While the forecast rain didn’t really eventuate, the wind picked up overnight, and by morning it was approaching gale force. It was too risky to attempt to drive or walk anywhere, so we settled in with a late breakfast and lazy start to the day. By lunchtime it had calmed enough for us to make plans, so we set our sights on Mackenzie Falls first, then perhaps a couple of other lookouts. We’d lost half a day to the weather, and I was eager to get going.

We headed up Mt Victory Road, which winds tightly up to the top of the range, then down to the Mackenzie Falls turnoff. I’d heard stories of packed car parks, but there was plenty of room here.  There are two trails – the flat one to the top lookout, and the vertical one to the base of the falls. We decided to stretch our legs on the flat one first – just under 2 km of sealed path, making its way very gently down a large spur. From this lookout you could see right up the valley. We could make out people at the very bottom of the falls, and we could see glimpses of the rock staircase that led there.

After a brief stop at the Broken Falls lookout, and a second vantage point whose name I can’t remember, we headed down. The path is in excellent condition. It begins deceptively with a just a couple of shallow steps every few metres, and a gentle slope in between.  We wondered where the “260 steep steps”, as promised by a sign at the top, were. We soon found out. The closer we got to the bottom, the steeper, higher, and closer together the steps became. It must have been quite hard work cutting the original path. There are sturdy hand rails all the way down.  I stopped frequently for photos as the main attraction came into view.

“Can you see the rainbow?” Ian called up from a dozen steps below.  I could indeed; and I could feel the fresh spray on my face. Wonderful. The wind had disappeared, the sun was out and the sky blazing. A perfect day.

These falls are not seasonal, so there is always water plunging over and into the pool.  Ian crossed the river on stepping stones (too far apart for me) and scrambled on the rocks on the far side. Then we both followed the narrowing trail down river, ending up almost directly underneath the first lookout. We’d had no idea how tall and sheer the cliff was that we’d been standing on!

After a lovely couple of hours, it was back to the car to retrace our route.  We called in at Reeds Lookout, which was the place we’d visited in 2010.  Neither of us remembered the expansive view from the car park – the bowl shape reminded us of Wilpena Pound, but with a lot more trees! We took the easy trail to The Balconies. This part of the Grampians really is reminiscent of Scotland – azure lochs, granite boulders, and heathery hillsides (except the heather is replaced with Australian scrub). There are fascinating rock formations galore, including the famous “crocodile jaws” of The Balconies themselves. Again, we had the place almost to ourselves.  We checked out more views from the fire tower.

Our final stop was the Boroka Lookout – site of a very tragic accident not long ago, when a woman decided to climb the barrier to pose for a photo on a rock ledge – as many others have done beforehand. Instgram is littered with idiots doing backflips and yoga poses.  This woman slipped and plunged to her death, in front of her family. They will be haunted by that forever.  It made me feel queasy.  There are additional fences and warning signs everywhere, but still people do stupid things for the sake of a selfie. I distracted myself by looking for our little cabin, way down below (that’s us, somewhere in the centre picture below).

By now it was early evening, the light was filtering through the eucalypt leaves, and the birds were singing their final songs before turning in.  Time to head for home.