Elephant in a Bath Halls Gap, Victoria, Australia
By Na'wal on 04-Sep-15. Waypoint GC629P1

Cleaning up. Time to open the map to some new caches ??

What a great first spot for our Grampians holiday..arrived in the late afternoon after a long drive and this lovely little walk was perfect for stretching the legs..thanks for all the information and bringing me to this picturesque spot

very very cool spot! again wasnt able to send answers through but have them saved if needed

Had a great walk with the Zeus and the kids and my sister, Pinkimbo, and her little kids. All the kids had a ball either wading through the shallower baths or seeing how far they could climb up the Elephant's Hide. Of course the littlest kid fell in the water! All in all, a really fun and satisfying little walk.

Wonderful area. TFTC.

Lovely part of the world. So glad we visited this magical place.

Found while hiking and exploring through the Grampians. Great location however very busy today. Had no phone/internet service at GZ so could not read the description and questions till back at camp.

This was a highlight of the wog/clog/flog/grog trip to the Grampians and in assessing the questions for the earth cache we unfortunately concluded that the water to people ratio at this time of year would not work out for us. It was great to visit this landmark and another great Na'wal earth cache taking us to the sights across Victoria. tftc

Always a pleasure to dip my feet in here, finally talking through this earth cache with my son (as is our tradition). Thanks for the cache!!!

Such a lovely walk to find these baths.

This is the second time the Donutholes family has escaped the hustle and bustle of Geelong and set ourselves up in Halls Gap. We just sat back, chillaxed and just enjoyed quality time together. I like to visit Halls Gap because of the geocaching, bush walks and fresh air, my wife likes to visit Halls Gap to let her hair down and chill and my children like to visit Halls Gap because of the ice cream and the zoo.

Woke up Monday morning earlier than usual and decided to check out the baths for the first time. I'm glad we did because the kids absolutely loved it and we managed to take some really good family pictures. We had the place all to ourselves which was lovely also.

Thanks for the hide.

A great spot with the kids. Bring your swimmers !! TFTC

What a glorious area this is. I’m so very happy to be at the Grampians.
Don’t want to leave. Tftc Na’wal

Thanks for the earthcache, really nice area

I sent the answers to Na'wal ages ago but they didn't answer so I'm going ahead and logging it. If the answers are in any way incompatible you can delete this log

Easy walk to find this

Fortunately we had pre-booked a couple of nights at the caravan park for this long weekend. Days before leaving for our road trip it was announced that COVID restrictions were easing, to allow everyone in Victoria the freedom to travel. Needless to say, Halls Gap was a very busy place this weekend. Great weather and lots of walking tracks, what could be better.
Today was a bit quieter as it was the Tuesday of the long weekend and people had packed up to join the traffic to return home. We had another week to relax.
We loved the walk to GZ and exploring the rock pools without too many people around. Thanks for an Earthcache in such an enjoyable environment.

Thank you for showing us this nice spot, even if I couldn't see any elephant around.
TFTE

The plan was to spend a few days in Ballarat, Halls Gap and then Portland. We had no intention of chasing every cache we drove past. Only the ones that piqued our interest made the list.

This was our first trip to the Grampians and this was our first walk for the 4 days. Was a good walk to start off on. Beautiful area here... but that applies for everything we saw in our time at Halls Gap.

Thanks Na'wal.

Answers sent.

Very nice

Lovely spot. Thanks

Found pending approval. Great spot. TFTC

First log of our walk to the pinnacle. Everything wet from a recent drizzle today. Beautiful and not to busy. Here with my two kids. Did the pinnacle walk a few years ago.

Back in the area again. Have walked up here the last three evenings. Tonight, we had the place to ourselves. It is so peaceful. TB visit.

Nice area

Made this terrific walk after dinner while staying and exploring this nice area. Couldn't help but try and climb the steep wall on the other side; reminded me of Uluru/Ayers Rock. Tassie expat has submitted answers on both of our behalf. Thanks for the earth cache.

frmen1 and I had enjoyed an early dinner (lunch had been 11ish) and decided to walk up. Do we go back to our cabin to change back into grotty clothes? We decided that our shoes would cope, therefore walked directly through the camp grounds towards the entrance. In the distance was a familiar figure. Must be my eyes, but as we got closer, we found it to be a work colleague. Just to give you an idea of how flukey this was...we live in the Bass Coast area. It is such a small world! After a long time chatting, we ran out of time to change anyway. Made our way up one side of the river and came back on the other side. We met many people on the walk (but didn't know anyone else). Even before we got to gz, we were amazed at the formations around us. Once a the baths, we could easily identify what we needed to look at. Gathered our information and settled in for some more exploring and appreciation of the area.
Thank you for the enjoyable walk. Thank you for the amazing scenery. Answers sent from both of us. Now to explain to other colleagues that we didn't plan catching up in the mountains.

