On Day 2 (Itinerary HERE ), we departed from Melbourne CBD in the early morning & headed towards the outskirts, with the 1st stop being the The Dandenong Ranges.
The Dandenong Ranges have been a favourite escape for Melburnians since the boom times of the 1880s when members of Melbourne society would board a train at Flinders Street Station and slowly travel east to enjoy the peace, pure air and pristine forests of these Ranges.
Standing here myself, I can indeed vouch for the beautiful countryside & unspoiled environment. Such gorgeous crisp air! I took in as much as I could into my lungs, and hoped that it would clear some of the toxins I had breathed in in my life in those Malaysian cities I’ve lived in! Wistful thinking eh? 😉
Taking tea in “the Dandenongs” became a custom (the popular Miss Marples Tea on Mt.Dandenong-Tourist Road, Sassafras VIC is just10 mins away), as did a lazy picnic under a shady tree, a bush walk through the forests of mountain ash, gums and ferns, and a night or two in a guesthouse. Not much has changed except the Dandenongs are now accessible to everyone.
There are some scenic walking trails here as well, of which I would have loved to explore if I have had the time!
Healthy Parks, Healthy People – I totally agree!
Anyways, the drama of Day 2 was being bitten pecked by a parrot! The wound looked small yes, but it was deep. As you know, a parrot’s beak is curved, and this naughty one happily sank his beak into my finger!
I didn’t do anything to provoke that dude, I swear!
All I did was offer to him seeds & I had the palm of my hand wide open. He just happily nipped at my fingers & gave it a tug (which explains the deep cut) and then continued pecking away at the feed I had in my hand. Was that supposed to be an affectionate gesture??? LOL.
Then another one decided he wants some camera action! I was taking a picture of this fella when he suddenly decided to take matters into his own hands claws and flew over to perch on the top of my camera. My poor Samsung NX100.
This Australian King Parrot thought it would be amusing to use my head as his resting pole. See? I told you I was bullied by the parrots!
As you would have realized by now, the parrots here are very tame. There are a few types of parrots here at The Dandenong Ranges. They mostly congregate around the entrance to the park. It has become a common activity for the public, especially so for tourists to feed & take pictures with them.
This is the Crimson Rosella.
There are signs like the below to explain about the parrots here, of which I found to be very useful as I’m not very knowledgable about birds. 😉
These big white ones are called Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo.
My favourite were these pink & grey ones simply cos they looked so pretty!
They are called Galah. I thought it was a funny name, since Galah is also a Malay word.
And these are the Australian King Parrots.
It was a short stop here and then we are off to Miss Marples for lunch. And that will be in my next post! The waffles were fabulous! 😉
The Dandenong Ranges
Victoria, Australia.
Thks Wilson for the pic of me with the parrots!
beautiful birds! and so friendly too! it’s quite obvious that those two really liked you! 😀
Yea! Minus the one that bit me! ;p
omg! so close to parrots!! loooks u’re having tons of fun there babe! update update! 😀
Yes they are tame indeed! Yup yup yup updatin as fast as i can!
Looks like alot of fun. nice pictures Becky!
Oh thks Andrew! That’s a lot comin frm a pro like you 😉
I didn’t get bitten. muahahaha
wow wow wow! so nice lah ur pics! haha!
wah… Parrots! iLike !
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