Saturday 19th September (cont'd)

We set off for Healesville with a plan to take a minor road route after a stretch of main road. We turned off for the start of this but stopped to look at the map and realised that we would have to use minor roads on much of the route anyway, so we abandoned our first idea. However at this point it was about 13.20 so we decided we might as well go into the nearby town of Lang Lang, and get some lunch.  We went into a small place first but the man said he didn’t do sandwiches in the afternoon and all we could do was chose from the available hot food. As there was nothing vegetarian we gave up.

There was a pub/hotel on the roundabout where we needed to turn so we went in there. Again in the bar the lady said she couldn’t do sandwiches but suggested we go into the next door bistro and look at the entrees. This consisted of going through a door into a dining room at the end of the bar where the same lady served us. In fact the entrees were very good. We had a trio of dips, with really nice Turkish bread and some deep fried octopus.

Back on the road we returned to the M420 and then went north on the C422 to Pakenham. After this we started going up into the hills on very windy roads, the C441 up through Cockatoo, all the way up to Healesville. Nice countryside in the hills with several wineries, but the continuous bends require constant concentration by the driver.

Found the motel easily and checked in. Our room overlooks the pool which would’ve been great had it been summer. Unfortunately it means we can’t park anywhere nearby. Rather disappointed with the room. Much smaller than anything else we’ve had. No space for a table/work surface so we have to sit on the bed to use the laptop etc. Bathroom very small and has no shelving at all, even though some brackets suggest a missing shelf so everything has to stay in our washing bags on the floor. It’s not terrible but rather annoying after the nice places we’ve had previously. Also it’s a strange layout with rooms being back to back, separated by a long internal corridor. This leads to the odd arrangement of having a door on both side of the room. It’s also OK until children start running up and down the corridor to the playroom nearby.

On the plus side it’s probably the best lit hotel/motel room we’ve ever had. Five recessed downlighters in the ceiling and three overbed lights. The heating is quite effective as well.

We drove the 5 mins into Healesville to have a look round. Went into Coles and bought our now standard packs of fruit and juice. Walked around the rest of the town and looked at restaurants, etc. Settled on one for the evening which looked quite nice but when we returned to the motel we started chatting to some people whilst trying to photograph the kookaburras. They told us that the motel restaurant doesn’t open on Sundays so we decided to eat in the restaurant tonight after checking that the restaurant in town is open on Sundays.

The restaurant on site doubles as a function room and seemed a bit cavernous with just a few diners there. Like eating in an aircraft hanger. Food was ok. Les’s barramundi and chips was standard Aussie cafe fare but Anne’s veggie meal was nice - a portion of veggie lasagne fried!!

Back to the room. There had only been one glass in the room when we arrived so we took one back from the restaurant and shared one of our remaining beers.

Sunday 20th

Weren’t expecting too much of today as there didn’t seem to be too much to do. In the end we had a great time.

After breakfast we set off for Silvan and the Tesselaar Tulip Festival. Fortunately we were relatively early so didn’t have much of a queue to get in. Once in we stopped for a coffee before setting off around the fields of tulips. Obviously really colourful and there were sculptures/art installations amongst some of them. Having looked at the flowers we went up to the food area. This was really crowded. We decided to have the calamari and in fact this was served really quickly before Anne had got anywhere near the front of the queue at the stall that was selling only bottled drinks. Managed to find a seat to eat then walked round a smaller area which has a permanent display of signs giving the background to the tulip industry in general and this farm in particular.

We went round the shopping area (this was a Dutch weekend so lots of Dutch themed bits for sale) before going back to the flowers and looking at the remaining sculptures that we’d missed earlier.

As we left about 1.15pm there were enormous queues to come in so we realised we’d done quite well by coming early.

Next on the list was the Yarra Valley Railway. We thought it would be a bit tight to make the 2pm train so we came back to the motel and had a cup of tea before going down to the station in Healesville about 2.40. This just gave us time to get some pics of the train as it returned from the 2pm trip. It set off spot on 3pm. There were hardly any passengers (another good choice - the 2pm trip had been almost full). We were actually sitting next to the driver and he gave us a running commentary on what we could see and on the history of the line. On the return journey he invited Les into the cab. This is a bit awkward as the driver is alongside the engine at this end of the little two car unit. He invited Les to sit on the compressed air tank and take photos through the upper section of the window which he’d propped open. The problem on the outward journey is that the front window is fixed and badly scratched so that photos are awkward.

After the train we decided on the spur of the moment to look for the  Maroondah Dam that we’d heard about - the train had been used to bring in much of the cement for the dam. Weren’t sure we’d taken the right road but managed to find our way there. There is a lovely park around the dam. We were able to walk to the dam base and look at Revells Falls which is in fact the spillway for the dam coming over an artificially created waterfall. We then walked up to the top of the dam and then across and up the far side so that we could see the falls from above. Lots of good exercise.

Drove back to the motel about 5.10pm. Dowloaded our photos for the day and Anne started packing for tomorrow. Anne was able to phone the BW in Melbourne who confirmed that it would be ok to arrive early and drop our cases.

We went back down to town about 6.15pm and ate in Church & Main. Strangely it appeared that the motel restaurant was open which left us totally confused. Yesterday we’d spoken to a couple who said they’d definitely been told that the restaurant would not be open on Sunday. The sign outside on the road says it is open on Sunday but the website says it isn’t! Had a really nice meal and then returned to motel. Les checked and there was actually a couple eating in the restaurant. Finished packing as far as possible and then watched an old Vera on TV before doing prize crossword.

Monday 21st

Had breakfast and packed and were on the road by 9.45am. Went into Healesville and had a coffee in the renowned Beechworth Bakery. The Danish pastry was one of the best ever. The drive into Melbourne was quite straightforward. Essentially it’s straight down one road - the Maroondah Highway - and then you join the M3 at Ringwood!! We found out that all the wineries are obviously to the south west of Healesville as we saw lots and lots of them from the road, many of them very smart indeed.