I've loved the Grampians since I was a child and we spent all our holidays here. It still holds a special place in my heart. The rock formations are indescribable and make me realise I am in a truly ancient land. Thanks for this cache and making me look again with new eyes. And yes I did climb straight up the Elephant's Hide when I was young and fitter.

TFTC! Many times in the Grampians, yet first time on this walk. Thank you for encouraging us to take this lovely still! One of us headed back to the car to drive to the wonderland cark park and walk down to the falls, while the other headed on the uphill walk to Spitter Falls!

I can see why so many people like this spot! Lots of ranging water today after the 60+mm that was had overnight!

great location. Many years ago my young son and I climbed up the hide (much to the horror of his mother) but the surface was rough enough to give us a good grip

Found by The Empire + H and the whole gang!
Family holiday in Halls Gap 2021! A walk to Venus Baths was planned for today and young and old alike, enjoyed swimming/paddling in the baths. I had earthcache business to attend to and enjoyed the geology lesson. Answers sent to CO. Thanks for the cache Na'wal.
- M
Earthcache #327

Really enjoyed this spot. We got here just in time to grab the last shady sitting area and got to enjoy the baths before it got crowded. We had the “gotta take the opportunity while you have it” moment and, although the water was freezing, we just had to submerge in the deep hole. It was awesome! Once I was wet, I couldn’t help but slide down the watery slopes with the kids. So much fun!! Thanks for the EC

Found while enjoying a walk in the area.
It is always a nice walk to this area.
A nice simple EarthCache that does the job and lets you learn a bit more about a busy spot without waiting for people to move.
It was a fantastic day out.

Found while out with McAdies and jelly_bean14.
I had a great time here.
The views were really nice.
Thanks for the cache hide.

Found while out with McAdies and Geo_Eddie.
It was a lovely spot for a cache, i had a nice time finding it.
Thanks for the cache hide.

Went for a stroll up to the baths, took the North side up and the South side on the way back.
Great walk.
Thanks for the cache.

We visited this amazing place on 10th October on our first evening walk of our stay at Halls Gap. Would be lovely on a hot summer's day...a bit chilly for now though. We wondered about the apparent brown stained colour of the water and whether it was tanin staining or something else?? Tftc

Great short walk on our first afternoon in Halls Gap

Tftf

Beautiful place!

Though today was a rainy cold day we were just excited to be let out of our home from lockdown. After visiting the local zoo and a picnic we couldn't wait to see some sites. This would have to be a fav place! The water was flowing nicely today and the kids were excited though sad when Mumma Regan wouldn't let them hop in. They will have to wait for another trip in some warmer weather. TFTC. A fav from us.

So beautiful

I wanted to try a couple of walks while we had 2 nights in the Halls Gap.

I'm glad I chose this walk. It was easy and lead to some beautiful scenery.

TFTC

Breathtaking walk to a gorgeous location on a cool clear winter day. Spectacular!

Great walk to the Venus baths. The whole area is beautiful and peaceful. Answers sent.

Tftc will send answers

This was a highlight of our visit to Halls Gap. It was an incredible surprise to find such an inviting spot in the afternoon after climbing The Pinnacle. We all enjoyed an impromptu soak and had a great time exploring the area. This site is a must for anyone visiting the area. Thanks for getting us here!

Loved this spot. Our first walk while here in Halls Gap.

Today is a beautiful day and there is a lovely family enjoying the water here. Thanks for showing me a great place.

Been to Venus baths many times, awesome spot to visit. Super fun going for a climb up the elephants hide

During our journey through Australia (from Darwin to Melbourne through the outback) I found this.
TFTC

What a nice place to be! Stayed in Gramplins NP and Today we did the Wonderland Trail. The first stop en route was Venus Baths, where we also had a look at the opposite rock. It's definitely to cold for a bath... - Thanks for the EC!

We did the big walk up to Chatauqua Peak and stopped to do the earth cache on the way back. It is a lovely spot but it is too cold to dip the toes.

A nice easy still after conquering the Pinnacle and McKenzie falls in the past couple of days. Too cold for a dip today but nice little place to explore. TFTC.

Found today on a day-trip out from our house-sit in Black Range near Stawell. While sitting at the cafe in Halls Gap after tackling Boronia Peak and trying to enjoy a bad coffee and an oily pizza, I checked what caches were around town and discovered this one a Km or so away.

We decided a short walk was in order to settle things after the feed and off we went, enjoying the gentler grade and loosening up muscles that were starting to stiffen up.

