Christmas Holidays

We went down to Victoria for Christmas, to visit Mum's family and spend a few weeks with them.  We had a lovely time in Stawell, and the surrounding towns, and I took lots of photos! So here we go, a photo run-down of our 2 1/2 weeks down south...

Pa and all of us kids (- me, because I took the photo) waiting for the Stawell Christmas street parade

It is so incredibly dry down south!

...And yet so pretty at the same time

We took the Transit 'offroading' up a mountain bush track and took photos of the sunset one night.This was taken at about 9:30pm. 

While we are on holidays, we tend to go to a lot of cafes for lunch.  And of course, while sitting at the table waiting for our orders, we take photos!

Real life, authentic Aboriginal art....

The whole area is overshadowed by the Grampians Mountain ranges

This is at the Botanical gardens in Ballarat (a city about 1.5-2 hours from Stawell) Ballarat is where Mum spent her teenage years and also where Pa lived until just a few years ago when he moved back to Stawell, his childhood town.

Mum and Dad were married in Ballarat, and we found the spot where they had their wedding photos taken....23 years later

Overlooking the town of Stawell

We all jumped out and took photos of the view

Another day, another cafe lunch photo session.  :)

We headed up into the Grampians, and stopped by this man made lake, which supplies water to nearby towns

On the other side of the lake.

This is up on the mountain at one of the lookouts.  You can see for kilometers!

We went on a bushwalk which was only supposed to be 1km in and out, but that was a very conservative estimate. Anyway, partway down, people had stacked up hundreds of rocks into little piles.  It was very odd.

Miss Ann (3), enjoying the bushwalk

The view from the end of the '1km' trail... It is hard to see in the picture, but the green is not grass, but all trees

Heading back down the mountain

This is another mountain in the Grampians called Elephant's Hide, because the surface is rock, and looks like the skin of an elephant.  We didn't stop there though, so the picture was a drive by shot.

We went to a place called Vaughn Springs, where they have a really long slide down the mountain. Unfortunately, it poured rain about 20 minutes after we got there, and we had to leave.  But it was still fun.  :)

Joy and Ann in Horsham, another nearby town about 40 minutes from Stawell

Sunset at our caravan park.  Once again, this photo was taken at about 9:30 - it stays light for a long time down south!

Elise stole all our pillows to sit on while we were driving home - all 14 hours and 5 minutes of the trip.