Winter camping with the boys

The Queen's Birthday is the last long weekend for ages so being winter it was time to try out all my cold weather camping gear and my new hiking pack. As usual it was a debacle getting everyone to decide if they were free and where to go. We finally settled on doing a reverse loop of the Beeripmo Hike at the Mt Cole National Park, which is located about 2 hrs drive west of Melbourne, between Ballarat and Ararat.

The boys.....

 and me

Is it getting foggy?

 Yep, um the "view" from Snowgum Lookout

 and the next day, picture perfect!

 Beautiful views of the Western Plains with the Grampians in the background 

 Ferntree Waterfall

 Side trip to the Cave Hill cave, also known as Bukkertillible, which means cave in the local aboriginal dialect. The cave is a massive granite arch around 100 m wide and 15 m high. You can just see Paul in red at the bottom LH corner of the photo.

The Campground

Perfect winter campground

 Happy faces, we love cooking in the rain 

 Pancakes for dessert

 Topped with melting Lindt choc, YUM!

On Top of the World

Over the last few months we've had a few camping and hiking trips, making the most of summer and discovering some great walks. We've scaled a few peaks along the way, enjoying the isolation and views below.

Cathedral Ranges - Razorback Track

Paul and Bonnie taking a breather and admiring the viewMe, Terrie and Bonnie negotiating the rocky heights of the Razorback

Mt Buller

Baby Liam's first mountain top climb (thanks Mum and Dad!)

Fire observatory at the top of Mt Buller

Cathedral Ranges (II)

Bonnie, Ryan, Terrie and Paul waiting for the sunset from the top of South Jawbone Peak

and the sunset

Paul's time lapse shots of Bonnie's tent at the Farmyard campground