Tomorrow I leave Halls Gap and the Grampian Mountains to continue wandering along the southern coast of Australia after spending a wonderful two and a half weeks here. In that short time Halls Gap became a home. Beautiful walks filled with all sorts of interesting animals and amazing scenery combined with great times with fun people make it sad to leave. Shortly after posting the last blog I loaded up the pack again and took off for a few days in the mountains. I found a nice little campsite about 7k out in the bush and pitched my tent in a small clearing where the steep dense forest of the mountain softened out as it met a lush valley and a meandering stream where I could listen to the tropical birds in the trees behind me and watch the emus, deer, and kangaroos graze below me. Using this as a base camp I went out on some shorter (14k) day hikes but spent a lot of time just sitting in the sun and reading. It was a wonderful few days that let me enjoy a good book, bit of scotch, and my own company. Just as I ran out of food (and finished the book) I packed up and headed back into town to Tim’s Place for a few days. That evening I met Nick from Tassie and then Robin and Lieken who are hairdressers for Megan. Robin is an older hippie that owns a beauty saloon and Lieken is a young girl from London that somehow ended up working for Robin in a very blusterous love/hate relationship. Watching the two stylist go at each other then attack poor Nicky with a bowl of bleach was by far more entertaining than any TV show as I quietly hid in the corner and enjoyed the show and delicious food.
The next day I hitched a ride into a nearby town where I picked up some cheaper groceries and more books and enjoyed a quiet evening at the hostel before the weekend. I met Sarah, a friend of Megan’s the following day and Megan, Sarah and I started playing rummy 500 which pretty much set the pace of the weekend. One game extended into a second day of play with such intensity that the other backpackers were in awe of our concentration. For the next 3 days any free time we could find was dedicated to the game where the girls started the tradition of making me loose horribly. Saturday the weather was so nice we had to take a break and get out and do something and after a nice hike we ended up meeting some friends of Megan’s at the Barbie in the park (barbie=barbeque). Here I met Tim, Lexi and a bunch of other friends who work at the local outdoor adventure shop. They invited us rock climbing the next day, which we readily accepted. Poor Sarah was so excited that she couldn’t help but to tease Megan about her newly fashioned pink hair (according to Lieken its all the rage back in Londontown…)
In the afternoon on the next day we met Wildman Tim and the crew and headed up to Hollow Mountain. After a short hike to the rock cliff Tim and his friend, both experienced climbers, threw on backpacks and scampered up the rock face to set up the ropes. It took some thinking for me to figure out the harness but with a bit of sarcastic advice I got things squared away and got ready to climb. When looking at the rock it was easy to see where some hand holds would be, but to a guy accustomed to climbing stairs there wasn’t near enough ledges and holds to make me calm. Despite the apprehension I started up the rock and was absolutely amazed at how tiny of a hold you need when you are holding on for dear life. A nub not even an inch wide under one foot is easily enough to support the rest of your body as your arms and remaining leg frantically contort and flail around looking for that next little purchase that will keep you on the rock and not falling away. Rock climbing is definitely a sport where if you don’t think about the fact that you are hanging 70ft off the ground by only one toe and 3 fingers and the next hand hold is 3 inches beyond the tips of your other hand you will be ok. And since (as most my teachers and ex’s have proved) I tend to just not let pesky logic and thinking interfere with my day I took right to the sport and absolutely loved the physical challenge of taking on the rock. While others were climbing it was fun just hanging out down below and listen to the friends. Bonnie was by far the most entertaining as she brought a level of energy to the group I can only compare to giving a 2yr old red bull. Constantly cheering the climbers on with a aggressively friendly “Ya ya, climb that rock. Like tiger RAHHHR” then bouncing around in interpretive dances of kangaroos, echidnas, and leaves. When she tried to interpret branches in dance she just stood rigid and silent for a few seconds and, never one to miss perfect opportunity as such, Tim in a stroke of genius kept getting her to dance like a branch to give himself a few seconds of blissful silence.
