Sometimes, you get to a point on the way to some free camp nirvana when things just don’t seem right. You look at the website and its all lush meadow and sunshine, and you’re on a dirt road surrounded by impenetrable forest and mist. We’re on the right road…or are we? Check, double check…supposed to be just about ……here. Sure enough, at the exact spot on Google maps, there was a turnoff, but it definitely wasn’t heading to lush meadows and sunshine. It disappeared into the impenetrable undergrowth with a “no way out” vibe about it. Nup, not possible (we came back the next day and it was a primitive campsite 30 metres into the undergrowth and the size of a large garden shed).
So, now it was just a case of keep going and hope there’s no surprises. You have to laugh, a rig the size of a semi, snaking it’s way along a forest trail, not daring to contemplate someone coming the other way. Finally we hit the tar and headed into Halls Gap to get some fuel and look at our Plan B’s.
When I relayed our tale of woe and the road less travelled we took to the service station manager, the look I got said we were either heroic or mad. More the latter I suspect. Anyway, we now had a pressing issue, where to spend our first night in the Grampians? By this time it was mid-afternoon and already the dark clouds were finding their home on the cliffs. Again, we go back to the net and find something promising about 15klm’s out of town. Our optimism was short lived. The road had been blocked off for a back-burn. Seriously? It had been raining for three days. Worse still, we couldn’t turn the van around and were forced down a side road on a wing and a prayer that we could find an opportunity to get us pointed in the right direction. With Tamika as my guide, we navigated our first seven point turn and headed back to town. We looked askance at each other. Surely not a caravan park? We had no choice. The street lights were coming on. So we rang Halls Gap Lakeside tourist Park and yes, they had a site that would take our van.
Now this was no ordinary caravan park. It was more like a gated community. Five star facilities, restaurant quality camp kitchen and a log fire in the TV/games room. We stayed an extra night it was THAT good, even though the weather was THAT bad. Any idea of 4WD sightseeing was actively discouraged by the locals due to the conditions, but the warm fire and our passion for AFL sated by the big screen TV, passed the time soon enough.
We did venture out for a black top drive up into the Grampians and were rewarded with some great views. A “quick†walk to a waterfall turned into a steep trek down, and then a steep climb up the mountain side. Tamika wisely stayed in the car for a mobile phone catch up.
Still, in spite of our misadventures, the hot showers, a roaring log fire and some good port more than tempered our disappointment.