Pros: beautiful mountain ranges with nice walks and views (views of Halls Gap from The Pinnacle), a very special Hollow Mountain walk with some interesting rock features, waterfalls (McKenzies Falls, Beehive Falls, Silverband Falls), organic olive oil nearby, short drive to a small but picturesque Mount Arapiles – apparently one of the best rock climbing places in the world

Cons: caught a flat tire, hard to combine with other trips (e.g. it’s about 2 hour drive one-way from the Great Ocean Road)

The Grampians National Park (aka Gariwerd), commonly referred to as The Grampians, is a national park located in the Grampians region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated ~250 kilometers west of Melbourne.

What NOT TO BE MISSED in the park:

1. The Pinnacle – walk and lookout
2. McKenzies Falls – a short walk to one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Australia
3. Mount Duwil (aka Mount William) – great spot at sunrise or sunset. You can drive almost all the way up.
4. The Balconies – nice hike to an interesting rock features
5. Aboriginal shelters e.g. Ngamadjidj Shelter
6. Lastly, Hollow Mountain hike.

Also, if you are in the northern part of the park, I recommend you visit Grampians Olive Co. (also known as Toscana). They have fantastic organic olive oil and olives.

Useful links

• Park’s official website
• Sparky on the loose – great 5-day itinerary
• World of wonder lust – a very brief guide to the Grampians

I travelled to the park in April 2016 – Anzac Day long weekend. Unfortunately I caught a really strange flat tire… one of the wheels kept on losing air… I found a reason, which got fixed very quickly.