Another change in scenery along our drive from the Murray Valley. The flat roads and farmland changed back into rolling hills as we got further into Victoria towards the Grampians. Found a cool spot for lunch at a random state park. Nice walk to break up the drive and even spotted our first Echidna.

After success of our first night free camping, we set off for the Grampians to a private property called Old Man Emu. Basically a massive sheep and emu farm on the foothills of the Grampians National Park and the couple who own it have designated one of their paddocks for camping. $15 a night, no power but there is water and cool fire pits set up around the place. It really is a stunning location.

We selected a spot by the dam so we can watch the kangaroos one way and see the mountains when we look the other. Had a fun couple of hours sitting by the water watching the kangaroos and even managed to cook pizza on the Webber.

I guess our luck had to turn at some point with the weather and last night was that night! Sudden down pour of rain and massive thunder storm had us running for shelter in the van. Huddled safely inside we were thankful of the van. Then we realised we were parked by the dam and all the water from the paddock was flowing our way – eeek! Our extra storage space under the van for things like the swags suddenly didn’t seem like such a good idea! Anyway, quick dash in the rain to get things off the ground and into the car and we settled down in the van for the evening.

So we may have made our first rookie error with the ground mat. Apparently the sand is supposed to fall straight through it… I suspect that’s true when you are on a dry sandy beach. However, when you find yourself with a river of water flowing your way, bringing with it a whole load of sand, it actually traps it tight inside the mat. Ooops! Family challenge trying to get the sand out of the mat the next morning. Never a dull moment!

Clean up complete and we set off for a drive to MacKenzie Falls. The sign says it’s an 800m walk. They forget to tell you that’s 100m of a flat walk and then 700m down some stairs! Not content with knowing we would have to get back up the stairs, we added on a further 1.5km walk to check out Fish Falls. We ended up carrying Kiera back as expected but it was so worth it (and counts as fun work out for the day!)

Seems we are in for more rain this evening but it has been so worth stopping off in the Grampians. Next stop South Australia!