The Pinnacle & Balconies Walks, Halls Gap

It was just 2 degrees when we woke this morning but the sun is shining!  We have experienced all the seasons in our stay here at Halls Gap.  The first night we were near the epicentre of the earth tremor that rocked the southern half of Victoria and the rocking of the van woke me.  It was actually very scary.  I thought it was very strong wind but when I saw the news the following day I realised that it was a tremor.

So today we decided to do two walks, The Pinnacle that is around 4km and the Balconies that is 2km.  I would never have imagined that they could be so very different.  Let's start with the Pinnacle.  I had done my research and knew that it was not going to be an easy walk up a hill but it was far more difficult than I imagined.  There is no defined path, you just follow the yellow markers and the vast majority of them have been taken as souvenirs.  It is uphill from the very start and it is all rock climbing and stairs. I simply put my head down and tackled it one step at a time, very slowly.  The scenery is spectacular the higher we climb and I am just starting to get into the rhythm of the hike when my back decided it had had enough.  I had brought some magnesium rub in the backpack and stopped to massage it into the pain but it wasn't enough to allow me to continue.  Damn.  I was just 300 metres from the lookout!  I encouraged Philip to continue without me and to take plenty of photos even though it kills me to look at them now knowing that I missed this incredible opportunity.  Here as some photos from the hike.....

This is where I said goodbye to Philip as he continued the final thrust to the top

It took us around three hours to walk the 4kms and to finally reach the carpark after this epic walk and it was after midday so it was back to camp for lunch and a rest before we tackled the next walk.  I took Panadol and rested for a couple of hours flat on my back and felt quite confident to do the next walk to the Balconies.

This was a lovely easy 2km walk on a well defined path that also has magnificent views in all directions.  It is around 4pm when we walk the path and there are still lots of folk out walking.  I would like to have stayed for sunset photos as we are looking to the west but with daylight saving sunset is not until 8pm!  I just have to be content with these photos......

Our final stop on our way back to Halls Gap is at the Boroka Lookout where we went yesterday but sadly the view was a white-out.  Just look at the view today......

And lastly we swing by Lake Bellfield that we could see clearly from the Boroka Lookout.  It is a very important water catchment area where water is piped to much of the Wimmera region.  

Gale force winds are predicted tonight and the caravan park has sent us a text suggesting that we all baton down the hatches as the winds pass through the area around 2am.  It's going to be a long night and tomorrow we move on to Horsham.