Winery Tour in the Yarra Valley Part 1

 

Friday morning we got picked up at the hotel and headed west for a fun day in the Yarra Valley.  The first stop was in a small town in the Dandenong Ranged National Park where we had tea and scones with jam and cream.  Not an English scone but good none the less.

 

Right across the street we got to feed the cockatoos.  They are a pretty bird but are large, heavy and very aggressive.  Their talons dug into my skin - it hurt and left me with scratches - but very fun.

There were dozens of them just waiting in the trees for someone to come out with a pan filled with bird seed.

 

You can see here how big their talons were and how they could curl up and dig in. Prehensile comes to mind!

  

Then we had a bit time to walk in another pretty fern gulley.  As we arrived in the bus at this spot we had seen a kookaburra on a sign by the road.  I hoped we see more on our walk...but it was not to be.

I just had to sing a song from my childhood.  Remember?

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he.  Laugh Kookaburra Laugh Kookaburra.  Gay your life must be!

Go ahead, sing it!

Then we drove a bit further and hopped on the Puffer Belly for a ride.

There's a song I remember about that, too!  

Down by the station early in the morning, see the little Puffer Bellies all in a row.  Hear the stationmaster pull the little handle.  Chug chug puff puff off we go...

We started stared in Belgrade and rode to Menzies Creek.  Great fun!  These pictures are not in the right order.  I select them in the right order, they just save any which way they feel like it!!!  Grrrr

 

  

The children all rode sitting on the ledge and hanging on to the bar.  Never would have happened in the States!  Bit no one said anything so they just enjoyed doing it.

 

Here's the engine and the engineer stoking the fire!  

Everyone here in Australia is so helpful and friendly.  If you ask a question they are willing to answer and give additional tips or insights.

I asked this gentleman if I could take his picture and suddenly he was a wealth of information!

 

 

This is supposed to be the last picture!

Our bus driver too off pretty quickly when the train ride ended.  We did not know he was racing the train to this crossing.  We watched the train go by from our bus.

 

  

Here's the engine - it should have come first...