Scenes I'll be painting soon: Mt William (Mt Duwil).

1/16/2021

Australian Rural-lit and historical fiction author and artistRyn Shell

Grampians National Park

I will be painting these scenes as art tutorial demonstrations for my patrons.

OK, where do I make a start?
Mt Duwil/Mt William Trail in Grampians National Park.
Length: 1.8 kilometres.
Walk: 45 minutes one-way, says the tourist’s map. Sure—if you want to and can walk up a steep mountain road at speed. Allow extra time for rest breaks on the uphill walk, as it is steep. You will also want to pause to enjoy the magnificent panoramas. Reg and I made a full-day outing of this walk.
Track: Good; it is a private road.
Grade: Very Steep.
Start and finish: Mt Duwil/Mt William carpark.

Mt Duwil/Mt William lies near Mafeking, which was the scene of Victoria’s last, and perhaps shortest, gold rush. The tall peak, at 1,168 metres, offers great panoramic views of the entire district as well as an insight into its fascinating local sub-alpine vegetation.

Reg and I have always loved the views from Mt Duwil/Mt William, and it is a place of special significance to both of us. Our first trip here was also our honeymoon. We succeeded, at that time, to complete all the major hikes in the area. We kept returning for the following forty-one years to prove that we could still do all of these trails.
At sixty-five years—for me, Kathryn—where I last made this climb, and seventy-one years for Reg, on our last trip to Gariwerd/Grampians, we made all the hikes easily. The rock scrambles were tougher than I had remembered them, but we made it to the top every time.
Hiking to the top of Mt Duwil/Mt William has always been a goal that I’ve set for myself after any physical setback. At the present moment, I have two years to train to repeat these walks to celebrate turning seventy. Getting to the top of Mt Duwil/Mt William, the highest mountain in the Gariwerd/Grampians, is a fantastic milestone-marking goal—if you can do it.