Stawell

27 – 30 March 2023

We wanted to visit the Grampians so decided to have a few nights in a caravan park in Stawell to dry the canvas out and wait out the forecast bad weather. The drive from Green Hill Lake only took about ½ hour so we stopped in at a coffee shop for morning tea before going to the caravan park.

The park we chose was just on the outskirts of town and in a bushland setting. Our site overlooked the lake formed by Pleasant Creek. Most sites are either near the lake or the creek – and of course there were lots of birds around. Because it was raining when we arrived, we parked the trailer on the site and headed into town. After wandering around we set off for a pub lunch – at a hotel suggested by the caravan park manager. Her recommendation was spot on – senior’s meal, which included desert, for $16 each. Great value, and a good meal.

By the time we returned to the caravan park, the rain had stopped so we set up and discovered that some water had entered and the mattress was wet. We managed to lift the edges and set up a couple of fans to get things dried out. Not an ideal situation but not a disaster.

The following day we went back into town to visit some op-shops and do some grocery shopping and then spent the rest of the day trying to keep warm. On Wednesday we set off after lunch to drive into the Grampians. The weather was still very cold, but the rain looked like it would hold off for a while. We planned to get some information about camping spots, but with more rain forecast we decided that camping in the national park might not be such a good idea.

We drove over to Hall’s Gap and stopped in to the Visitor Information Centre for directions to a couple of lookouts. We drove first to Boroka Lookout which had magnificent views over Wartook Reservior. The lookout is only a short walk from the carpark and the road in, although unsealed, was in good condition.

From Boroka Lookout we drove back to the main road and on to Reed (or Reid, depending on where you’re looking) Lookout. The carpark is right at the lookout which again had magnificent views but also a really icy wind blowing. From this lookout was took the 2 km return, easy, walk to The Balconies lookout. More fabulous views across the Grampians out towards Moora Moora Reservior.

View from Boroka Lookout

On our return to Stawell we went for the drive up Big Hill to the lookout over the town. Stawell is a nice town with lots of interesting architecture and all the services needed.

After consulting the weather forecast again, and not wanting to get the canvas wet again before putting the trailer in to storage we decided that we would have to forego camping in the Grampians this time. Instead we set off for Horsham – another place we had never visited.