After an exhausting afternoon we packed up and headed back to Halls Gap where I invited everyone back to the hostel for supper where I cooked a delicious sausage, zucchini and mushroom pasta and we sat around the table telling more stories. I am happy to meet them, as Tim became a good friend. Monday for me was an easy day with a short hike and a few calls home. Tuesday I went to visit some waterfalls and hike to the Pinnacle where in accordance with Murphy’s Law it started to rain when I got as far as possible from town and then I remembered I left a flap on my tent open. A quick fun hike down the mountain over slippery rocks got me back to town just in time for it to quit raining and to mop out my tent. A cup of tea warmed me up and I continued the rummy tradition of getting horribly beaten by Ashley and Stacie, two girls from Canadia land. Either lots of Americans are trying to pass off as Canadian to avoid the stigma of being a %*#$ing Yank or Canadians are so bored back home that they enjoy world travel more than us #(*&ing Yanks. As of yet I have yet to stay at a hostel where the Australians outnumbered the Canadians, but they have all been friendly blokes and I have enjoyed myself in their company. That night everyone chipped in with food or beer and I cooked curry coconut for everyone and we continued playing rummy. The next day I went on a nice hike back out to the valley where I camped the week before and enjoyed more of the wildlife and even saw an echidna up close. A cute little animal that brings squeals of joy from girls that made me wish Tim’s branch command trick worked universally but we all survived. Later that night Robin and Lieken came back out and Robin cooked a delicious risotto and everyone in the hostel sat around a bonfire. Nina, a 5yr old German girl traveling with her parents was cute as hell keeping the fire going and convincing her parents that she did not need to go to bed yet. Even though I didn’t understand the words she used her arguments were clear as day and she played her cuteness and the spectators perfectly and got to stay out till 11.
The next morning a bunch of us woke up at 6 to go see the sunrise from the mountain top, which was well hid by a great bank of clouds that cut visibility down to 40 meters and pretty much negated getting up that early. But the clouds went away and we visited a huge waterfall then Ashley and I started a daylong hike back to town from the falls. It turned into a beautiful day and we enjoyed the 20+ kilometers over the mountains. At one point several kilometers of the trail was at best 10 inches wide with the cliff dropping off below us. We got back to the hostel very exhausted but glad we put in the long day of hiking.
After resting and showering several of us grabbed some beer (way over priced!) and headed over to Tim’s house that he shares with his girlfriend Lexi and Bonnie the Branch. We continued telling stories and ate delicious lamb and drank lots of wine and beer and had an absolutely smashing evening. With the mountains and wonderful people like Tim, Lexi, Megan and Bonnie residing here, Halls Gap became one of my favorite places in the world and I am glad to call it home even for a short time. Tim taught Lexi the branch dance and many laughs were had when he tried it on Bonnie and Lexi at the same time. The branch dance is definitely an Australian tradition that I need to get started back stateside…
Friday was a cold rainy day and Megan, Ashley and Stacie took off for Melbourne leaving me bored and lonely and I huddled inside watching movies and drinking tea. Simon from France was the only backpacker with me at the hostel and we hung out and had as much of a conversation as we could. Simon is a very nice guy spending a bit of time in Australia waiting for a visa to come through for India. He visited India and fell in love with a beautiful girl and they are working out a way to be together, and listening to him tell the story in his broken English with French accent made every girl in the hostel fall for him foolishly. A nice guy and I hope things work out for him and his love.
Like I stated before I will miss Halls Gap and will plan on coming back in my travels. Beautiful mountains with great people in town make it a wonderful peaceful home. Tim’s Place is by far the best hostel and I am sad to be disappointed by every other one I stay in from now on. It is an Eco-hostel utilizing half flush toilets, solar panels and rainwater entrapments and treatment for water. On a sunny day with enough recent rain it only costs $2 dollars to operate the whole hostel that can sleep 20 people. On a bad day it still only costs $8. It is truly an amazing example of how a well-designed building can reduce its impact. Its one thing to recycle and turn off light switches but Australians have truly learned how to drastically decrease their environmental footprint and make their daily existence not cost the environment near as much as the normal American family. Needless to say the branch dance is not the only useful trick I plan on bringing back to the states.
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