fires; there were new wooden steps and stainless rails, obviously designed for the tourists. At the Grand Canyon the waterfall at the top was roaring as huge volumes of water gushed over the top, there were large areas of white foam at the base of the various falls.
At the Wonderland car park there are new toilets and new tables, what a luxury. Whilst we were eating, the wind changed direction, and once again it became icy so we finished our cuppas and headed for the final stretch down to Halls Gap. Once again the water astounded us in areas like Venus Baths and the Stony Creek.
Back at the camp ground we downed our packs and went straight across to the shops for coffee and cake. That night we shared salads and sweets and had a BBQ. Next day we woke to sunshine. “How lucky were we?”
We drove to Tandara Road and started the walk up Boronia Peak. Immediately we noticed the range of flowers, Hakeas and Heaths and Correas were abundant. We had to keep stopping to view the majesty of nature at its best. There was even a patch of purple Hardenbergia out in full bloom, absolutely stunning.
After completing this walk, which took us 3 hours we headed to the new Brambuk Cultural Centre for lunch, the most beautiful Tomato and Mushroom soup with wild herbs and Foccacias.
Thank you to Linda C, Irene and Helen for a fabulous weekend; plenty of good walking, good food and wine and great company.
Linda H.
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