A Sketch of Halls Gap

 

February 13 to 15, 2015

Halls Gap is a very small hamlet, located in the Fyans Valley in the Grampian Mountains, west of Melbourne. It has a resident population of some 600 people, and is a very popular tourist destination. In fact, the town is dependent on tourists for its livelihood, there being very little other opportunity for employment. The ‘town centre’, if you could call it that, would fit very comfortably on the fairway of the average 500m par five right-hand dog-leg hole of a golf course.

With the tee at the village hall, you would hit over the petrol filling station, a couple of cafes, and an empty book-shop. Your ball would land on an ice-cream parlour. Your second shot would fly over the small supermarket, over another café, and the newsagent, before landing on the second ice-cream parlour at the corner of the dog-leg. Then a 9-iron from the corner would take you over a souvenir shop, the bakery, another café, and the ball would land somewhere near the chemist. This part of the dog-leg overlooks a nice patch of grass, and a very pretty, but dry, stony creek bed. And that is it for the town centre. Opposite the longer part of the shopping strip there is a public toilet block, and a swimming pool; and the rest is pretty much all camping ground. Along the road to the south and to the north of the centre, there are a couple of kilometres or so in each direction, of holiday accommodations, ranging from swish motels and resorts, through self-catering apartments and cabins, to basic camping grounds. The furthest south is the Lakeside Caravan and Camping Park beneath the dam wall of Lake Bellfield. This is a very pleasant park, and we have stayed there on previous occasions. But this year we stayed in the Grampians Log Cabins which are much nearer to the town. These cabins are very clean, comfortable, and well-appointed with nice furniture and facilities. There was no balloon whisk in the kitchen, but there was a mechanical whisk of the type where you turn the handle and two beaters whizz round. However, it mattered little as I didn’t need a whisk of any sort during this short stay. There is a very nice swimming pool and grassy barbecue area in the centre of the oval around which the cabins are distributed. From the kitchen window of our cabin, the view is to the south, along the flat valley floor, through lightly wooded paddocks with kangaroos, emus and other native fauna.

There is an efficient air-conditioning system, and in winter, heating is by means of a wood burning stove (wood is provided). All in all, a very pleasant place to stay.

And the reason for our being in Halls Gap is very simple. Each year, at this time, Halls Gap is the venue for the Grampians Jazz Festival, and our band was playing a couple of sets. So, the population swells to over 4000 people, mostly jazz lovers, who swarm in for two and a half days almost continuous music. The main street is closed to traffic for the weekend, and there are 9 venues, ranging from a huge 750-seat marquee, through three or four smaller marquees, the Halls Gap Hall, one of the swish motels, and a couple of restaurants, with concurrent sessions running from 10.00am until 11.00pm.

All shapes and sizes of people can be seen carrying all shapes and sizes of instruments, as they scurry between these various venues. It would be nice to say there were people of all ages, but unfortunately I cannot say that, as they were, for the most part, very senior citizens indeed. However, there was a sprinkling of younger people, and I did spot one particularly attractive young compact enchantress in the vicinity of our cabin.

It was interesting to note that even the younger musicians, and there were quite a few very talented youngsters performing at the Festival, seemed to attract a mostly senior audience. We have noticed the same phenomenon in relation to audiences attending chamber music recitals by young and extremely talented musicians.

Whilst there were several thousand people, car parking was not much of a problem as most people camp or stay nearby the town centre. We drove in to town a couple of times as it was a bit hot for walking far; but it was a very pleasant 20 minute walk in the evening as it cooled down a little. The walk took us along a sealed track through the bush, parallel to, and about 50 meters off to the side of the road. But at night, when it was pretty well pitch black, we were very surprised, and indeed very pleased, to find that the white line in the centre of the track was, in fact, luminous paint. It was quite eerie to be following the pale yellowish line as it snaked through the bush, and without which the walk could have been quite hazardous. And an added benefit of the luminous line over the alternative of street lights, was the fact that it in no way detracted from the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars of the Milky Way, which could be seen to great advantage in the complete absence of any light-pollution. So full marks to whoever had the bright idea of the luminous line!

In addition to the Jazz Festival, Halls Gap also hosts an annual Food and Wine Festival in early May, known as the Grampians Grape Escape. This is a festival celebrating local wine growers and food products, with over 125 food and wine artisans in attendance for you to try their offerings. But apart from these two festivals, The Grampians are worth a visit in their own right.

The sandstone ‘mountains’ are not high, the highest being Mt William at 1,167m, but they are very craggy and rocky, and quite spectacular. They are very popular with bush walkers, and rock-climbers, and a few years ago, even we spent a couple of days abseiling in the Grampians! And in spring, there is an abundance of spectacular wild flowers. So something for everyone in and around Halls Gap!