GRAMPIAN DREAMING

Many hold a special place in their hearts for the Grampians, a magnificent, rugged section of Western Victoria where they camped and bushwalked for the first time as children.

Dramatic sandstone buttresses, ancient Aboriginal rock art, canyons, waterfalls and a blanket of stars are among the many enduring memories evoked by this special place.

Fast-forward to 2005 and the magic of the Grampians is still all there, but now you can enjoy it from the comfort of the luxurious villas, cottages and retreats contained in this website.

You can still take to the magnificent solitude of the Grampians National Park, but instead of having to boil a billy and rustle up a feed at the end of the day, you can arrange a massage and let someone else perform wonders with Victoria’s fresh country produce.

You’re able to dictate the pace of your holiday in the Grampians, though you may find you are spoilt for choice. The proprietors of your accommodation establishment are usually mines of information about how to make the most of your time in the area. The primary attraction is the natural beauty of the Grampians National Park, with the park’s visitor centre near Halls Gap a good starting point.

The Grampians offer some of the best rock climbing adventures in Australia and novices are welcome to join a commercial adventure operation offering not only rock climbing, but abseiling, canoeing, mountain bike tours and night-time spotlight walks. The most popular climbs are Hollow Mountain in the north, which has a number of graded climbs; and Mount Rosea near Halls Gap, which has two kilometres of sandstone cliffs.

>> Grampians accommodation including the Western Districts of Victoria

The Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre’s design is symbolically linked to Dreamtime stories. It offers visitors information on Aboriginal cultural heritage and local rock art sites. In the Dreaming Theatre, the creation story of Gariwerd is depicted and visitors are given insight into the indigenous communities that lived off the land here for hundreds of generations.

The centre offers a busy program of activities for the whole family – including ranger walks, talks, theatre, dance, food, art and boomerang throwing. You’ll get a real feeling for the heart of the country at a didgeridoo performance and have the chance to try your hand at this most Australian of musical instruments.

There are few places in country Victoria where you are far from a vineyard, and the Grampians and Western region is no exception. The Great Western Seppelt Vineyard carries on a tradition that started in the closing decades of the 19th century, when settlers who had come to make their fortunes on the goldfields discovered the harsh reality that a gold-digging career was no longer lucrative.

In the labyrinth of cellars and underground tunnels at Great Western, wines have been maturing since 1868 and tours operate most days from the cellar door. It’s a fascinating insight into the early days of Australian wine production in Victoria. There are also a number of wine tours, taking in the premium vineyards of the region.

Another good way to explore the region is on horse back, with both experienced and novice riders catered for. Information is available at the visitor centre and, most likely, your choice of accommodation. A grim but fascinating tour operates at J Ward in the town of Ararat. J Ward started as a goldfields prison in 1859, and when the gold ran out in the mid 1880s the prison buildings were acquired by the Lunacy Department as temporary housing for the criminally insane. The County Gaol then became a ward (J Ward) of the Ararat Lunatic Asylum, where the most depraved and dangerous men of Victoria were housed in horrific conditions under high security. The ward was closed in 1991 and J Ward is now a museum complex. There are regular tours from Monday to Saturday, as well as Sundays on long weekends and during Victorian school holidays. There is also an after-dark tour on Saturdays of long weekends.

As these few paragraphs show, there’s no shortage of variety in the Grampians. The area also hosts a program of events, such as a jazz festival in February, gourmet festival in May, spring art show in October and film festival in November.