Day 92 - Friday 5th April 2024

Last night I was awoken several times by the sounds of laundry being done; who in their right mind puts laundry on so that it goes into spin at 02:30? Then another at 05:30 left me awake and waiting for the alarm. 

This morning my first job was also to do my laundry. I waited until 07:30 when it was light enough to see where I was going, and also because any earlier would just be anti social if anyone else was woken last night.

While the washing was in, I booked my ferry for the journey across to Kangaroo Island next week. I had plans for what ferries I wanted to take, but I'd left it too late and they were unavailable, so I booked onto later ones. You'd have thought that I'd have learned by now to book stuff early ... you'd be wrong! 

My day today had been planned (or rather Pammed) by my cousin Pam, so when the washing was finished at 10:00 we set off on a day that I hadn't done any of the planning for but was going to visit some of the places I'd wanted to see.

First, we drove through Halls Gap and up the road to Wonderland and the path to Pinnacle Lookout. The sign said that this was 2.1km away, and we started climbing, first on the bare rock that I wouldn't have wanted to chance were it wet, then steps before once more rock. The fact that I was able to chat away while climbing says something about my cardio fitness, and even my legs behaved themselves.

Past the Grand Canyon and Bridal Veil Falls (just a trickle of water at the moment) and into the canyon that is Silent Street. Up some wooden steps where I had to scrunch up a bit to get through as my shoulders were a little wide for the walls, and soon we made it to the summit and the lookout. 

Silent Street

The Pinnacle sticks out into the air like the giant prow of a ship, and the views from the top were well worth the climb; we waited out turn at the viewpoint, and made way when we'd taken the photos and videos we'd wanted. 

We made our way carefully back down to the car park, and then hit the road again, this time heading for MacKenzie Falls. There were several viewpoints here that we visited; the first was the top viewpoint where we could see the top of the split falls.

We then proceeded down a steep staircase to the bottom viewpoint. I had thought that I’d get to see the same cascades as I’d seen from the top, but I was wrong. There was a lower fall that was absolutely stunning, and from where the upper falls couldn’t be seen.

We spent a while enjoying these falls before heading further down the gorge to yet another fall below that.

It was then time to retrace out steps, and climb what was described as the ‘260 strenuous steps’ to get us back to the top of the gorge. We then decided that it would be good to see the falls from a bit of a distance, so followed a track to a viewpoint which provided a fantastic overview.

Back to the car once more as we weren’t done yet. Next stop was a double whammy; right beside the car park was Reeds Lookout which provided another fantastic view, albeit a little hazy (as I’ve become accustomed to here in Australia).

This was followed by another 1km walk to Balcony Viewpoint which provided yet another wonderful view. We returned the 1km to the car, and I was promised that was the last of the walks; my legs were beginning to wonder what had hit them!

The last stop of the day was at Baroka Lookout which provided yet another stupendous view over Halls Gap, the valley I drove down yesterday and the plains to the east back towards Melbourne. These mountains really do just seem to appear from nowhere and stick up from the surrounding plains.

I was then returned to my motel at 16:30 with a plan to meet up again at the Halls Gap Hotel for dinner at 18:30 … and meet up we did for a fantastic meal and more conversation.

Today had been an absolutely fantastic day, and I know that I’ll sleep well tonight! A huge thanks to Pam and Paul for their hospitality over the last few days, and for such a fantastic plan for today. I can quite understand why this is one of their favourite places.