Hangin' out in the Gramps

A forced stay in the Grampians turned out to be a blessing. Neither of us had been there since high school camps and had forgotten how cool it is. Why don't we go camping there regularly? We managed to nab a group camping site at Jimmy's Creek (halfway between Dunkeld and Halls Gap) for about a week and a half. Bill researched possibilities for fishing in the lakes of the Grampians, Kate poured over the list of walks and the kids began their hand-eye coordination training course with endless hours of totem tennis... Next day we were all totally thrilled to welcome visitors - none other than Greta, Dash and baby Jett. Before the tent was even set up, Sash and Dash had resumed their old commraderie and plunged into the bush in search of a Gruffalo... Then there was hours of hysterical totem tennis comps, with Sash swinging wildly but missing every time and Dash standing motionless, holding up his racket and smiling happily while the ball raced past. You'd think it would be frustrating, but they had a great time! It was lovely to hang out with the Macks (minus Cam : ( ), to catch up with all the goss and cuddle beautiful smiling baby Jett. Zara fell head over heels in love with her 'soul sister' and threatened to pack her into one of our bags to take around Australia. Felt a bit sad when they left cos unless we can convince the Macks to come to The Kimberlys later in the year, the kids will be 4 and 1 next time we see them!! But good to know that Sash and Dash can pick up their easy friendship after long separations.

In the Grampians we (re)discovered a love of scrambling up rocks for hours on end. First we tackled the Pinnacle walk, which we all loved, especially Silent Street, a kind of big rock crevice you can walk through. Then, more confident in the kid's interest and ability, Kate started taking one kid after another on rock-scrambling walks. We particularly loved Hollow Mountain where Kate and Sash found themselves on climbing up precipices completely unsuitable for an adventurous but somewhat clumsy 3-year old! We also startled an earnest rock-climber practising up the top who looked a bit deflated to see our mop-haired boy balancing happily on the pinnacle!

Bill valiently drove the car all the way back to Melbourne to have the engine looked at, then borrowed Jane and Sasha's car to come all the way back again the next day. Without a car, Kate and the kids were pleasently forced to spend a full day at the campsite where we painted rocks, did schoolwork, played boardgames, honed our totem tennis skills (i.e. learnt to hit the ball...) and devised scavenger hunts for each other. Sash started on a new craze of making presents for everyone - wrapping up rocks, leaves and textas to send/give to all his loved ones. He would post 10 packages a day if we let him.

The wild life in the Grampians was incredible - masses of wallabies and emus and birds. Despite the impressive array of wildlife we had seen in Tassie, we realised that we had missed the sounds of birds in the morning - screeching cockies, laughing kookaburras and singing magpies. We shared our campsite with numerous kangaroos - all of whom Sash and Zaz called 'Liberty or Death' (long story...) which may have slightly freaked out some of our fellow campers (all rugged up European couples in Juicy vans who were taken aback by the chilly weather).

Another Grampians highlight was the Halls Gap Zoo. We expected a few Australian animals on display but they had everything - particularly popular with the Kennojus clan were the little monkey things that look like Michael Jackson. Kids spend their pocket money on crystals from the giftshop - Sash lost his within 10 minutes.

After a lovely week, we headed to Lake Bolac for the annual Eel Festival - a celebration of the local community and particularly the area's Aboriginal heritage. And yes, we ate eel (yum!). There was music, art, food and lots of cool stuff for the kids. They had storytime, circus activities, kite making, furry creatures making and more. We discovered Korean potato twists - some new franchise where they make a twist of potato, deep fry it, then roll it in seasoning - so bad for us but soooo good - we could have eaten 100 of them but stopped at 5. There was a funny-guy doing his show and naturally Zara managed to get on stage. Sash tried to follow and had to be stopped! We met Jane and Sasha (who had kindly driven the landcruiser back to do a car swap) in Lake Bolac and they came back to Jimmy's Creek with us to camp for the night. It was lovely for us all to have them there if only briefly - and the kids were thrilled to have a bit of grandparent time before a long separation. Sash is still struggling to get his head around being away from Melbourne for such a long time - and often talks about when he next goes to Eltham to hang out with Jamu and Big Sash. We were thrilled to stock our fridges with lovely fresh produce from the Eltham garden - although we had to eat it all fast as we knew we were about to cross the SA border...

A massive effort to pack up because we had spread ourselves far and wide. But it was eventually done - thanks to child-distracting assistance from Jane and Sasha!