The Grampians (Australia)
04 JAN - 07 JAN 2024
The benefits from a having a
short break allows all of us to slow down a little and take a breather from the
pace of the daily routines to which we’ve come accustomed. You tend to forget
how the pace of everyday life and the regiment of routine becomes so ingrained
in your psyche until you step into the first moment that you’re truly away from
it. Also, considering Aiden’s newly
acquired understanding of what it means to leave home, and the excitement that
he exudes in anticipation of discovering a new place or ‘going to another
hotel’, or identifying a play opportunity, travelling and the anticipation of
it has become far more enjoyable once again. Not that it was ever not enjoyable
but those travelling with infants & toddlers know all about the challenges encountered
on the way to those temporary periods of ‘freedom’.
Only on reflection do you notice
that time operates at a speed to which we never truly become accustomed. Inga
& I have in Melbourne now for nearly the past 6 years, where the hell did
that go? In that time the destinations that have quite often lured us in their
direction and away from the comforts of our abode have been the Yarra Valley, the Mornington
Peninsula and the Great Ocean Road. Certainly other places have been on our
radar, such as Rutherglen, Mildura, Gippsland and the Snowy Mountains but we haven’t
quite made it to those place as yet. As for the Grampians, certainly there was one occasion prior to Aiden being born
that Inga and I did make our way to their for what was only aa long afternoon
stay but admittedly it the idea was very well constructed only really an
afterthought, a haphazardly bolted on addition to another cruisey drive along
the southern coastline.
On this occasion our escape was planned
and we had orientated our Grampians discovery around the booking we had made
for a tiny house, accommodation which was situated in the little locale of Dadswell
Bridge, about 35kms north of Halls Gap, a quaint little town nestled in the
heart of the Grampians.
The idea of tiny houses doesn’t
seem to be too dissimilar to the concept of caravans or motor homes but somehow
their concept has been elevated to incorporate a new way of living rather than
just occupying the space of having a mobile conveyor of the comforts of home.
Having watched countless shows on the ‘tiny house movement’ for several years
now, the both of us have been fascinated by the designs and concepts that makes
its way into the overarching premise of downsizing and embracing minimalist
living within compact spaces. The movement itself advocates for a lifestyle
choice underpinned by financial freedom, sustainability and a movement away
from excess consumption, although sometimes the house you see are really just
miniature mansions. In any case, what we identified in the Grampians was just
the tonic we needed for our short time away.
For those that are unaware, the Grampians is
rugged mountain range located approximately 250kms west of Melbourne, offering
stunning scenery and some exceptional wine regions. Also known for its
exceptional hiking, the challenge we faced was how invested would we be in
getting Aiden to walk up rugged trails for a view as opposed to sitting inside
a comfortable winery watching ‘anything he could think of’ on a phone and
accompanying his parents through their ‘wine knowledge and discovery
tour’. Whilst time would tell the winner
of that option its not a stretch to identify at this early juncture where we
landed.
After picking up Inga from work
on a Thursday evening we did a short drive to Ballarat and stayed at the lovely
Oscars Hotel & Café Bar in the centre of town. A very pleasant stop,
we found the staff to be extremely friendly, the rooms lovely and spacious and
the common areas to be equally as inviting. I’m not sure why but of all the
options for a one-night stay in Ballarat at this time appeared to be
excessively priced and Oscars by comparison offered the most value by fair
margin. So, well done Oscars all-round.
The next day we found ourselves
on the road to Dadwells Bridge, which was only an additional 150kms west of
Ballarat. Passing through the towns of Beaufort, Buangor and Ararat, we made
our first planned and ‘civilised’ stop at the wonderful Grampians estate winery
near Great Western.
In our own continued self-discovery
of wines, both international and domestic, neither of us had really at any point encountered wines that had
originated in the Grampians. It was only after the fact that we have now become
acquainted with the much-celebrated Great Western wine region, characterised by
its unique terroir, cool to moderate climate, rich soil and distinctive wines. It
certainly came as a surprise to us during our first tasting that both the
Shiraz and the sparkling Shiraz were standouts. Both of us more commonly
associate Shiraz options as being bold, peppery and high in tannin but the
first option at Grampians Estate (and all those that followed), were softer, velvety
and slightly fruitier that what we were used to.
