The weather was overcast and cool, but dry and the first 30kms, along the Great Western Highway, took little over an hour. Then I reached Stawell, another sizeable and interesting town with a number of attractions, most notably the athletics track where the famous Stawell Gift race is run annually:
The town hall has a clock with mechanical miners who strike their picks every hour:
The War memorial is in a beautiful setting with the mountains as a backdrop:
There is a lookout over the town from "Big Hill" which gives a fine view:
From Stawell the route continued through open farmland, with great views of the surrounding mountains. After another 35kms I reached The Gap vineyard and enjoyed tasting some soft but spicy reds.
Just after leaving the winery, the rain started - the first since the start of the tour. Fortunately I was nearly at Halls Gap,today's destination, so didn't get too wet. I checked into a pleasant eco lodge which had masses of kangaroos hopping around outside.
Halls Gap is at the centre of the Grampians National Park and there are many tracks and bushwalks to explore; however it was too wet to do any of these today. Hopefully the weather will improve tomorrow, and I will check some of them out.
Distance today 73kms, total so far 832kms.
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