Summer Down Under Part 2

The tourists!

We definitely were as it was our first time there in Melbourne and I had planned for some "must-see" attractions.

Activity 1: berries and cherries picking

Now, it isn't an every day affair that we get such an opportunity so we set off early to get to Blue Hills at Silvan. After we received our buckets, we headed out into the plantations.

We were extremely eager, as you can see.

We ate as we picked the fruits and cringed when they turned out sour. Haha. Despite that, we had an enjoyable time climbing the slopes and hunting for the different fruit trees. Strawberries and blueberries shrubs were easy to spot but the cherries took us a while. By the time we were done, we had 3 boxes full.

As we left the place, this was what greeted us. There were just endless fields and for as far out as we could see. 

Activity 2: Taking in the view from Sky High

 Mt Dandenong Observatory is a drive uphill and from the top, we could see Melbourne city. This place has a lovely and quiet English garden where one could sit down with his picnic basket and idle the afternoon away. As for us, we took plenty of pictures. Summer vacation has started for the children in Australia and Emma joined us for some of the activities, much to our delight.

Although the weather was sunny and bright, the view of Melbourne city was obscured.

Activity 3: Riding on the century old Puffing Billy.

 We quickly got our tickets for the ride and took pictures of the station prior to boarding the train.

 The conductor reminded time and again that we should do this: hang our legs out and I must say, it was quite an experience. I was initially worried about safety but really, nothing could really describe the euphoria of dangling our legs over as the train crossed the bridge.

The friendly conductor humoured us and had a picture taken with us.

It was pretty exciting being able to ride in a train that is a century old. The entire journey from start to end and back would set us back about 5 hours so we alighted at Lakeside station and boarded the return train ride.