Hidden Gem

We jumped on the road in the van to start our 3 hour journey to the Grampians. After driving out of the storm headed for Melbourne we started to get hungry so stopped for some roadside kebabs in Ballarat. We drove another hour then started to get tired so we jumped on wiki camps to find a spot for the night. We came across a hidden gem - green hill lake campground in Ararat which turned out to be the coolest free camp spot ever, totally going back there!

In the morning, after getting woken up by gorgeous pelicans on the lake, we made some delicious pancakes. Brook had maple syrup and I had nutella haha. We then realized we didn’t bring our coffee setup so headed straight to halls gap for Coffee at “Harvest”.  After coffee we got some fresh air up in the hills of the Grampians and checked out Silverband Falls - just a 15-20 minute walk from a nearby car park. We then checked into DULC, our little cabin in the woods. Greeted by the most wonderful hosts Ruth and Shane who were so welcoming and kind. Later that day we thought we would indulge ourselves so headed over for some Cheese and wine tasting at bests winery. Situated just out of Halls gap and up the road from Stawell. We took a little tour down into the cellar and came across some stunning old wines, Years and Years vintage! We asked about 4 locals around the town where we should go for dinner and everyone raved about Spirit of Punjab, so we thought - what the heck! Turns out it was the best Indian we ever had and ended up ordering way too much so guess what we had for leftovers the next day! After dinner we decided to go for a little scenic cruise through the Grampian Hills to catch the sun setting on the beautiful peaks.

Later, we arrived back to our stunning little cabin in the bush where there were kangaroos everywhere under a starlit sky. We had a beautiful spa bath with a bottle of wine we purchased at the winery and after, curled up in front of the fire to watch a movie together. Tonight we thought - what a better night to sleep with the blinds open upstairs on the mezzanine- something I’ve never done because I’m a scaredy cat (Brit) but we were up the top of the “treehouse” with nothing but gum trees, stars and the whisper of the wind in a lush king size bed. The best sleep we’ve had in a while. Sunlight beamed through the window in the morning and feeling the warmth on my face was something to wake up happy to. There to say good morning to us were some kangaroos just out from our deck. We cooked eggs on the bbq, made a coffee, then checked out after catching up with Ruth.

We were off on our way to explore some more tracks through the Grampians, stopping at Splitters and Mackenzie falls along the way. Grampians Helicopters which is tucked away by the airport in Stawell was our next and final stop and boy, was it worth it! We took a little tiki tour around the Grampians. We saw Mackenzie falls from above along with many other waterfalls, cliffs and peaks. Best 30 minutes I’ve ever had in the air! Well worth it! By the time we arrived home we were absolutely exhausted. We had one of the best weekends we have had in so long and we’re so happy we got to fit so much into it. Can’t thank DULC cabins enough for having us stay and the team at riparide. Can’t wait to return and discover more of what the Grampians have to offer.
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Things We Did

  • Lake
  • Experience
  • Walk
  • Food & Drink
We stopped at Green Hill lake campground in Ararat which turned out to be the coolest free camp spot ever!...
We saw Mackenzie falls from above along with many other waterfalls, cliffs and peaks. Best 30 minutes I’ve ever had in the air!...
We got some fresh air up in the hills of the Grampians and checked out Silverband Falls - just a short 15-20 minute walk from a nearby car park....
Situated just out of Halls gap and up the road from Stawell. We took a little tour down into the cellar and came across some stunning old wines, Years and Years vintage!...

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