The Rocks - Sydney
Sydney Harbour at night
Deua NP
From Melbourne we went back on ourselves, south to Phillip Island and then east to Wilson’s Promontory National Park were we stayed for three nights. It’s a spectacular park and we did a couple of excellent walks, including a monster 36km trek to the lighthouse and back. A fire swept through a large part of the park back in April so we got to see the forest in recovery mode. We also spotted a Wombat wandering around the campground.
Lighthouse at Wilson's Prom NP
After Wilson’s Prom. we drove west again to Mornington Peninsula and caught a ferry across to Queenscliff and began the drive along The Great Ocean Road. We stopped at Cape Otway National Park for the night and then carried along the coast the next day stopping in to look at the famous 12 Apostles, and other coastal formations. We then drove north to the Grampians National Park.
Some of the 12 Apostles
Going inland to the Grampians meant a significant change in scenery. We had a great campground up in the hills with good fireplaces and not too many people, although pesky Crows. A couple of days were spent walking, and we saw what we think was a Marsupial ‘Mouse’ – a tiny little thing that was hopping around despite looking like a mouse! On the last night we camped down on the flat near Hall’s Gap (a small town) to treat ourselves to showers, etc. Unfortunately we had to endure noisy middle-age campers who sat up late drinking and talking loudly … and even chopping wood at 11pm! They no longer have an axe to annoy other people with anymore. I heard on the news that bushfires have been raging in the area around the Grampians, so we timed our trip well.
Mount Rosea walk
Rain in the Grampians
A long day driving from the Grampians to Mount Buffalo meant we got to see lots of inland Victoria, including Bendigo, and Glenrowan, where Ned Kelly was captured. Mount Buffalo had another fantastic campground reached after a steep twisting drive. We did a couple of great walks here, too, one involving a 1000 metre climb in 9km of walking. Bushfires from a couple of years’ back meant the vegetation was damaged here too. Snow falls in the winter here, and there are some ski runs.
Mt Buffalo burnt bush
The campground was fully booked as of the 23rd of December, so we had to move on, continuing east via the pretty little town of Bright to the Alpine National Park. We were told by a park Ranger in Bright that there was a total fire ban on so we wouldn’t be able to cook on a fire or stove that night, but he recommended that we camped high up on a plain next to an old cattle grazers hut (preserved for heritage and shelter in bad weather) in which we could cook. A 60km drive up really tight mountain roads got us just past Mount Hoffham ski resort to the hut. Wonderful, and no fees! Unfortunately after a blazing hot day the weather got stormy overnight and we didn’t sleep too well, there was hail in the morning and the temperature was down to about 3 degrees. So on Christmas Eve we did a great and very windy walk along the ‘Razorback’ to the top of Mount Feathertop. The scenery was fantastic – very, um, Alpine, unsurprisingly. Not fancying another night in the wind we chickened out and drove back down to Bright and the sanctity of a caravan park. We spent Christmas day loafing around and drinking beer and port.
The Hut
Alpine NP Razorback walk
Mount Feathertop - Alpine NP 1900 metres
After Christmas we decided to start heading home by going north inland on the Newell Highway, and stopping at a couple more National Parks en route. Endless miles of parched land and near destitute little towns passed in a blur on Boxing Day and we made it to Dubbo and another well-equipped caravan park. The next day we made it to the Warrambungle National Park, apparently a very popular park judging by the facilities. We did a decent walk up to the Grand High Tops. I saw my first wild Emus next to the campground where they mingled with Kangaroos in the evening.
Warrambungle NP
The next day we drove on to Mount Kaputar National Park, part of the same range as the Warrambungles. Having done about 200km of walking on our trip we thought we’d do a short walk for a change, and took it easy in the afternoon in preparation for the big drive back to Brisbane the next day.
Mt Kaputar NP
We got home on Thursday 29th having clocked up a total of 6,040km, 12 National Parks, 22 nights camping in the tent … and lots of great Barbeques. We saw hundreds of Kangaroos and Wallabies, Lorikeets, Pink and White Cockatoos, three types of snake, a Skink, Dolphins, a Lyrebird, Camels, Possums, Wombats, Emus, and a Marsupial ‘mouse’. It was a really great trip, and we’re both so glad we took the opportunity to go.
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