Back in March, the cooler weather gave us the opportunity to take the kids out into the Park, after a very hot/warm summer.
We packed our picnic basket, and filled out water bottles and headed off to explore the park.
The Victoria Valley/Range can be found at the Southern end of the Grampians National Park. The roads are unsealed, but access to the Valley can be achieved by 2WD vehicles.
The first pit stop for the day was Paddy’s Castle.
The walk to Paddy’s Castle is a short stroll suitable for children of all ages.
From the car park, you will walk through tea-tree, fringe myrtle bushes & sheoaks.
Paddy’s Castle is a small knoll that rises above the surrounding red gums.
At the top, you will find a natural rock platform that overlooks the Victoria Valley and the surrounding ranges, which was used by Jarwadjali (pronounced Yar-wad-jar-lee) people for thousands of years.
From there we travelled down the Glenelg River Road towards Moora Moora Reservoir, right in the heart of the Grampians National Park.
Here we were listening and looking out for frogs. Check out how small they are!
Still can’t see it? Look closer. The kids loved discovering them. Don’t worry we put the rocks back that they were hiding underneath.
We also found a deer wandering in the river. He moved too fast for me to take a photo though.
From here we travelled up to the Red Rock Picnic area. It was here you could see the extreme damage from the bushfire in January 2014.
This part of the park got crispy.
This part of the park is open but it has been extremely burnt and will take many years to fully recover. But that’s part of the cycle of nature.
After lunch, we travelled to the Buandick Picnic area where we walked to Jardwadjali Falls. The kids explored the waterfall, and check out caves, and crevices. Miles was determined he wanted to see the “Very Old Grampians”, There is also an art shelter here, but has been closed following the 2013 Victoria Range Fire.
We had planned to visit Manja Shelter to see the “Very Old Grampians”, but the kids were utterly exhausted, and flaked it in the car. So we travelled back home.
It was a fantastic family outing. We hope to visit these locations again in the future.
Love the Grampians!! You are so lucky to have them on your door step. We spent heaps of family holidays there as kids – the pinacle, nerve test & McKenzie’s falls were some of our faves. Then there was the time when I was 5, my sister 3 & we were playing in the caravan park before breaky while Mum & Dad had a sleep in & a Koala wandered past – apparently I said to my little sis you grab the koala & I’ll grab the camera!!!! Ah, yeah, the koala bit her I think LOL
You must come back. In fact there is a fun run in 2 weeks. Run the Gap, there is a 6km walk/run 12 run and a 21km trail run.
I’m dong the 12km run this year. Early bird entries close this week. This is providing you would like to come.
McKenzie’s falls got cooked in the recent fires, so you can visit there, but you must come back.
Love the memories of the koala.