Prior Posting: On the Taipan Walls & Mt. Zero

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After seeing a good portion of the north of the Grampians National Park my wife and I decided it was time to check out what the center of the park had to offer. We woke up early, had some cereal, and proceeded to pack up our camp site. We were the only ones in the campground at this point so the kangaroos were quite sad to see us go.  Our next destination would be the McKenzie Falls & the Jaws of Death in the Central Grampians:

• 1. MacKenzie Falls & Lake Wartook - MacKenzie River Walk
• 2. Reid Lookout & The Balconies
• 3. Mount Zero, Flat Rock, Hollow Mountain, Mount Stapylton, Gulgurn Manja Shelter & Ngamadjidj Shelter
• 4. Golton Gorge
• 5. Beehive Falls & Briggs Bluff
• 6. Buandik Picnic Area & Falls, Manja Shelter & Billimina Shelter

To reach the central area of the Grampians we had to drive through the pleasant Wartook Valley, which is filled with grazing sheep and bed and breakfast hotels:

Once at the end of the valley we began to drive up a steep and narrow road that took us into the heart of the Grampians. The central Grampians features many steep rocky peaks and thickly forested hillsides:

It is in the central Grampians that the beautiful MacKenzie Falls are located. This waterfall should be on everyone’s shortlist of must see attractions in the Grampians. To reach the falls requires about a 15-20 minute walk, but it is well worth it. This area of the Grampians was devastated by a massive bushfire in January 2006 that actually destroyed nearly half of the park. Along the trail to MacKenzie Falls it is amazing to see how quickly the forests in Australia can recover from bushfires. All along the forest’s floor new trees are coming to life:

The gum trees in Australia need fire in order to reproduce and the same is true for the fern trees that occupy the forest’s floor:

These fern trees only sprout these long stems when they come into contact with fire. These stems are filled with seeds that are spread by the wind and allow the ferns to reproduce. They reproduce quickly because the forest’s floor is already filled with new ferns.

At the end of the trail is a magnificent view of MacKenzie Falls:

It is amazing to see this much water in the middle of western Victoria which is being adversely effected by a debilitating decade long drought.

After checking out the waterfall we then headed over to Reid Lookout which provides an amazing panoramic view looking towards the southwest of the central Grampians:

I put three pictures together using Microsoft Paint (I really need to invest in Photoshop) so the quality isn’t to good, but should give everyone an idea of the sweeping view from the lookout. Additionally, if you look closely you can see the whole vista was consumed by last year’s bushfires, but just like around MacKenzie Falls, the forest is recovering.

From the lookout there is a trail to a well known lookout known as the Jaws of Death. Along the way there is a fabulous view of Lake Wartook off to the east:

Additionally, along the way you can see the slow recovery of the forest from last year’s bushfires as well:

The walk to the lookout takes about 25 minutes to get to, but once again the view from the lookout is worth the effort:

Before people could sit on the Jaws of Death to take pictures, but currently it is sealed off to allow the bush around the rock formation to recover from the fire. I walked back to the car park and then proceeded to drive up to another lookout across the valley from Reid’s Lookout. This lookout provided an outstanding view of the surrounding plains and the small village of Halls Gap:

I really think this image best gives viewers an idea of how the different ranges of the Grampians look like waves of rock rising from the surrounding plains. Just a great view of the park from here that hasn’t been altered by last year’s massive bushfire.

After we finished checking out the view from the lookout, we then proceeded to head back to the main road and drive down the mountain to Halls Gap. The road passes through a valley that goes right by the mountain you see pictured to the far right in the picture seen above. Here is view of the mountain as seen from the road:

By looking closely at the rock face we could make out the small figures of people climbing up the rock face:

This rock face is part of what is known as the Wonderland rock formation and is very popular with climbers because it can be so easily accessed from Halls Gap. This mountain is literally on the outskirts of the city and within easy walking distance. I was tempted to try to climb up the mountain, but decided not to because my legs were pretty wore out already from all the bushwalking I had already done in the park. I also figured this gives me an excuse to come back here again as well.

Anyway we continued down the narrow winding road and pulled into Halls Gap. The very first thing we did once we got to Halls Gap was to look for hot food and we found a pizza joint. The pizza like many pizza joints in Australia, really wasn’t all that great (what I would give for a Papa John’ down here) because it was more like a casserole than a pizza:

It beat eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Pringles again, so I really couldn’t complain. The wife and I spent the rest of day checking out the various shops in Halls Gap looking for trinkets to send to friends and family. For being a small town Halls Gap does have a certain charm to it and I was just reading in this month’s Outdoor Australia magazine that Halls Gap was voted as one of the Top Ten Adventure Towns in Australia. I tend to agree because Halls Gap is definitely a great gateway to the scenic Grampians.

Next Posting: The High Point of the Grampians, Mt. William