On Walkabout At: The Southern Grampians Mountains

Prior Posting: The High Point of the Grampians, Mt. Williams

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After walking up Mt. William we proceeded to continue driving down through the southern Grampians. Highway C216 goes through the center of a narrow valley dominated by rocky peaks on each side that sticks out into the surrounding farm land like the tail of an animal.

Our plan was to take the scenic route home by driving the length of the highway to the city of Dunkeld than taking Highway B160 to the east in order to go to Ballarat and return to Melbourne via the Western Freeway. The southern portion of the park was almost entirely scorched by the January 2006 bushfires yet it still was quite a scenic ride despite the bushfire damage.

The regeneration of the forest from the bushfire was evident all throughout the drive through the southern Grampians:

As the road reached the southern most portion of the Grampians the trees and bush became less and less thick:

At the very tail of the Grampians is Mt. Abrupt:

Mt. Abrupt received it’s name from Major Mitchell due to the fact that the mountain rised abruptly 825 meters from the surrounding farm land. The mountain would also be the first peak in the range that Major Mitchell climbed during his exploration through the Grampians.

Near the base of Mt. Abrupt is the city of Dunkeld where we headed back home from after a fantastic tour of the Grampians. Here is our last look of the Grampians as we are heading back to Melbourne:

The Grampians are truly one of the scenic wonders of Victoria.  If you are in Australia and plan on touring the Great Ocean Road, I highly recommend on the way back to Melbourne after completing the drive to at least stop by for a day to drive through these wonderful mountains.  You won’t be disappointed that you did.