Halls Gap is where most people begin their Grampians trip and where the trailheads, the coffee, and the wildlife converge. It’s a small town — easily walked end to end — with enough to fill several days without trying. Walks from Town Chatauqua Peak and The Pinnacle both start within walking distance of the main […]

The Nook has a scent. Not a diffuser plugged into the wall — a custom fragrance, developed in collaboration with Amanda Stevens of Rewild Co., that you’ll notice the moment you step inside. It’s one of those details that guests often can’t quite place at first, and then ask about later. Amanda’s Work Amanda runs […]

The Grampians Grape Escape happens every year in Halls Gap, and it’s exactly what it sounds like — two days of good wine, regional food, and live music in the company of people who care about all three. It’s one of the better weekends the Grampians puts on, and staying at the Nook while it’s […]

Pomonal General Store is the kind of shop you can’t quite explain until you’ve been inside it. Coffee, local produce, something for a picnic, something for breakfast — yes, all of that. But mostly it’s Nadya, who runs it like it belongs to the village rather than to her, because she thinks it does. Nadya’s […]

The Stawell Gift is a very old, very fast, very Australian event. It’s been running since 1878 — not long after the gold rush — and it arrives each Easter weekend with the kind of atmosphere that proper sporting tradition produces. The Southern Hemisphere’s oldest and richest short-distance handicap foot race, held in Stawell, about […]

There’s chocolate in your hamper. Not the supermarket kind — handcrafted dark chocolates made by Kerrie, whose workshop and cafe operate out of Pomonal. They’re in the hamper because they’re good, and because they’re made by someone ten minutes from where you’re sleeping. The Chocolate Kerrie uses Belgian chocolate sourced via the Cocoa Trace program, […]

There’s a version of a holiday that involves a lot of space and a lot of options, and another version that strips things right back. The Nook is the second kind. One well-designed room, a view worth waking up for, and not much between you and the landscape. Most guests find they need less than […]

Halls Gap has a wine shop worth knowing about. Not a tourist bottle shop — a proper cellar, run by someone who knows what he’s talking about and genuinely enjoys the conversation. Simon Freeman Simon has been curating Grampians wine longer than most people have known the region makes it. He can tell you which […]

There are olives in your hamper. They came from a grove in the Grampians, which is not something most people expect when they think of the region. Red Rock Olives has been growing them in Pomonal for years, and they’re better than most olives you’ll find anywhere. The Story Behind Them For a decade, David […]

Pomonal is the kind of place people drive through on the way to somewhere else and spend the next few years planning how to get back to. A handful of businesses, a general store, some extraordinary views, and ten minutes from the Nook. Worth doing properly. Lake Fyans An easy loop with water views and […]