Grampians

This week has been crazy. It was cool and rainy all week, and all I wanted to do was curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and listen to Christmas music. Fall always means Christmas is right around the corner, but unfortunately my mom told me there would be no presents when I get home in July. You have no idea how confusing it is to think it keeps getting colder and the days keep getting shorter, yet when I get home in just a few weeks it will be the middle of summer. Don't get me wrong, it's not really winter here. It was almost 70 today, but last week it was around mid 40s and rainy, so it definitely felt like fall was in the air. I even had to buy a Monash sweatshirt because I got tired of the one Wisconsin sweatshirt I brought with me. I'm not running around in a hat, mittens, scarf, and winter coat like some people are.
Besides being completely confused with the weather, I had the last of my 3 day trips with RMIT and Monash. I finally convinced one of my friends, Mahreen, to get out of Clayton and come with me to the Grampians. The Grampians are mountains on the end of the Great Dividing Range that runs from the top to the bottom of the east coast of Australia. It's a 3 hour drive from Melbourne, so we got picked up nice and early. Once we made it to the national park we stopped at the cultural center. Besides having a museum on Aboriginal culture, the center has a giant paddock with tons of wild kangaroos. I've never seen that many wild kangaroos in one spot. There was even a joey in the pouch, but this time it was like the cute ones you see on tv with the head poking out. As my Australian friend Jess told me, I'm sure going to have to go through a serious kangaroo withdrawal when I get home!

All the wild kangaroos

After the cultural center we headed to Mackenzie Falls for lunch and a hike to the base of the falls. The falls were a climb 600 m down, which was easy, but the 600 m of stairs on the way up was a little tiring. The view was completely worth it though! It was one of the best views I've gotten in Australia so far. When we were waiting back at the bus for the rest of the group, a wallaby hopped into the picnic area. Combined with the kookaburras that were already there, it made for a real Aussie experience, and one that I will miss greatly.

Mackenzie Falls-the picture doesn't do it justice

Our next stop were the Jaws of Death. This sounds more interesting than it really is, it's two rocks that jut out over the valley below, buts it's still beautiful. You used to be able to climb unto the lower "jaw," but a guy fell off a few years ago so they blocked it off. (The guy survived, the trees stopped his fall). I think the best view from the lookout wasn't the jaws, but the valley below. You could see nothing but trees and the mountains in the background. The hike out to the lookout was also beautiful. We always tried to be ahead of the group to enjoy the peace of nature. 

Jaws of Death

Valley from Jaws of Death Lookout

The last stop in the Grampians was just a lookout over the city and valley. It was just as beautiful as the Jaws of Death lookout, but we only got about 10 minutes there.

When we were taking this picture with Mahreen's camera a kangaroo started hopping by. The picture is of me pointing and saying "look a kangaroo!" instead of looking at the camera!

We then hopped on the bus and took the 3 hour trip back to Melbourne. We did stop and get a classic Aussie meal, KFC. No one believed me that it was my first KFC in about 10 years. Don't all Americans just eat fast food?