Dandenong Ranges NP

Thu Nov 10 22:17:13 EDT 2005
Dandenong Ranges NP and its tourist road.
We didn't get out of Frankston until after 2, about our usual performance. Consequently by the time we'd gained Belgrave, near the forest reserve it was apparent we wouldn't get to Francie's goal, William Rickett's Sanctuary, before 4:30 when it (like everything else in Australia) closes. Besides it was raining cats and dogs (or is that platypus' and wombats?). So we hung in Belgrave (home of Puffing Billy the choo choo) for awhile, had tea, then went for a drive up the tourist road. This road starts in Upper Ferntree Gully. I'm not kidding, that's really the name of the town. It was pretty, and the trees were amazing, (A variety of eucalyptus called, oddly enough, mountain ash) bigger than anything but California redwoods, but the road was very busy with Melbourne-ites who wanted to get home RIGHT NOW. So I took a side road, going off to who knows where, which turned out to be a real charmer. It went past a botanical garden, a rhodendren garden, and the Poet's Corner Inn, but the most amazing thing was the views through the trees. One minute it looked like Hobbit land, the next it looked like the terrain for Jurassic Park. Truly incredible country. Oh, we wound up in Sherbrooke, where we had dinner at Genie's Cafe, the only eatery open. It was a good choice, serving pumpkin soup and Hispanic specials(?!), including white curry chicken.