Ramble
Quest - Dandenong Day Trip.
I decided to get out of Melbourne for a day before heading down to Tasmania, my primary target in Oz. So, I join Patricia and Simone in a car rental and we head for the Dandenongs.
Getting there proves tricker than the short distance implied. Patricia, being American, immediate heads off on the wrong side of the street after leaving the car rental garage. Then I must somehow navigate her out of central Melbourne without risking on one of their bizarre "right turn from left lane only" rules, implimented to keep the trams unblocked in the center lanes. Patricia is unaware of this rule and completely baffled when I try to explain it, so it is best to avoid it altogether. Even when we get out of the center she has a tendency to drive too far to the left, once clipping the mirror against another car and another time hitting a few bushes and garbage cans. Makes for added excitement for me in the co-pilot seat.
We do arrive in one piece though and stroll though a pleasant forrested picnic area filled with bright red rosella parrots. Then we have a short hike to Sherbrooke Falls, which oddly turns out to not be a waterfall, but sort of a dripping creek. Still, the scenery is good and we spot several kookaberi birds and even a lyrebird, which resembles a cartoon fantasy bird. These forests are dry, with many tall, thin gum trees, which gives them a unique, almost spooky, feel.
We stop at the William Ricketts Sanctuary, which is a collection of his sculptures integrated within a lush forest. Ricketts was something of a wacko, an artist with an extreme, and passionate, temperament who lived with the aborigines for many years. He came to see himself as some sort of messiah and demonized other white men in his depictions of them. He was clearly a flakey guy but an artist with considerable drive and talent. The setting of his sculptures within the forest greatly enhance their effect and make this a worthwhile stop.
We have an enjoyable lunch at the Rendezvous Cafe in Kaloama. The main attraction here is the great views from their porch out over the Silvan Dam and looking north to the Yarra Valley. On another day, I'm able to get out to the Yarra Valley and greatly enjoy visiting the wineries there, some of which are on gorgeous properties.
Perhaps the most enjoyable stop of the day is at the Mt. Dandenong Arboretum. This place isn't large but it's completely deserted and filled with marvelous trees, including some rare conifers. Many kookaberi and other birds can be seen here. It's just a calm, quiet spot to relax and bird watch which was something we were all looking for after being in Melbourne for awhile.