Before saying farewell to the beautiful Grampians we all piled in the Prado and drove to McKenzie Falls Lookout. Wow. It was worth it. They are quite spectacular. I can only imagine what they’d be like after winter with more volume of water flowing over the rocks.

We also stopped off at Reeds Lookout for another wow vista across the mountains. Sadly Boroka Lookout was closed due to controlled burning going on. That burning also contributed to the smoke haze about. Glad it wasn’t there the day before when we climbed The Pinnacle.

We all declared that a couple more days would have been good so we had the time to explore further. Oh well. Another place to come back to one day.

Back at Old Man Emu Camp we very quickly packed up camp and headed towards Stawell. Stawell is famous for its annual running race called the Stawell Gift. There’s even a Stawell Gift Hall of Fame & Musuem. Pretty sure my great-grandfather ran in the Gift.

We stopped off in Stawell to use the dump point and fill up with water. It was the first time we’ve come across a dump point on the side of the main road. Oh well at least they have one AND there was a potable water tap a few metres along.

We had a short stop next to a grassy reserve for lunch. I cooked up toasties for everyone. The kids just hoover a toastie!

Over lunch we decided to push on to Lake Boga however along the way I made a phone call to Lake Boga Caravan Park who now manage the unpowered camping on the other side of the lake as well as the Big4 park. I made the call because I’d read on WikiCamps reviews that the price had gone up significantly. They were correct. It is now $7.50 per person now for a patch of grass to camp on with no facilities at all. What a rip off! Katies would have to pay $30 for her family. All the caravan park do for the area is mow it occasionally.

I started to look for alternatives and found a spot near Birchip that looked and sounded good. It had great reviews too.

We made our way to Tchum Lake which seems to appear in the middle of nowhere and what a lovely spot. There is a small Campgound with power & water sites and an amenities block however you can drive all the way around the lake and find yourself a spot for the fabulous price of $10 per vehicle per night. Perfect! What a credit to the shire. There’s an honesty box to pay your fees and we made sure we did that before we left the next morning.

We set up camp with our two rigs, the boys quickly set up their swags, Pa got a little fire going and we had drinks and nibbles by the side of the lake watching the sun go down. Ahhh the serenity!