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Our time at Grampians Estate was lovely
and if an additional drive down the road wasn’t a necessity our long lunch
would have become an extended afternoon. The sun was out, it was a beautiful
day, and like many wineries that we attended in the region, they were
thoughtful enough to supply options to keep children occupied whilst parents
were undertaking ‘future reconnaissance’. Whilst Aiden took to the challenge of
colouring-in, Inga and I continued to ‘develop our palates’
Approximately 45 mins away from
Grampians Estate heading west, we arrived in Dadswells Bridge we made our way to
‘Tiny House 11’ at Grampians Edge. From
what was obviously once a camping and caravan park, the complex had been converted
into a tiny house park, which for our small family was the perfect option to be
able to stay in a quaint and cozy retreat set amidst the picturesque Grampian
landscape. Whilst the tiny houses are
purposefully minimalist, I have to say that what you do get within each space
is quite the surprise. It’s more than surprising to see how the needs of a
kitchen, bathroom, lounging space and bed are craftily fitted within what is quite
a confined space. For us it was perfect.
The rest of the day we spent
utilising the facilities, which was mostly orientated about the swimming pool
and the lovely recreational room, which had a huge TV, games, pool table and
cooking facilities.
Our second day in the Grampians
proved to be both the litmus test and the true challenge to our ‘steely
resolve’ to do a little bit of hiking and check out a view or two in the area. I
have to say, both Inga & I had our thoughts aligned to be doing a walk to the ‘the Balcony’ lookout
at some point in the but when Aiden
& I, ‘come a gutser’ whilst trying to cross a local creek in the centre of
Halls Gap, our drenched clothes put pay to idea that we’d be doing any walking,
which admittedly we more than adapted to by putting our ‘plan B’ option into
effect which was to investigate more of those pesky local wineries.
Through the course of the afternoon,
we made two distinct steps into the world of the Grampians wine region, the
first being at Pomonal Estate & the second at Fallen Giants Vineyard.
It was at about the mid-point of our first tasting at Pomonal that it started to dawn on us as to how special the Shiraz was in this region. You know when you feel as though you’ve made an astonishing ‘discovery’ on your own accord and gain that sense of internal pride that you’ve managed to figure out a clue all to yourself (only for it to be pointed out that the whole world had already beaten you to the punch), well yeah, that’s how our discovery of Grampians Shiraz played out. I’d equate it to something akin to that one time when I ‘discovered’ the extraordinary quality and ubiquity of Malbec & Steak in Buenos Aires (whoa, speed racer alert to Captain Obvious).
Still, no matter how far back in the pack we’ve been with regards to the knowledge we’ve had for this region, which effectively has been nothing, on this day we were more than charmed by the sophistication and elegance of the wines we’d been offered. Perhaps the Grampians isn’t exactly the hidden gem of Australian wine regions, which was certainly the narrative we were started to create in our minds, but the fact that it was unknown to us is what made this little excursion such the welcome treat. Additionally, the bonus that we found at the wineries we attended was their thoughtfulness as to thinking about the ‘little companions’ the get dragged along to these boring places. Pomonal Estate had sporting equipment on their lawn for any visitor to use, which Aiden & I certainly did, playing cricket to Inga’s eternal abhorrence, and Fall Giants had both indoor and outdoor options, which we all made use of. Once again, to all Grampians wineries that we visited, well done! You should be congratulated!
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After another lovely afternoon in
the Grampians, we headed back to our tiny abode, had ourselves a great BBQ
feast, accompanied by some fantastic liquid support, and even managed to get an
evening fire going which allowed us to introduce Aiden to the ‘fire toasted’
marshmallow concept. Surprisingly not a hit on the first occasion but I think
he’ll have time to warm up to the idea.
On our final day we headed out of
Dadswells Bridge just after 10am at started the 250km journey back home, doing
a short drive to Great Western and stopping in at the renowned Seppelt Winery.
Boasting a rich viticulture history dating back to 1851, we once again learned
what this region is famous for, producing some premium cool-climate wines,
highlighted by a few glorious Shiraz and Sparking Shiraz bottles. Once again, a
fabulous place, that has a couple of additional surprising experience in terms
of their underground tunnel tours (which we unfortunately didn’t have time to
do). The tunnels below Seppelt were initially created in about 1868, having
been hand-dug by local gold miners to store their wines in what they considered
to be optimal conditions. Over the proceeding 60+ years, successive owners
expanded the maze-like tunnels to an impressive 3kms, which established an
enormous underground cellaring system, the largest in Australia, having the
capacity to store in the vicinity of 3 million bottles of wine at a constant
temperature of 16 degrees.
After a great tasting session and
a bit of a kick around of the footy with Aiden on Seppelt’s vineyard lawn, we
drove only a short distance to the Great Western hotel for some lunch and a
last glass of Shiraz before heading for home.
Whilst we didn’t spend a long
time away, this short vacation was effectively for us the expresso shot of
travelling …compact, intense and guaranteed to leave us both energised and
buzzing for more equally enjoyable experiences, hopefully in the very near
future.
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