Wednesday, Dec 26, 2007

So, to preface this post: most best day ever!

Well, not ever, but you should see what I mean. It was beautiful, full of beaut, and I (get it?!) was in between it all!

I woke up this morning at 6:45 to gather my camera and two shirts, and set off with my bike to ride into the city. I easily found the pick-up spot for my day tour to the Grampians. Knowing I was safe I made a holiday call to my Dad and his family. I lucked out in that I was able to speak to my entire family during Christmas--my Mom's on Christmas eve, and my Dad's Christmas afternoon.

I was the last one on the tour bus, and was told that we were 3 hours away from the mountains--or "the hiils", as one tour guide commented.

After two hours we stopped for tea and cookies. We arrived into the town of Halls Gap for lunch, and instead of eating lunch I ran toward the base of the mountain range--we were in the Grampians. I was trail-running throughout this park (I only had 40 minutes, and the entrance was at least ten away from the bus). I visited a secluded river-pools called "Venus Pools." Along the way I viewed some amazing outcrops of rock that seems to have flung themselves sideways up into the air millions of years ago in one violent thrust.

Our next stop was the Aboriginal Cultural Center. This center was dwarfed by the opportunity to see, snap and stalk wild kangaroos; and that's what I did. I counted over 30 different Kangaroos. When we first approached them it was too quick--me and the tour guide were pretty into our conversation. Although it was a sight to see a herd sit up from their lazy shade-lazing spots under thick foliaged gum trees and rapidly bounce off to another spot far away from the tourists with their cameras and bi-podal movements.

I separated from the group, as was usual for me, aqnd hunted down my own roos. I found a tribe under another thicket and I took my time getting close and gaining their trust. These animals are insanely strong. They "walk" with the use of their tree-trunk sized tail, which is rather humorous, and they are very muscular. One of the male kangas looked like he had spent each day of his entire life at a gym, benching 100s of pounds:his chest was well defined, his arms appeared to have triceps and large biceps, and his back was large and wide. It begs the question of how closely they are related to humans--probably not close at all (it's just odd that some parts resembles ours). Their feet are hufe and their hands are tiny, but with large black, razor-sharp claws.


After taking my fill of pictures and videos I withdrew to the Cultural Center where I learned a lot about the Native Australians and bush fires.

We headed off next to MacKenzie Falls. Now, these fall very tall and very beautiful. And once I rushed down to take pictures without the bother of the other tourists getting in my way I wandered beyond the gate and followed the stream down about 15 minutes. There I found peace and quiet along with some spectacular cliffs. On my return to the falls I stopped and hiked to the top of the valley, which was rather steep and precarious. I made it to the top and took these 44 pictures, which, when sewn together, form to create this epic picture of an uncapture-able falls sight:

..if you zoom in on the picture, look to the lower left to find a human, and then compare with the size of the falls.

I was reluctant to leave this place. I hiked for an hour all along the rocky area, while the tourists stuck to the paved pathways. It was an incredible place, but unfortuantely, the hike left me wanting a full days worth of water and much more time than the alotted hour to explore this amazing National Park.

Our next stop was the Balconies Lookout. As soon as my feet hit the ground I was off running to the lookout that was 1km down a stony dirt path. Out of breath, I reached the area which had metal bars preventing any time of exploration. So, an instant later, I find myself on the other side, bouncing from rock to rock which hang loosely on eroded siltstone over a large (and I mean large), vast canyon-y valley which seemed to extend forever. The horizon was cut with the jagged teeth of mountain tops, which give the area its name: "Jaws of Death."

After trying to automate my camera, and succeeding in snapping a few photos of me before the abyss I scrambled down the cliff face a little to this very interesting mouth of rock. The path was worn, so it seemed safe enough. I took more pictures some of which are below:

I ran back and took pictures of an enormous lake (natural, not made-made) that sat like an evaporating puddle in the armpit of a huge mountain. It looked quite amazing, and so I ran to where the view was best and shot off a few more pictures so that I'd never forget this place--it was serene.

We had another hour here, and I certainly made the most of it. Scrambling rocks and jaunting off into the unknown on dangerous cliffs was exciting, and hey, I lived to tell about it, so no worries!

The bus left at 5:00pm and the day was finished, but full. We stopped in a small town outside of Halls Gap on the way back to Melbourne. Most places were closed today--it's a National Holiday, "Boxing Day", I guesws named after the boxes opened at Christmas. The trip was worth the 6 hour bus ride with myself being the only native English speaking person. I got home at 9pm and started updating this blog and sewing these pictures together. I hope you enjoy them and that they convey the immensity that I saw today.