Category Archives: Panorama

Mount Zero Picnic Area – Mt Zero Walk – Mount Zero

Saturday 28/10/2023   Mount Zero Picnic Area – Mt Zero Walk – Mount Zero

                                          Grampians National Park, VICTORIA

                                          Gariwerd Country                                

Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies 

This was our second attempt at this walk, on the 20th we had driven to the start after lunch but decided against it as it was already 32C, calm and cloudless, a little too hot for our liking. At least for this 3:00pm departure, it was only 25C and breezy. 

Continue reading

302 total views

Stapylton Campground – Mount Stapylton Loop Walk (Upper) – Grampians Peak Trail – Mount Stapylton – Taipan Wall – Mount Zero Picnic Area – Mount Stapylton Loop Walk

Sunday 29/10/2023   Stapylton Campground – Mount Stapylton Loop Walk (Upper) – Grampians Peak Trail – Mount Stapylton (Gunigalg) (518m) – Taipan Wall – Mount Zero Picnic Area – Mount Stapylton Loop Walk (Lower)

                                       Grampians National Park, VICTORIA

                                       Gariwerd Country                                       

Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies 

After being disappointed last week on the Hollow Mountain walk when we couldn’t find the cave, as per the photograph captioned “Hollow Mountain” in the Parks Victoria Grampians brochure, we thought we might further explore the area in a determined attempt to find it. Inquiries at a National Parks office during the week didn’t throw any further light on where to look. However, having been atop Hollow Mountain last Friday and observing the cliff of Taipan Wall from above I speculated that the cave in the photo may be somewhere along that wall. So off we went on our quest, departing from Stapylton Campground in the cool morning air at 8:40am.

Continue reading

294 total views

Troopers Creek Campground – Dead Bullock Creek – Gar Waterfalls Walk –  Grampians Peaks Trail – Briggs Bluff Track – Gar Campsite – Mount Gar (Mount Difficult)

Thursday 19/10/2023   Troopers Creek Campground – Dead Bullock Creek – Gar Waterfalls Walk –  Grampians Peaks Trail – Briggs Bluff Track – Gar Campsite – Mount Gar (Mount Difficult)

                                          Grampians National Park, VICTORIA

                                          Gariwerd Country                                   

Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies 

We made our start today by 8:30am, as we had a long walk ahead of us. As this started with an ascent, we thought it would be expedient to get at least some of the climbing behind us before it got too hot. The first couple of kilometres is a gradual ascent through forest along a sandy track, following Dead Bullock Creek upstream. Four waterfalls are encountered along the way, progressively increasing in the height of their drops as you progress. The first barely counts but the last two especially have very decent drops. Today there was just a trickle falling over each, making each more like a weeping wall than a waterfall. Much more interesting today was the colouration of the cliff walls behind these waterfalls, with vertical bands of black, various reddish tones, through to light tans and greys, some broad and others narrow, reflecting the long-term water flow from above.

Continue reading

206 total views

Sundial Lookout Carpark – Sundial Lookout

Tuesday 17/10/2023   Sundial Lookout Carpark – Sundial Lookout

                                         Grampians National Park, VICTORIA

                                         Gariwerd Country                                   

Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies 

On our way back from our morning walk to Mount Rosea we pulled into Sundial Lookout Carpark, set to complete our day with the 2km walk out to Sundial Lookout (also known as Lakeview Lookout). A glorious blue sky day with an occasional very light breeze saw us leave the carpark around 2:00pm. A hundred metres in, Sue sighted a very dark Singleback lizard basking in the sun trackside. After briefly observing it we moved on. Continue reading

214 total views

Rosea Carpark – Mt Rosea Track – Gate of the East Wind – Mount Rosea

Tuesday 17/10/2023   Rosea Carpark – Mt Rosea Track – Gate of the East Wind – Mount Rosea (1009m)

                                         Grampians National Park, VICTORIA

                                         Gariwerd Country                                  

Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies 

We were very pleased this very chilly morning to see nothing but blue sky, after five days of cold, heavily overcast and windy weather this was a pleasant change. Our first target today was Mount Rosea, starting with a twenty-minute drive from Halls Gap. We were at the Roses Carpark and walking by 9:30am with no one else or any other vehicles in sight. The first couple of kilometres of this gravel track is relatively level, wide and easy walking through a forest with a heath understory. It then gradually changes into a rougher track with plenty of rocks and slabs as it begins its climb to the ridge above. It was along this section I spied three small yellow canary worms on the track.

Continue reading

359 total views

Mount Abrupt Carpark – Mount Abrupt Walking Track – Signal Peak Walking Track – Signal Peak – Mount Abrupt – Mud-Dadjug Hike-in Campground

Wednesday 11/10/2023   Mount Abrupt Carpark – Mount Abrupt Walking Track – Signal Peak Walking Track – Signal Peak – Mount Abrupt (825m) – Mud-Dadjug Hike-in Campground – C216

                                                Grampians National Park, VICTORIA

                                                Gariwerd Country 

Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies 

We departed the carpark at 9:00am, keen for the earlier start as a day reaching the high twenties was forecast. This walk commences climbing immediately from the trailhead and as we found yesterday, passes through a lot of different ecosystems in one day. These often came and went over short distances but the changes were much more noticeable than in many other places we have hiked. The tracks today were not new as they were for The Piccaninny and Mount Sturgeon sections yesterday but these are still high-quality tracks with many sections of steps formed from large flat boulders which have been positioned to make staircases on steeper sections. 

