It took an awfully LOOOOOONG time to climb Mount Abrupt.

It took a long time to even get there. Over 20 years of regular trips to the Grampians National Park and its amazing natural attractions had passed by before we fully explored its wilder, more remote southern end. We’d always found plenty to do from Halls Gap, in the Central Grampians 65 km north.  The southern stronghold of Dunkeld (~280 km west of Melbourne) was just a little bit far for a day trip that included a lengthy hike.

Or so we’d kept telling ourselves.

The sheer, rocky cliffs visible from the road make Mount Abrupt look scarily unassailable – at least to a casual (read: unfit!) climber like me. But I’d always found the dramatic shapes of Mount Abrupt and Mt Sturgeon strangely fascinating. Or Mud-Dadjug and Wurgarri, if you want to get back to basics.

But finally, we were staying at the excellent Dunkeld caravan park.  From there we could see the distinctive peaks marking the end (or is it the beginning?) of the magnificent Grampians mountain range looming over the town.

No excuses now!

And then there’s the length of the Mount Abrupt hike!

It’s a relentless climb (note to self: yes, this IS what mountaineering means).  It rises steeply over the 3.25 kilometres (one way) to the 827m summit, so it isn’t for the faint-hearted. Thankfully, it doesn’t take much of the 460 metre elevation before the views are worth stopping for. And if you need more ‘photo breaks’ to admire the staggering scenery, follow my lead and make the climb in spring. That way you can make it your mission to photograph each of the many wildflower varieties you’ll encounter along the way!

But be warned – adopting this strategy will probably double the 2-3 hours you’re advised to set aside to complete the climb!!

My other no-fail tip for increasing rest break frequency is, of course, to climb with a twitcher (read: bird watcher!). That way you’ll score extra (read: legitimate) breaks whenever a bird squawks, moves, flutters, flies, scuttles, twitters or just breathes.  That’s because the twitcher will ALWAYS stop to check it out!

And if you need a rest stop, just stop and say the magic words: ‘is that a bird over there in the scrub?’  Trust me!  This REALLY works!!

The town of Dunkeld is worth a stay even if you don’t want to climb Mount Abrupt. It makes a great base – and holiday destination – from which to explore Southern Grampians attractions.  These include the Victoria Valley, Mount Sturgeon and the Piccaninny; and further south to the Kanawinka Geotrail and Great Ocean Road.

I swear my judgement hasn’t been impaired by the town’s excellent selection of baked goods and other eats!

Our morning had started with a walk to the nearby Arboretum and Lake.  The superb views of Mount Abrupt’s sheer rocky cliffs (see top photo) left me wondering whether climbing it was such a good idea. The trailhead, a few kilometres north, is an easy drive. The walk starts with a gentle climb – don’t let that stop you wearing sturdy footwear – heading north towards Signal Peak.  It passes through an area rehabilitated after the devastating floods of 2011 that cut the road between Dunkeld and Halls Gap for several months.

Thank goddess for the 780m Signal Peak dominating the skyline as the track takes a sharp turn to the south-west.  That’s where the real climbing (see? You SO need those boots!) begins up the escarpment. The peak means endless photo opportunities which in turn means – of course – as many rest breaks as you want need!

Luckily, I was well into a significant rest break at about the two-thirds point when two pensioners (pensioner = anyone older than ME) trotted up the track towards me.  They showed none of the signs of fatigue like the shortness of breath, red face and sweaty glow that plagued my progress. If they’d seen me a few minutes earlier, they’d have been forgiven for assuming I was about to collapse.

Attempting a hike of this lengh (6.5 km) and degree of difficulty (HARD!) without water and food would have been madness!

We exchanged a few words – yes, unlike me they could still speak despite the steep gradient (Grade = Hard).  Then they moved on up the rocky trail leaving us to follow more sedately in their wake.

We take our ‘World’s Slowest Hikers’ tag VERY seriously!!

It’s a complete coincidence that as the trail to the summit gets steeper and more rocky, the scenery gets even more stupendous (read: requiring more ‘photo’ breaks). Panoramic views across the Serra Range, the Victoria Range and Valley, the southern plains and Dunkeld itself make the Mount Abrupt hike one of the most scenic in the Grampians.

