I haven’t been to the Grampians for over twenty years but adventure was calling and it seemed like the perfect spot to book a winter escape and be surrounded by nature. And that we were!!!

The first thing you notice driving into Halls Gap at the base of the Grampians National Park are the kangaroos and emus just hanging out and nibbling away at grass everywhere you look.

We had a brilliant stay at Halls Gap Lakeside caravan park in one of their cosy cabins. There is a great common room/camp kitchen with a huge fire that is stoked all day in winter as well as a wood fired outdoor heated pool that was heaven. Such a novelty having an outdoor swim in the middle of winter. It was pretty brisk getting out though.

The kids loved the many separate trampolines so there was no bumping into other kids and at the back of the park is a huge open field at the base of the mountains where you can get right up close to big groups of kangaroos and watch the sunset behind the mountain ridge. Talk about picturesque.

We chose a couple of kid-friendly hikes to tackle on our second day. The first was Reeds Lookout, a flat 2km return walk with an incredible view from the lookout at the end. The second was the walk down to Mackenzie Falls. There were a lot of steps so there was a bit of complaining climbing back up from our youngest but it was worth it. There is an easier, flatter walk to the Makenzie Falls Lookout so you can see the Falls without all of the climbing.

After our big morning hiking we enjoyed a Halls Gap bakery lunch with the cockatoos keeping a VERY close eye on any dropped crumbs. Beware of friendly ones that land on your shoulder! We washed down the sausage rolls with an icecream from Coolas in Halls Gap just near the bakery.

On our second last day we thought we’d check out the Halls Gap Zoo because several people had recommended we visit. I’m so glad we did it was great fun and you get to have really close encounters with many of the animals so the kids had a ball.

The morning we left we stopped at the Lake Bellfield dam wall and walked across the top which was spectacular. Incredible vistas!

Taking in the incredible view from the dam wall at Lake Bellfield

Thanks for having us Halls Gap. Victoria has so many gems. One perk of going mid- week in winter is that we had most places to ourselves!