Having done all the things we needed to do in Horsham, we went to Stawell to camp up in the caravan park for a few days while we do site surveys in the Grampians.
On Sunday we did those sites on the south-east fringe of the National Park. We took to the unsealed roads and found it a pretty uncomfortable trip to the places we had to visit.
Grampians Paradise Camping and Caravan Parklands is a rather unusual caravan park. The owner doesn't want it to be like a "suburban" park. He used to run climbing training courses but the un-affordable insurance premiums and the regulatory requirement for certification for anyone involved with any kind of training forced him to rethink his business. It now tries to cater for those who want a bit of comfort but who, at the same time, want to get closer to the natural world. The site are just level grassy place between the trees, a few with power. There is a modern ablutions block and a meeting room with comfortable furniture and a fireplace for the cold nights. There is a lake and there are wetlands under development. This is a great place but the rates make it a good holiday destination but a bad overnight stop for the budget conscious traveller We moved on into the National Park to check out one of the sites listed both in "the book" and in the park guides. This turned out to be a tiny site down a road which was easy for the Terios but would have been a major challenge for the Motley. We did have a nice experience on the way when a wild Fallow Deer ran across the road in front of us.
On Monday we did the southern section of the park proper. We drove to Halls Gap and headed south on the Grampians Tourist Road. The sites here are bigger than the one we visited yesterday but there still really cater only for little rigs and the $11 a night fees seem a tad steep for bush camping We took a little diversion to drive up Mt William. The scenery was very reminiscent of the mountain in NSW. The lower slopes are forested with three or four species of big, beautiful, eucalypts including the Mountain Grey Gum. The upper part is a sub-alpine kind of plant communities with lots of banksias and grevillias. We reached the carpark which is two kilometres from the top but the weather was quite cold and the track was rated strenuous and with every chance of the cloud closing out any view, we left this for our next visit.
We had a delightful meeting with a swamp wallaby on the road. He stood and looked at us as I slowed down and then hopped away into the bush.
On Monday, we did the northern section of the park. We approached from the north. After checking out Troopers Creek campground which is on a black-top road, we took to the bush and tested the Terios capabilities on a rugged bush road.
We had morning tea at Stapylton Campground in company with a small mob of red-necked wallabies.
We found and corrected some errors in the information in "the book" and we found a new budget priced caravan park set in the bush in the Wartook valley. This is an interesting place because the owners run a wildlife refuge and there is a terradome building set up as a holiday unit.
We stopped at the McKenzie Falls carpark and walked to the lookout above the falls; the track to the bottom of the falls might have been good but the climb back up to the carpark would have been beyond us.
We had lunch at Smiths Mill Campground, the last campsite on our itinerary. This is a pleasant place but not really motorhome friendly. We visited Lake Wartook and were surprised to find is nearly full. This is the primary water storage in the Grampians but the catchment is only a few times bigger than the lake so its a puzzle how it can be so full after such a long drought.
Reeds Lookout provides a panoramic view of the western side of the park but its a great view with not a lot to see.
One problem with camping in this park, apart from the cost, is that one is required to register at the park office before camping rather than using the normal self-registration system. I guess they must have had a lot of trouble with people cheating but the difficulty of visiting Halls Gap before going to the site seem unreasonable.
We had used up the better part of the day so we left the rest of the sights of the park for our next visit .