The magnificent 360° view even gives the Pinnacle and Boroka Lookout back in the more popular tourist area around Halls Gap a run for their money!

And that clear view as we entered the last – and most rocky stretch – of the hike, included the pensioners taking their last few steps to the Mount Abrupt summit!

By the time we arrived at the peak, however, they were ready to leave, so the staggering 360° scenic sensation was all ours.  We stayed up there for a while.  We needed to a) recover; b) record photographic proof of our achievement; c) eat our lunch; and d) prepare for the rigors of the descent ie continual wildlife, wildflower and scenery shots! I’ll leave you to imagine how long that took!!

After that, we completed the hike by retracing our steps 3.25 km back down the steep, rocky track to the trail-head and carpark.  For us, about 5 hours after we set off!

But if you thought descending was the easy part of your quest to climb Mount Abrupt, you’d be wrong!

Want MORE?

• Mount Abrupt (Mud-Dadjug) Walk, Southern Grampians, Victoria

• Dunkeld, Victoria

• Red Nomad OZ’s other Grampians Adventures!

• More Photos on Flickr!

The post Climb Mount Abrupt! Grampians, Victoria appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

In spring, the distinctive landscapes of Victoria’s Grampians National Park – where vista after staggering vista stretches out in an almost endless 360° scenic panorama – become an irritating distraction from its main attraction!

1.  Boroka Lookout:

2.  Heatherlie Quarry:

3.  Silverband Falls:

Weirdly, no matter how wonderful the waterfall, my photo of it will almost certainly look like a white line on a dark backdrop.

My shots of Silverband Falls – a recovering natural disaster zone after the twin ravages of fierce bushfire followed by catasrophic flood – are sadly no exception!

So I’ve gone for an arty water shot instead …

… and you’ll just have to trust me that this is, indeed, Silverband Falls!!

4.  Victoria Valley:

Running between the Serra Range to the east and the Victoria Range to the west, the wild and remote country around the Glenelg River with the jagged mountain range (at left) silhouetted against the sky is softened by spring wildflowers.

Don’t miss it if you want to see a carpet of flowers, a knife edge of rocky mountains and a scattering of wildlife!

5.  Mount Abrupt:

• Wildflowers of the Grampians, Victoria
• Grampians National Park
• RED in the Grampians: my other Grampians Adventures!

The post 5 Grampians Wildflower HOT Spots! appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

Is BLUE the new RED?

It is downunder where blue and red have been interchangeable for YEARS!

But before you start thinking us Aussies are a nation of colour-blind fools, it’s all due to the colloquial contrariness that means we call things the opposite to what they are. So a tall person becomes ‘Shorty’. A skinny person becomes ‘Fatso’. And a REDhead becomes ‘Blue’!

Makes perfect sense. Right?

SO … although Australia is RED and HOT, it softens round the edges into COOL and BLUE along the coastline and inland where there’s a strange blue haze, largely caused by eucalyptus oil, smoke – and possibly language …

Just to prove I CAN tell the difference, come with me to 10 of my favourite Aussie HOT Spots – the FIVE Coolest BLUE and 5 Hottest RED spots downunder!

Of course ‘COOL’ and ‘HOT’ don’t always refer to the temperature …

So where do you start looking for the COOLest Cool Blue places on the largest island on earth with the longest coastline of any country in the world? Right HERE! Use my handy round-OZ Aussie Hot Spot location guide – complete with 5 star BLUE factor ratings – to uncover five of the coolest, BLUEST experiences in OZ!

1. Blue RIVER at Evans Head

The Evans River in the New South Wales Northern Rivers district isn’t Australia’s longest, deepest or fastest flowing. But on this day it was surely in the running to be its bluest! Not quite blue enough for you? Head high above the breakwall to the Razorback Lookout for more, with the sea, the sky and distant mountains all contributing to this rhapsody in blue!

Get a blue fix while you take a break from the crowds at more well known tourist hot spots Ballina and Byron Bay, just up the coast.

