Started the day bright and early with gary's delicious breakfast of ham and eggs and our box of hand-picked strawberries.
Then we were off to Mt Dandenong. I was looking forward to it, having been there some 8 years back. My memory of this place is the tall trees, you feel so dwarfed walking amongst these giants. We gave the Puffing Billy steam train a miss as we figured that nat was still a bit young to enjoy it. I remembered that the last time I came, we had gone to a place with many crimson-coloured parrots. We couldn't really remember where it was exactly, so we stopped by the Visitor Centre for more information. Found out that it's called the Grant's Picnic Grounds at Sherbrooke Forest. This is an amazing place! Right smack in the middle of the forest is a picnic ground. Pop into the cafe and buy some bird seeds and you'll find yourself immediately surrounded by many many parrots. There are the usual white ones we are used to seeing in Singapore and the crimson rosellas, my favourite. 
OK, so I am not a bird person. Actually, I always thought I was a nature lover, but when they come too near, they freak me out. So, while nat and daddy were having a good time, feeding the birds, having them land on their shoulders, there I was trying to capture some great pics, while avoiding the birds, hoping they wouldn't land on my head. It's no easy feat!
While I was trying to capture a nice shot with our SLR camera, one of the white parrots swooped towards me, startled me and caused me to stumble and fall on my butt! For the rest of the day, I had to walk around with dried mud on my lovely white jeans! nat spent the rest of the day recounting the horrifying story of how the white parrot pushed mummy to the ground. gary was telling me that from her angle, it probably did look like the parrot pushed mummy as it flew towards me and I immediately fell. I made no attempt to correct her. Heehee it's better for her to have an illusion of an aggressive bird attacking poor mummy than to have her think i'm a klutzy mummy, right? haha! The bird (actually I'm not too sure if it's the same one) then swooped down to nat and whisked the bag of seeds right out of her hand. I even managed to capture a picture of nat looking seriously pissed and the little thief enjoying his loot at the top of the tree.
While I was trying to capture a nice shot with our SLR camera, one of the white parrots swooped towards me, startled me and caused me to stumble and fall on my butt! For the rest of the day, I had to walk around with dried mud on my lovely white jeans! nat spent the rest of the day recounting the horrifying story of how the white parrot pushed mummy to the ground. gary was telling me that from her angle, it probably did look like the parrot pushed mummy as it flew towards me and I immediately fell. I made no attempt to correct her. Heehee it's better for her to have an illusion of an aggressive bird attacking poor mummy than to have her think i'm a klutzy mummy, right? haha! The bird (actually I'm not too sure if it's the same one) then swooped down to nat and whisked the bag of seeds right out of her hand. I even managed to capture a picture of nat looking seriously pissed and the little thief enjoying his loot at the top of the tree.
Thereafter, we continued on to explore the towns of Sassafras and Olinda. One place that we always visit when we are in this area is a little cafe known as Miss Marple's Tea Room. I couldn't belive that the place was filled and we had to wait half an hour for a table. While waiting, we ventured to a nearby toyshop called Gepetto's workshop filled with many toys. nat had a great time exploring. Half an hour later, we were starving and sat down to have Devonshire tea and scones and sheperd's pie. Yummy! Even nat tucked into the food. We even ordered a cup of hot chocolate for her, which she adored. Next door to the tea room is a quaint little shop that sells all manner of teapots! The last time we came, gary and I stayed in it for a long time, just checking out the interesting wares. This time round, we were out in 5 minutes, not wise to have our active little girl in the teapot shop, full of fragile and delicate wares.
Ended the day walking around the Healsville area. Bought some groceries from Coles (I think I must have visited the supermarket up to 5 times) in the short period we were in Melbourne. As you can see, I love exploring overseas supermarkets. Before moving on to our accomodation, gary stopped by this place called Giant Steps for a short wine tasting session. By this time, nat was cranky and I was wiped out, so we just chilled outside waiting for him. He took quite a while, till nat fell asleep on me and being stuck in one position, I ended up with pins and needles on my foot! I was not a happy trooper when gary finally emerged from his tasting session. That night, we decided to have Thai food at Poppy's. It was a nice change from the western food we had been having so far.
A bit about our accomodation, Woodbox Studio. It's a really nice place, with modern deco and a jacuzzi (which nat really likes as she can splash about in the water). Only word of advice: NEVER arrive during nightfall. We actually made it to our accomodation only after dark and boy was it creepy! The exterior of the cottage was pitch black, I felt as if I was surrounded by the forest and gary exclaimed that there seemed to be something with "shining eyes" staring at us (probably a possum, which is quite common in the area). I ran into the house with nat and decided not to venture out anymore, while gary sauntered in slowly. Interestingly, the next morning, when there was light, the exterior of the house actually looked quite serene and peaceful, not menacing at all. So, take my advice, arrive at your accomodation while there is still daylight. This is what the backyard looks like, you can even go on a walking trail, if you feel up to it.
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