A nice amount of water in the creek today and it looked inviting, but we resisted.

After grabbing the nearby trad, the answers were collected and have been sent to the CO.

After that, we went back down the other side of the creek and home to feed dogs and horses before dark.

Nice place for the earthcache, we can found now two caches in the same area.

We send you the answers.
Thanks and greetings from the Netherlands.

Q1 looks brown red and grey

Q2 looks browny red and is smooth

A nice easy stroll to break up my day. After some crazy steep hills this morning and what promises to be some hard climbs and bouldering this afternoon I needed something light to break up the day. This are is so pretty and I am really glad that a cache brought me exploring this area. Still getting used to the diversity of all the different spots in the Grampians! Have so much more exploring to do. Thanks for the excellent EC location Nawal.

Answers sent. First stop on the way to the Pinnacle. We ended up back tracking and doing the circuit clockwise. We were glad to see this area again at the end. Beautiful spot and not too busy early this morning, considering it is school holidays. TFTC.

Find number 7341 at 2:20:23 pm
Permission sought to log.
Travelled to Halls Gap for the long weekend to enjoy the area with family and friends in the caravan park. Not a geocaching weekend but I still managed to find a cache or two each day.
We all went for a walk up the hill from the caravan park on this glorious winters day, the water holes were maybe just a touch too cold for a dip but there were some young blokes getting in though, out to impress the young ladies with them I think .
**Thanks for creating this earthcache Na'wal**

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Big things are continuing to happening in Victoria! *Are you joining in the fun?*
[**The St Arnaud Event 2019**](https://coord.info/GC7DN55)
*16th & 17th November 2019 - GC7DN55 - St Arnaud - Victoria*

A nice, albeit wet and rainy day here at Venus Baths. Answers sent to CO...

Gc

Re-logging -- great 3-day hike last weekend along the Grampians Peaks trail.

Visited this earthcache on our way to the Pinnacle. What a lovely view!

Love this place. Paddle here nearly every time we visit.

Cache #68

Looking for a short stroll and Venus baths was on that list. Very nice and tranquil, even though you're unable to swim in it.

Beauty of a place. Looking fowaed ro coming back here for a swim when the weather improves.

While staying Halls Gap we made a wonderfull walk in this area.
There we could do this earth-cache on thjis beautifull place.
Thanks for bringing us here.

i loved this place! every-time we drove past i still looked at the formation in awe!

after a short and pleasant hike i arrived at the pools. unfortunatelly, it was quite crowded with people instead of an elephant beautiful to look at anyhow. TFTC!

Our great tour to Australia also took us to this Earthcache. The solutions were good to work on and so we thank the owner for bringing and showing this impressive location !!!

Have come up to Halls Gap for a day trip. This is a great spot for the kids, playing in the water and climbing over the rocks also a great place for an Earthcache. Thanks.

Answers submitted. Visited on the grand final long weekend with family exploring parts of halls gap we havnt seen before. Logging late for the earth cache souvenir

30 September 2018
Caching buddies: Muggle Anshi

Last day in Grampians today, needing a hike, Mr Muggle agreed to get this last one for the day in the area! Beautiful spot!

TFTC Na'wal

Follow my story on Instagram @AlphaDeltaIndigo

What a magical day to do this walk which turned out to be much much longer than intended. I began at the Wonderland car park and slowly made my way to the magnificent views from the Pinnacle. Somehow I missed seeing the sign as I was watching my footwork and following the yellow arrows. By the time my tired brain realised I was not on the track I had climbed up I was too far down the hill towards Halls Gap, so I just kept going. Once in the valley a short detour via Venus Baths then follow the track to the road where I hitched a ride back to my vehicle in the Wonderland car park. So even though I was a bit lost I found this delightful area TFTC Na’wal

TFTC have been exploring the area for the past few days. Lovely district. Lots of great walks with an abundance of plant & animal / bird life.

For the second time in 2 weeks, we headed across to the Grampians to meet up with Robmc. This time we got the correct weekend.
It was cold and wet at times, it hailed, it was windy, sometimes it wasn't anything but we still managed to do a few of the walks.

After a late lunch Lady Morris bailed and left the other 2 to visit the elephants. The only just managed to get to the Venus baths when it started to hail again and they bolted back to the car.

The answers on behalf of both teams are on their way.
TFTC Na'wal

A day of iffy weather with the Morris in the Grampians. Lots of walks and a few traditionals, and a few earthcaches.(and a lot of weather!)
We parked in Halls Gap to start this walk and it started pissing down, so we retreated to the coffee shop for a Hot Chocolate.
By the time we had finished that the rain had stopped and we set off.
Lots of water here today, not so much baths as a fast flowing spa!
I'll send an email with our answers.
Thanks, Robmc.

