Bus trip to the Dandenongs

Sun 13/10/13

After almost two weeks of classes & assisting with classes as "gofer", I had a free day. I decided to do a bus trip to the Dandenong region, more particularly I visited Grant's Reserve, the Puffing Billy Railway & Healesville Sanctuary.
The Dandenong Ranges are low mountain ranges approximately 35km east of Melbourne. The ranges consist of rolling hills waterfalls, steep valleys & sheltered gullies. The terrain is covered in thick temperate rainforest which is predominantly Mountain Ash. Huge tree ferns also have a strong presence with further dense ferny undergrowth.

Photo: forests of spectacularly tall & straight Mountain Ash. Note the size of the picnic table towards the bottom right.

 

Photo: tree ferns & bracken ferns provide a lush undergrowth.



 

 

The highest peak is Mt Dandenong, which stands at a height of 633m above sea level. Nestled in the heart of the Dandenong mountains is Grant's Reserve, which was our first stop. There are a few trails & walks in the area & a bird feeding area which attracted Sulphur-crested Cockatoos & Crimson Rosellas. Apparently lyrebirds are also prevalent in the area.

 

 

The Puffing Billy Railway is a heritage steam railway built at the turn of the 20th century. It was the last of the narrow gauge railway lines. The engine, with its open sided carriages, runs 24km through the forests & rainforests of the Dandenongs, from Belgrave to Gembrook. My trip only involved a distance of 6km, from Belgrave to Menzies Creek. Apparently, there is a point just before Menzies Creek where stunning views of Port Phillip Bay can be seen. As it was a miserable, rainy day, however, the only view we had at approximately 300m altitude was low cloud & fog.

 

After disembarking at Menzies Creek, we reboarded the bus for the next stint, lunch at Rochford winery.
The final stop in my itinerary was Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary. This wildlife park is associated with Melbourne Zoo & Werribee Open Range Zoo. Due to the size restrictions of the land housing Melbourne Zoo, the native Australian wildlife section is located here at Healesville, while Werribee is primarily African wildlife. Healesville is located on 70 acres of bushland that allows for close up encounters with koalas, echidnas, wallabies, dingoes & native birds in their natural habitat. There is usually a daily bird show, but due to the inclement weather, this was cancelled. The grounds also contain a working veterinary hospital, that treats over 2000 orphaned, ill & injured animals every year with the view to rehabilitation & release. It is open to the public & all work done by the vets & nurses is on view.