A Day in the Dandenongs

A day in the Dandenongs

(Wednesday)

I’ve lost track of what number day this is, obviously. Since I’ve been here, I’ve pretty much lost ALL sense of time, and a week on a deserted island did not help. Not that I’m complaining, mind you.

Today we slept in and around lunch time, headed out to see the mountains. But not before an spur of the moment pit stop at the pet store for chook (that’s ‘chicken’ to you Americans) food and dog toys. Because the dogs need souvenirs too. It was nice to see Science Diet on the shelves, but I knew it would be since there are a couple plants here.

There are two fronts to the bags of Pedigree, one a German Shorthair and one a German Wirehaired. Aww.

Other than that, the foods are pretty different. Holistic food is apparently big over here too, but the variety looked pretty balanced. For such a big story, this place didn’t have a whole lot.

Trunk (boot) loaded down with goodies, we continued on our way. The road soon turned windy and uphill as we climbed into the Dandenongs Range. We stopped at a scenic outlook and, with Tricky’s help, took some pictures:

Next, we went to the amazing William Rickett’s Sanctuary. William Rickett was a white man who dedicated his life to promoting harmony between the Australians, the Aborigines, and nature. He created a total of 92 clay sculptures and created a sanctuary before dying peacefully in 1993. Today the sanctuary is a tranquil tourist attraction that yields MOUNTAINS of incredible photos.

In the office, I saw my first Huntsman:

We were only in the Sanctuary for 45 minutes, but it felt like so much longer than that—in a good way. I could have spent all day there, taking pictures and soaking up the enormity of the surrounding forests:

It was approaching dinner time now, and we headed back up towards the restaurant and wandered through the botanical gardens, first visiting the ‘Wishing Tree’:

Wishing tree

The legend of the wishing tree began around 1900.

This area was heavily wooded and a 4 year old boy, Billy Langton became lost.

His father searched everywhere and finally came to this spot. He wished he could find his son and as he looked through the circle in the tree he saw young Billy squatting beside the creek.

Local legend says if you wish hard enough and look through the magic circle your wish will come true!

The gardens were beautiful, with lots of pretty blooming flowers.

Now it was dinner time. We wandered into the Sky High Restaurant:

Named as such for its breathtaking view:

Before we sat down, we visited the awesome ‘world’ fountain on the veranda:

Now for the food! We shared a sampler plate of nice bread, salmon, prosciutto, salami, feta, olives, roasted red peppers (capsicum) and tomatoes, hummus, couscous, and vine leaves. Yummm.

For the main course, Caroline ordered steak:

And I ordered Pork Medallions:

It was good. Very good. And expensive. But that’s okay. You can’t eat on top of the Dandedongs and not pamper yourself. We ate and watched the sun set and took hundreds of photos like this:

It was getting chilly, and our waitress actually gave Caroline her coat, and then set up a heat lamp next to our table. We were so impressed slash grateful, we stayed and ordered dessert:

And took some night pictures of the city:

We were the first ones in the restaurant and the last ones out. We’d stayed for 4 hours, well worth the cost. It was so much fun, and one of those experiences I’ll remember forever.