Continue reading

203 total views

Sligachan Hotel – Glen Sligachan – River Sligachan – Allt nam Fraoch-choire – Loch na Creitheach

Tuesday 23/05/2023   Sligachan Hotel – Glen Sligachan – River Sligachan – Allt nam Fraoch-choire – Loch na Creitheach

                                         Isle of Skye, SCOTLAND

                                    

Participants: Caroline Davies, Peter Davies, Sophie Davies, Stephen Davies and Sue Davies

We headed off as a party of five from Sligachan. To access the track we crossed a lovely stone bridge, dodging the gauntlet of tourists grabbing their Instagram shot before returning to the Sligachan Hotel or their cars. Then we passed a statue of two old white men before leaving behind the vast majority of people.

Continue reading

113 total views

Holyrood Park – Arthurs Seat – Edinburgh

Monday 15/05/2023   Holyrood Park – Arthurs Seat

                                        Edinburgh, SCOTLAND

Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies 

Back in Edinburgh, we would venture up to Arthur’s Seat regularly for our runs and walks. Arthur’s Seat is an extinct volcano that last erupted 350 million years ago and is now a grassy hill in Holyrood Park at the end of the Royal Mile. 

Continue reading

230 total views

The Prison – The Needle – The Table – Quiraing 

Wednesday 24/05/2023   The Prison – The Needle – The Table – Quiraing 

                                               Trotternish Ridge, Isle of Skye, SCOTLAND

                                    

Participants: Caroline Davies, Paul Davies, Peter Davies, Sophie Davies, Stephen Davies (Report, Photos), Sue Davies

Today’s walk began with very cold windy conditions. The first challenge of the day for many people was to chase their parking receipt the parking meters were spitting out directly into the breeze before most people could get a hand on it! We watched half a dozen people running along the road as their tickets blew away. I wonder how many people needed to buy a second ticket because of a poorly designed ticket machine.

Continue reading

1271 total views

Old Man of Storr

Friday 21/05/2023   Old Man of Storr

                                     Isle of Skye, SCOTLAND

                                    

Participants: Caroline Davies, Paul Davies, Peter Davies, Sophie Davies, Stephen Davies (Report, Photos), Sue Davies

From our base at Portree, we drove north along the east coast of Skye to Lock Leather. The road is single-lane bitumen with frequent short wider areas for passing. Being mid-Sunday morning there was a lot of traffic around, much of it aiming for the carpark at the start of Old Man of Storr walk. This a paid carpark (5 pounds with a 6-hour limit) and the largest carpark north of Portree. 

Continue reading

302 total views

Echo Bend Campsite Walking Track – Bluff Lookout – Deadcock Den – Mitchell River Walking Track – Amphitheatre – Billy Goat Bend Lookout – Billy Goat Bend Road – Park Road – Woolshed Creek – Wallers Road

Thursday 16/03/2023   Echo Bend Campsite – Echo Bend Campsite Walking Track – Bluff Lookout – Deadcock Den – Mitchell River Walking Track – Amphitheatre – Billy Goat Bend Lookout – Billy Goat Bend Road – Park Road – Woolshed Creek – Wallers Road 

                                           Mitchell River National Park, VICTORIA

                                           Brayakoolong Country

                                    

Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies

With a local forecast for 30-degrees today we aimed for an early start, our intention being to walk far enough along the Mitchell River to get a good feel for it and its surroundings. We were underway at 7:05am, not long after the first flicker of daylight. The air was still cool and we had walked the first part of this walk yesterday we made good progress. After a brief stop at Bluff Lookout we proceeded down through Deadcock Den and on the Mitchell River Walking Track. The Mitchell River is the last remaining wild river in Victoria.

Continue reading

121 total views

Echo Bend Campsite Walking Track – Nargun Carpark – Woolshed Creek – Den of Nargun – Deadcock Den – Mitchell River – Bluff Lookout

Wednesday 15/03/2023   Echo Bend Campsite – Echo Bend Campsite Walking Track – Nargun Carpark – Woolshed Creek – Den of Nargun – Deadcock Den – Mitchell River – Bluff Lookout 

                                               Mitchell River National Park, VICTORIA

                                               Brayakoolong Country

                                    

Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies

Having taken our time on the drive in we didn’t head out on this walk until about 3:00pm?? So it was a hot, sunny afternoon as walked out of Echo Bend Campsite along the  Echo Bend Campsite Walking Track. This track connects the privately owned campsite to the National Parks tracks. The track itself being lined with melaleuca we saw a goanna and rabbit on the way through and had a kookaburra laughing at us for being so silly to be out walking in the hot afternoon sun.

Continue reading

241 total views