Day 5: Melbourne Suburb :- Dandenong Ranges & Philip Island

Journal Entry 152

Day 5 was fully packed for us. Thank God the weather was behaving and nice breeze all through our journey to Melbourne suburb. We had to start early so that we can cover more places throughout the day.

First stop was at Puffing Billy. Located at Belgrave, Puffing Billy is one of Australia's most favourite steam engine train and is of a century old. It runs through the southern foothills of the Dandenong Ranges to Gembrook. We started off at 8am from Melbourne CBD and managed to reach the place at 10am. Got on the train as soon as we could -if not, then next one will be in an hr's time ! We enjoyed ourselves and I must say that it has been an experience being able to ride on it. Too bad :( Matt did not had a chance to sit . You know - he loves Thomas to bits !!

The ride took about half an hr and we stopped at the Lakeside station so that our local tour guide can pick us up from there. Our lunch was at the Cuckoo Restaurant - as such, that was the nearest station to our lunch venue.

Hubby, Mua and Mr Train Conductor



Clinging onto the train - say cheese :)

The train is moving fast - across Dandenong Ranges

The steam head engine - the best part of the train :):)

Done with Puffing Billy, we then continued our journey to Olinda. As we still had some time, we stopped by the National Park at Sherbrooke Forest for about 15 mins. Saw an old parrot but did not dare to feed it. Scary ! As we did't spent much time there, we then proceed to the restaurant which was about 10 mins away. Reached and indeed, I am impressed with the array of foods that was being displayed at the restaurant. Of course, not forgetting the superb choices of cakes and desserts. Yummy ! Alas- no more Chinese food. Thank God !

Hello - Good Day !

Trying to get a closer shot of the bird

Hello there - Just hubby & Me

Look at the desserts !!!

Cold dish anyone ? 

Nice lovely tarts and sausage rolls

The crew entertaining the crowd ~~

We were really full after lunch. Can't hardly walk and of course, sleepy to say the least. With lunch done, we are now on our way to Phlip Island with a stopover at The Gurdies Winery for some wine tasting. On our way there, we managed to get a view of Melbourne's countryside. Very peaceful and serene :). As it took about an hr or so, we caught up with some sleep as well.

Reached the vineyard at about 3pm in the afternoon and met up with the owner. Did some wine tasting and took some photos there as well. Not really a wine lover but if I should choose one - it is a definite to go for white wine !!Neeways, after spending about half an hr there, we continued our long journey to Philip Island - to meet the adorable penguins :):)

Cheers !

No idea at all  :(:(- looks like white wine to me !

The owner/caretaker - I think :)

I love this !!

Hmm- in total the trip from the city to the island took about 2 hrs. Gosh, Australia is just way too big !! Well, as it was still early to check out the penguins - our local guide took us to the Philip Island Nature Park : Koala Conservation Centre to see koalas again. We had a chance to get a glimpse of it in Sydney but this time around - we were not allowed to touch them as they are way up on the trees. The koalas here were much bigger & a bit shy though :)

Hello handsome ~~ wonderful shot taken by hubby

So happy to see a real life wombat ~~

Spent about half an hr there before we stop by Panny's Amazing World of Chocolate for a 'look see look see' prior to dinner. Hahaha - managed to interview the owner Panny and guess what, he is a Malaysian from Shah Alam and had been in Melbourne for the past 14 yrs - well done indeed !! With that done, we proceed to San Remo (a small town across the bridge) for our Chinese dinner again and this time with a half lobster *evil grin

Mr Panny - the owner :)

Nice way of menu display ~ @ San Remo

Hubby trying to lift the anchor

Candid shot while we wait for our dinner :):):)

Done with dinner, we continued to our last stop of the day - to see the marching penguins which is also known as the Penguin Parade in Philip Island. This little penguins come out of the sea at dusk and will then cross the beach to the respective burrows. Cameras are not allowed as soon as you enter the park out in the beach. It was freaking cold and we had to put on our sweaters to keep ourselves warm. Pretty windy as we were facing the open sea.

The only photo that I had at the park

The Little Penguins - Pic courtesy of Philip Island Nature Park

So, exactly at 8pm - the penguins did really marched up in groups and each group having their respective leaders. Sometimes, nature works in the most mysterious way !! It was definitely a surreal experience being able to see this lovely creatures in their natural habitat. Sweet !!

With that done, we proceed back to our van and sat thru the 2 hrs journey back to Melbourne city.

Called it a night with a late quiche supper. We were so tired and slept throughout the night like a boss again !!