Grampians

After about 4 hours of sleep I woke up excited to start my new adventure.  Lina was also leaving that morning and we woke together to get ready; it was nice not being the only one making noise in the room.  After a quick shower and dragging all my things into the hallway, I was ready to go.  I waited about 30 min for my bus to arrive and got to say goodbye to Lina and wish her well on the rest of her travels. 

My bus finally arrived and just as I was leaving the door my water bottle clip got caught on the hinge and ripped off; now I must use string to hold my bottle. 

There was honestly nothing special about the drive to Mackenzie Falls or to the Grampians.  I slept the entire way, except when we stopped for lunch and gas.  We drove for about 8 hours today and I slept for most of it.

As we entered the Grampians, which is a huge range of mountains, I got to see all the burnt trees from the forest fire of 2006.  The trees that were recovering looked like they were covered in ivy but it was the eucalypt leaves that were growing straight from the trunk.  The forest looked really cool because of the charcoaled trees with eucalypt leaves growing all over them.  The view looking over the mountains is incredible; nothing I have ever seen before!  Mackenzie Falls however was just as stunning.  We weren’t allowed to go swimming but I took my shoes of and soaked my feet in the water for a while which was so nice!

The spray was so nice.

The funny looking trees.

The view

Off to our hostel that was only about 15 minutes away.  I was very happy to get my bag inside the house that I share with 12 other girls.  I immediately went for a run along the mountain ridge and through town back to my hostel.  It was a really nice run and I was very happy to be outside in the perfect temperature.

When I got back to the hostel I had a refreshing shower and then talked to Alicia (a 27 year-old girl from Germany I believe) until our driver Brian had finished making dinner.

Pasta with a vegetarian sauce and salad was for dinner.  It was really good but not satisfying enough.  I was super tired and only stayed at the table till about 8:30 and then headed to bed. 

The British girls that are in the bunks next to me are absolutely hilarious!  They switch topics so quickly from koalas with Chlamydia to Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez.  I will have the weirdest dreams tonight if I keep listening to them.