And while you can’t see the excellent bakery or Scenic Public Toilet while you’re gazing out to sea, you CAN use all that BLUE to the max by fishing, swimming, boating – and whale-watching!

If that sounds like too much effort, just sit back, relax and enjoy some COOL Blue time out!

COOL BLUE rating: 

2. Blue POOLS at Bitter Springs

The BLUE waters of the Bitter Springs thermal pools near Mataranka in the Northern Territory aren’t cool at all. Loaded with minerals that give new meaning to ‘sculpted hairdo’ as they rise from the depths of the earth, the water is HOT.

But although the daytime temperature regularly tops 30+ in the Top End, nights can be coolish during the Aussie winter. Cool enough for steam to rise from the stream connecting the three main pools – deserted at this time of day – and cool enough for us to dive right in and drift downstream from pool to pool before the morning rush.

I tried not to think about travellers who used the pools for washing themselves and their clothes in lieu of paying caravan park fees … but luckily at this time of day I’m guessing they were all still curled up in their combi vans!!

The deep relaxation as the warm mineral waters soothed away our aches and pains (relaxing IS hard work!) kept us doing the three-pool-drift circuit for hours. HOT BLUE? Too COOL!

COOL BLUE rating: 

3. Wild Blue Yonder at Daly Head

This autumn day down the other end of the country at the southern extremity of South Australia’s Southern Yorke Peninsula had created a symphony of stunning scenery – blue haze, blue sea; row after row of blue swirling breakers, blue, blue sky.

Yes, the staggering view that inspired The Magnificent Emptiness stretched out before us into the wild blue yonder. The impressive blue array looked (and felt – with the autumn wind-chill factor) pretty COOL from our vantage point atop the wooden staircase plunging down the cliff to the beach below …

But how much more COOL to see that marvellous blue expanse from above?

COOL BLUE rating: 

4. Blue MOUNTAINS … the Grampians

Away from the blue drawcard of Australia’s coastline, the mighty Grampians rise above the bakery-dotted landscape of country Victoria, their astonishing BLUE silhouette visible for miles.

And here in this mountainous region, cool means COOL! Signs at the base of the Mt William climb warn that snow may fall at any time of year on its 1167 metre summit!! As Pilchard and his family found out one long-ago fairly recent childhood December (the height of the Southern Hemisphere summer) when they built their first and only snowman.

Like most Aussie mountain ranges, the sun warms and shines through the evaporating oil from the gum trees, causing a blue haze over the peaks, lakes and other geographic formations my wasted years at school mean I’m unable to name. Nameless or not, however, the haze contributes to the staggering BLUE views from the many lookouts dotted throughout the ranges.

COOL BLUE rating: 

5. Blue LAKE … Lake Argyle

A drowned Kimberley mountain range, home of the pioneering Duracks, one of Australia’s most impressive engineering feats and the biggest, bluest lake it’s been my pleasure to view all contribute to the cool BLUE appeal of magical Lake Argyle!

A cruise in the early morning calm of this gob-smackingly, mind-bogglingly enormous 10,763 gigalitre lake covering 1000 km² and 21 times bigger than Sydney Harbour is so full of outstanding landscapes I almost forgot to take photos. ALMOST!

If this is the Western Australian wilderness, then bring it on!

The presence of permanent water after the Ord River Dam was completed in 1972 turned the once-arid land downstream into an agricultural oasis. But the dam itself remains a haven for the birds and wildlife that inhabit the islands – now all that’s left of the mountain range beneath its waters.

And on a clear day, the blue upon blue upon blue of the lake, the sky and the infinity pool at the resort is just too COOL for words …

COOL BLUE rating: 

But what’s Cool Blue without RED? The BLUE blue waters of Broome’s Roebuck Bay are often tinged with the RED Pindan of the earth beneath …

So what better vision to take us from COOL BLUE into RED HOT??

But … not here!

You’ll have to go into the RED zone over at Annabel Candy’ travel blog Get In the Hot Spot if you want to see my five favourite RED HOT Aussie Outback Places!

Then let me know: IS blue REALLY the new red??!!

The post 5 Cool BLUE and 5 RED Hot Aussie TOP SPOTS! appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.