From the Barossa Valley, we headed back towards the state of Victoria. We needed to return our campervan to Britz in Melbourne and catch an onward flight to Malaysia, and had a few days in between to check out a few more sights.
Before crossing into Victoria, there was one more thing we needed to check out – the white kangaroos of Bordertown Wildlife Park. These are actually a white offshoot of more common western grey kangaroos. In 1980, a white kangaroo was captured and brought here to breed, now there is a large colony of these white-as-snow fellas.
White kangaroos at Bordertown Wildlife Park.We spent the night free camping at a roadside rest stop near the state border. It wasn’t anywhere near as nice as our initial free camping experience at Mount Schank, but you can’t argue with the price.
Crossing back into the state of Victoria.The next day we got an early start and headed or the Grampians National Park. This park features a range of mountains made of layers of rock which seem to tilt and poke out of the surrounding plains.
The Grampians appear to rise out of nowhere.In the park, there are a number of scenic walks and lookout points.
A scenic lookout over the Grampians National Park.In addition, there are a couple very nice waterfalls.
Mackenzies Falls in Grampian National Park.We camped inside the park, in a campground surrounded by wild kangaroos.
Our campsite in the Grampians National Park.While the campsite was fairly basic, it had everything we needed, including a “bush shower”. Operation of the shower involved filling the bucket from one of the reservoirs, then hoisting it up with a chain. Very ingenious!
The "bush shower" at our campsite.The area around the Grampians is also home to a lot of aboriginal art. Unfortunately, much of it has been vandalized by both modern and colonial settlers.
We were ready once again to move on to our final destination with our campervan – the gold fields of Ballarat, Victoria!