We arrived on Sunday night - it had poured all Saturday night and some of the morning, but by the time we arrived it was really quite pleasant.
We booked in and set up our new and very easy to set up, Camper Trailer.
Next door I made the judgment that we had an older couple. Sadly I was wrong!
They were 3 kids there to celebrate schoolies! I was still awake at 1am. They were obviously asleep when we arrived and then partied on into the night.
I don't object to them at all - they were doing the right thing - they didn't have a car with them and they were choosing to be there to enjoy themselves.
I thought they might go home that day or the next....but then a fourth person arrived. 3 girls 1 guy all together. They opened a bottle of Champagne at lunchtime (then I knew it was going to get messy!) and then the language started.
Now let me paint a picture here. The park is 85% empty - we get put beside this group when there is so much other room!
We went to the office and asked if we could move. So, we spent the afternoon packing...and unpacking our camper trailer. Luckily we got to choose our location!
Tuesday we went on 2 of the many wonderful Grampians Walks. The first, in the morning, was to the 'Venus' Baths' which are rock pools. I remembered these from my 40th birthday weekend. Eb had a ball in the water.
a precious photo of Daddy and daughter on their way to the Venus Baths....
at the Venus Baths
It was a beautiful morning. Eb stopped at almost every possible daisy to pick them for me - so cute!
I so enjoyed watching Eb and her Daddy play over these days. Graham was so good with Eb and really took the time she needed. Mummy got to have a bit of a rest which was very appreciated too!
In the afternoon we(drove and then) walked to a lookout where we could take in the views of Bellfield Lake and the surrounding area - it was quite spectacular.
Blurry - but sweet!
Eb did very well on both walks but she bombed in the car soon after the second walk!
Wednesday we decided to walk to the Brambuk Aboriginal Centre. We set Eb on her bike and she made the whole 5km round trip! We couldn't believe it! There was barely a complaint - we were very proud. We were able to see an Emu (one of many) roaming around very near the town centre.
AND we realised that Eb's bike really is too small for her - time for an upgrade!
We did, of course, take a break in the middle for a Chai Latte and a treat!
Then, when we arrived back in Halls Gap - it was a well deserved Ice Cream!
...home for some drawing - not sure about the location! (right in the doorway!)
Daddy went for a ride...what daddy does...Ebby must do too:)
We then went out for dinner - some people staying in the park had suggested a place in the main area of Halls Gap - so off we went. It was a lovely evening - Eb had fun and tried on some hat's at the store next door while we waited for a seat!
then it was sound, solid, sleep!
Wednesday night - unfortunately - it poured. The Camper Trailer hadn't been 'seasoned' so, although we didn't actually get wet - the seams did leak. It made it a bit unpleasant - and the rain was quite heavy. We really couldn't do much so we headed to Dunkeld and Hamilton for a look around.
When we arrived back the forecast was dismal and the camper trailer was dry - so we made the decision to pack up - we were heading home Friday anyway. We had about another 5 minutes of packing away before we were ready to fold the actual camper trailer up and....you guessed it...it poured! We couldn't believe our bad luck. We had no choice but to pack it away wet. There was no way we were unpacking again! We used the money we had already paid for the night to go towards a cabin - we were dry and enjoyed our evening.
The upshot was that Friday morning we were mostly packed up and could enjoy the area again.
We headed to the 'Adventure Golf' just out of Halls Gap. What an amazing little oasis it is! So beautifully done - the gardens are spectacular themselves and you barely see anyone else playing because of the vegitation. I took photo's/video (camera was STILL on manual focus) while Gra and Eb played golf....well they attempted to!
On the way to Melbourne, we stopped at a Lavendar Farm just out of Pomonal near The Grampians. I had a lovely time there and got some rather good photo's using Graham's new 'point and shoot' camera. On the macro setting it does very well - but I'm still getting used to the other settings - I'll post the macro photo's on another entry.
Then we stopped in Ararat to visit the Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre. What an amazing treasure this place is - we enjoyed an hour or two just walking around, reading, listening and taking it all in. I saw this place when we travelled to SA in Sep/Oct, but I wasn't driving and it was just all a bit hard with 2 children and some exhausted Mummy's!
Lunch in Ararat...
Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre...
blurry but ok! :)
Finally we arrived at Kate, Jim and Eliza's where we'll spend the next two nights while we have some more 'adventures'!
It's been a great week really - just so lovely to spend time together as a family in a relaxed environment.
This year has been ridiculous for Gra and he has needed every single moment of any holiday we have had. He has worked extremely long weeks and then long into the nights. I'm so grateful that we can actually take a break.
1 comment:
You have really been able to capture Ebs sweetness in so many of those photos!
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