A Visit to the Dandenong Range - May 16

It seems that the people who are the most interested in meeting exchangees from Canada are the people who have been exchangees to Canada themselves. So, I was excited to finally find a time to meet up such a person, Rose Chapple, while Rick was in Canada. We arranged to meet at her place, and then we planned to visit her favourite haunts in the Dandenong Ranges. This, of course, meant venturing out on the roads by car by myself to an unknown location, but the GPS got me there safe and sound and as it was on a Sunday morning, the traffic was light.

Our first stop was at a place where parrots like to congregate, called Grants Picnic Ground. People “flock” to the area to feed them, and birds in turn “flock” to the food! I never tire of seeing parrots flying free in Australia, and thrill even more at the chance to have them alight on my hands! (What I would give to take one of them home with me as a souvenir!) The sulphur-crested cockatoos are the most aggressive birds, but the galahs,

king parrots

and crimson rosellas are also prolific here, if a little more reticent to feed. For those who have been following my blog avidly, here are some of the answers to the parrot recognition quiz we posted on February 1st.

Next we took a hike down the Lyrebird Gully Trail into a eucalyptus forest.

The huge ferns

and trees

were absolutely beautiful in the morning sunlight,

and the trek offered up some spectacular treasures, like a sparkling spider’s web, and a female lyrebird.

After our trek we drove to the little town of Emerald nestled among the green Dandenong Ranges hills. Here we came upon a little outdoor market with stalls selling every possible remedy for good health, good beauty and good sleep. One place had a display of Australian lizards and snakes and offered to take my picture with a giant Onyx Diamond Python snake.

With flashbacks to my university days when I underwent therapy for a fear of snakes, I consented. Now I know that snakes are not slimy creatures, so I was prepared to drape him around my neck, but I was not prepared for the constricting feeling as it wriggled to get warm around my neck! Nevertheless, I survived!

Tea time took us next to the local bakery shop where the quiche tasted as good as it smelled and the café latte was soothing as we relaxed at an outdoor table. My but the Australians know how to make coffee - almost as good as Tim Horton’s back home!

As we drove onward thereafter, we spied a kookaburra and then heard the toot of the Puffing Billy train,

which I have also written about in an earlier blog (Australia Day - January 26). This time, however, we were on the outside, watching as the passengers waved when they came around the bend.

We headed next to the Cardinia Reservoir, the reservoir which provides the drinking water for Melbourne. The area surrounding it has been turned into a beautiful park. Here we took a quick walk to look for kangaroos. We found none there, but as we began our homeward journey, we spotted a group of about 6 or 7 of them emerging from the forest. There they stood, oblivious to us, feeding on the grass.

I stood there mesmerized. What a perfect end to a perfect day! But all good things must come to an end, and we regretfully resumed our homeward journey. After getting back to town, I made my way back home through the maze of Melbourne streets successfully, tired but happy.