[a really late log..] We stayed for an extended weekend in Halls Gap and the weather was fantastic. We enjoyed the walk up to venus baths and elephant hide although it was a bit too cold to swim in July! The nearby physical cache was an extra bonus and we enjoyed looking up at the hide for some time as we investigated the area. Thanks Na'wal.

Thought it would be quiet here on a drizzly morning in winter, but no, lots of muggles around. Plenty of water flowing through after a lot of rain in the last two days. Enjoyed both the elephant and the baths today. Thanks.

Approved by owner. What a beautiful location. I remember coming here as a child 40 years ago and I think it is even better now. I was very happy to share this with my daughter, who loved the ponds and the cliff faces and was entertained for hours here. A lovely easy walk in comparison to the others we had faced in early days, Pinnacle etc. Weather was good and not to many tourists ventured up from the Halls Hap Market, so all good. Thanks so much for this cache and returning me to this lovely location.

Elephant hide. Hard. Mossy. Sandy. Rocky. Bumpy in parts. Orange. Brown. Black. Green moss. Silver water. White sand. The smooth areas look like an elephant hide but not hairy enough. Venus Baths. Both smooth and rough in parts. Red and green and brown and orange. Rock is hard slippery and cold and beautiful.

Last minute decision to walk from the Wonderland car park down to Halls Gap while the rest took the car down. Didn't regret it for a second, another lovely walk in the Grampians! Picked up the earthcache and a traditional while walking and enjoyed it. With the weather not to warm there was no temptation to have bath, but on other occasions I reccon I would.
TFTC Wilbert67

Great fun doing this cache

Spent a great weekend in Halls Gap with family and walked this lovely track to see the Venus Baths and Elephant's Hide. Too cold to bathe today due to the rain but can imagine it would be awesome in Summer! Thanks for placing this EC Na'wal

A quiet one today, but what a spot to go to! Was a beautiful walk with some great views, awesome vegetation and rock formations. We got the the baths and lil Emily couldn't take her shoes off quick enough haha! A great time in the sun having a little paddle and enjoying the scenery and nature. Thanks again for yet another great EC!

Glorious day out for caching this was the first of the day cool spot... TFTC

Found with Ausfox; and Sims_family.
Sorry for the late log.
Nice find

Answers sent by Ausfox;

After some higher terrain caching, Ausfox;, Neville_devil and myself were looking for some more leisurely caching for the rest of the day.
The defined track was a relief compared to some of what we had done during the day and it wasn't long before we were at the base of the Elephant hide.
There were families everywhere enjoying the cool waters of the Venus baths on this beautiful afternoon.
The questions were discussed and answers sent through to the CO from Ausfox;
Thank you Na'wal for the time and effort setting up this Earthcache

Up in the Grampians for a memorable day of caching venturing high, under and through the Grampians to some amazing locations with Simsfamily and Neville devil.
I'd written a project last century at high school about the Elephants Hide in the Grampians but never visited, so it was great to see the hide in person some years later. It was a popular spot today with kids enjoying the green pools.

Thanks for the Earthcache Na'wal
#3,855

Tx for having us stop n ponder here. Regards Canadian contingent

TFTC Sl . Enjoyed the walk & the cache which makes you appreciate the area with a different outlook.

Nice spot on a beautiful dayFavorite point TFTC Merci pour la cache Greetings from Montréal Québec

beautiful place

Reperio at 1115.

Visiting the Grampians for a few days with family and friends, and we gathered up the kids to take them exploring around the baths. This is a very nice spot, but was absolutely packed with people today. After grabbing the nearby traditional, the eldest and I took a wander up the Elephant's Hide. Fantastic rock formation here. We enjoyed this one. Answers sent.

Gratias

We've been to venus baths a few times, it's great to get more information about how it was formed. We would not have thought an elephants hide, but the description is obvious once you look, it even has the pink edges you see on elephants skin.
The creek running through is refreshing when it's hot and just cold when it's not. The algae makes the pools look brown to black, and keeps things good and slippery if you want to slide between the pools. It also ensures that if you try to walk where it's wet you'll end up on your butt.
The baths are a great area, but the kids always get wet, even if it's too cold

Logged with permission. Not my first time here but just as peaceful as ever. Thanks for the cache Na'wal.

Another beautiful art of the world. Tftc

Find #290.
A must-visit for anyone visiting Halls Gap. After Venus Baths we pushed on further down the track to visit Splitters Falls - highly recommended to anyone that likes a walk. The falls themselves are not as big as McKenzie Falls, but the walk is amazing! Thanks for the cache Na'wal.

Beautiful place