Roll 2: Gariwerde

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On June 24 & 25, we went hiking in the Grampians (or Gariwerde) with the Monash Bushwalking Club. The range is about 3 hours Northwest of Melbourne and has peaks of about 1100 meters. According to a guidebook and club geologists, the Grampians are a raised and slightly tilted section of sandstone deposits. I believe they have gained their height by lagging behind in the race to erode, rather than through differential raising.

We also learned a few of the native plants:

Heath was very common in the area, and about half the plants were still in bloom.
Tea tree was a bit more elusive but findable. The crushed leaves have a pleasant fragrance.
Banksia was very common. Large cone-like seed pods.
Laura saw several tiny carnivorous plants she thought were Sundew, growing amid the mosses on rocky sections of the trail. OK, rockier sections....
Of course there were many eucalypts. If you look at some of the ridge shots, you can amuse yourself by imagining the silhouetted eucalypts are giraffes or elephants. OK, so I still find eucalypts neat and somewhat weird.

Actually, everywhere the vegetation was thick was a wonderful reminder that we're effectively on another planet. And I hope to capture the bird noises sometime. No pictures, but we saw a flock of cockatoos in Hall's Gap (the main tourist town) and awoke Sunday to a cookaburra serenade, which sounds more or less like the universe is enjoying a marvelous joke.

Most of the crew continued on for a 5-day hike. We returned with three other people Sunday night.

Photos taken at 1792 x 1200, mild compression, saved at 896 x 600 at 50% quality, with thumbnails at 149 x 100. Full resolution jpeg files available upon request.

Day 1: Hike to the Pinnacle along the Grand Canyon

Danny, our fearless leader!

Danny strikes a dramatic pose.

Looking up the "Grand Canyon".

View of lake (?) from the Pinnacle. It's very obvious in the photo that Victoria is under drought conditions: this is a reservoir. Although it's been exceptionally wet since our arrival, there has been a 3-year dry spell.

Snacks and photos at the top. Left-to-right: Laura, Danny, Anthony, Cameron in front of Blithe, Suzanne, Nancy, Bruce, (Magpie), Deb, Frank, Cat. (Apologies if I have misspelled names. Oh, and someone might want to add surnames to this list?)

Waterfall in the canyon.

Returning from the canyon walk.

Day 2: Hike to Mount William

Not a creature was stirring...

Good Morning!

Resting about halfway up on a clifftop. Frank, Cameron, Bruce, Ben, Bri, Cat, Catherine, (½ of Nancy), Jenny, and Deb. (I have no idea who belongs to the arms behind Bruce.)

Danny & Penny on the edge at the halfway break.

Cliffs opposite, at the halfway break.

Wide-field shot from the halfway point.

Probably my favorite shot of the bunch. Looking straight out from the halfway point.

Group shot at the summit of Mount William. Ben, Cat, (2 other people not in our group), Laura (sitting), Nancy, Blithe, Anthony, Penny, Frank, Deb, Suzanne, Cameron

Cameron at the summit.

Looking NNW from the Summit.

Enjoy!

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Day 1: Hike to the Pinnacle along the Grand Canyon
	Danny, our fearless leader!
	Danny strikes a dramatic pose.
	Looking up the "Grand Canyon".
	View of lake (?) from the Pinnacle. It's very obvious in the photo that Victoria is under drought conditions: this is a reservoir. Although it's been exceptionally wet since our arrival, there has been a 3-year dry spell.
	Snacks and photos at the top. Left-to-right: Laura, Danny, Anthony, Cameron in front of Blithe, Suzanne, Nancy, Bruce, (Magpie), Deb, Frank, Cat. (Apologies if I have misspelled names. Oh, and someone might want to add surnames to this list?)
	Waterfall in the canyon.
	Returning from the canyon walk.
Day 2: Hike to Mount William
	Not a creature was stirring...
	Good Morning!
	Resting about halfway up on a clifftop. Frank, Cameron, Bruce, Ben, Bri, Cat, Catherine, (½ of Nancy), Jenny, and Deb. (I have no idea who belongs to the arms behind Bruce.)
	Danny & Penny on the edge at the halfway break.
	Cliffs opposite, at the halfway break.
	Wide-field shot from the halfway point.
	Probably my favorite shot of the bunch. Looking straight out from the halfway point.
	Group shot at the summit of Mount William. Ben, Cat, (2 other people not in our group), Laura (sitting), Nancy, Blithe, Anthony, Penny, Frank, Deb, Suzanne, Cameron
	Cameron at the summit.
	Looking NNW from the Summit.
*Enjoy!*