GRAMPS IN THE GRAMPIANS

SO we left the city life behind and headed for the hills... more precisely the Grampians... a national park about 250 kilometres north west of Melbourne, known for sandstone mountains, spectacular views and wildlife in abundance.

We headed off down the Western Highway towards Stawell, known as the Gateway to the Grampians.

Stawell and the other Grampian towns were fully booked in the lead-up to Easter but we got lucky and landed a spot at a 'free' campground in a tiny place called Great Western.

Now don't get me wrong this was not your usual camping place but it suited us. We paid the grand sum of $10 a night for some electricity (it was free if you didn't need power). You had to pay for hot showers and we had to provide our own loo roll. But like I say, it was cheap, was central to the Grampians and suited our needs.

We paid a quick visit to the Giant Koala at Dadswells Bridge, one of a number of 'giant' things around Australia, such as the big banana in Coffs Harbour and the big pineapple in Nambour.

It was a slight and pleasant detour but it didn't put us off track for long.

Our goal was to keep up the walking regime and the Grampians is the perfect place to do just that.

There are easy walks, medium hikes and hard treks.

After a couple of easier walks, we decided to head up to the Pinnacle, a viewing platform some 708 metres up in the mountains.

We read that it was a 2km trek and although there was a little rock hopping it should not be too strenuous. Who were they kidding!!! For an unfit almost 60-year-old such as me with two dodgy knees, this was extremely hard.

Joy seemed to take it all in her stride, however, and was showing me up as we made the ascent.

It was worth the effort as the view was spectacular and seemed to go on forever. This was a proud moment for me as four years previous to this I was at my heaviest weight of 140kg and even the thought of attempting the walk would probably have given me a heart attack.

I am also afraid of heights, so I was doubly pleased that I had conquered two huge fears in one bound so to speak... the journey down was quicker ... thank God... but no less difficult for me and the dodgy knees.

The knees also got a work out the following day on what we were told was an easier walk down to Mackenzie Falls. It might have been easy for some but there are more than 200 steps going down and they all had to be climbed on the way back up... did I say I've got dodgy knees.

But again like all tough walks, there is always something spectacular at the end and the falls did not disappoint.

STAWELLED GIFT!!

As I mentioned earlier, Stawell is home to an historic athletic event held over the Easter weekend. The Stawell Gift, as it's known had its origins in Sheffield, England and the 120 yards the race is run over was the distance between two pubs in the Yorkshire steel town.

The race in Stawell is in its 140th year and, of course, I took the opportunity, as I do, to test the course out. Usually the top sprinters who take part in the annual race run the distance in about 12 seconds... I completed the so-called sprint in 35 (seconds that is). I have to add that the race is run on grass and is slightly uphill ... that's my excuse and I am sticking to it... maybe they should rename it the Stawelled Gift!!

There was plenty going on in Stawell with classic cars and a small petting zoo (above) just some of the attractions.

RODEO, RODEO, WHERE FOR ART THOU...

Our stay at the camp in Great Western had to come to an end after a week as the rodeo was coming to town on Good Friday.

We moved a few kilometres north west to a small hamlet called Murtoa at the only campsite in town.

We had no complaints as it was beautifully situated on the shores of Lake Marma and was still close enough to carry on our visits to the Grampian towns.

We made trips to Ararat and Horsham (above) before heading back to Great Western for our first ever rodeo.

I have to say it was a brilliant day. The cowboys and cowgirls, the horses and bulls put in a superb show. But it was the country Victorian crowds who made our day, all life was paraded before us and being seated in the licensed area we got to witness some scenes as the day went into night.

It was great fun but I am not sure our backsides have recovered yet after having to sit on hay bails for around 10 hours.

It has also been particularly dry during our time in western Victoria, so we were eating dust most of the day.

CHAMPAGNE MOMENT

We needed something to refresh our parched throats, so what better than a trip to the local winery, of which there are plenty in this part of Australia.

Joy and I had been staying next to the Seppelt Great Western winery and we booked in for a tour of the underground cellars where the first champagne made in Australia was first bottled back in the 1800s.

It was fascinating to see the processes that went into making the bubbly stuff, especially the riddling, which was when workers had to turn bottles a quarter a turn for six weeks at a time to make the wine turn into champagne.

Needless to say we had to taste a couple before leaving and ended up buying a couple of bottles of red, which were also made at Seppelt.

We had not seen rain since Lake Entrance about a month ago, but the heavens opened over the last two days of Easter.

It gave us a chance to recharge our batteries both literally and figuratively and gave me another chance to catch a fish in the lake on our front doorstep... and guess what!!! I caught .... nothing!!!

ON THE TRAIL AGAIN

We ended our stay in western Victoria with a short trip down the Silo Art Trail, a drive of around 200km which takes in wheat silos and other buildings which have artwork on them done by local artists.

We did not have the time for the whole 200km but what we saw in towns such as Rupanyup, where the trail begins, Minyip, Buelah and Rosebery, were pretty spectacular and something we have not seen before.

There was also other artworks too as can be seen above.

We are off to Bendigo next as we work our way back towards the east coast in a few weeks.

Will be back soon for the next part of the grand tour.