First I had to drive from Barjang 220kms to near Frankston on the south east end of Melbourne, I went via the Dandenong ranges again to break up the journey first visiting a popular lookout which you have to pay $6 to park and see, I only went there because of the lure of a hedge maze, it turned out you had to pay extra for the maze and the maze was closed anyway, it was really just a tourist trap. Next I went to Miss Marple's Tea Rooms - it looked packed, sitting across the road in a small park I looked up its reviews and they weren't great, another tourist trap, the scones are square which means they are baked in a tray like a cake and cut into squares rather than baked as individual scones, so I went back to a place called Cuckoo I'd passed back up the road, it was shut now although it was only 2.20pm.
Alrighty then. On my map of the area there was a nice garden I had circled to visit - I was thinking National Trust stlyle big rambling garden or something like the Rhododendron Gardens previously visited, but it was really a garden centre with a smallish but expensive garden attached. I was getting pretty hungry - back in the car a March fly bit me twice on my shoulder which bled. I'd given up on a cream tea or even coffee by this stage so decided to eat the picnic supplies I had with me and enjoy them at Grants picnic ground where I immediately attracted another March fly.
Eventually after getting lost numerous times and loosing hope of ever seeing the ocean again I found my next airbnb, where a much needed glass of wine was consumed. They were lovely people and we had a evening of laughter and wine but the bed didn't smell very fresh to me - like unwashed hair so I covered the pillow with a towel and slept on the edge of the bed, this was the first time I've had an issue with cleanliness at an airbnb although the other reviews I read said how clean it was, perhaps the reviewers had a bad sense of smell. It was also on a busy road and there seemed to be an constant stream of trucks during the night so between that and the suspect bedding I was keen to get out of Melbourne.
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| Approximate route |
The next day I drove to the car hire to drop of Whitey One (a review of Whitey One is coming soon), I tried to go back via the beach road along the coast but instead ended up on one of the infinite 6 lane freeways with the threat of the link toll routes that all seemed to lead to Dandenong, after 1.5hours - a journey I thought shouldn't take more than 30minutes I was relived to be handing the car back and be back on public transport, even with 26kg of luggage. From Europcar I took a taxi to the train station which I think was $9 well spent! then a train to the CBD where I left my luggage at a luggage storage facility so I could enjoy some galleries unburdened, then at 4pm I collected my luggage and got another train up to Eltham so the house sit, and here there are no massive multilane lanes highways nearby, just nice big gum trees, little lanes near the house and these 2 lovely pets, it's feels kind of like a retreat.
I've enjoyed a day of doing not much, I wasn't feeling great so glad I don't have to travel anywhere. Summer is looking hopefully at me, so I'll take her for a walk soon, she's just dashed out of the flap to chase birds. Earlier on they were both inspecting something on the grass on the driveway, it looked like a snake! I shooed them inside and had another look, it was actually big lizard, you can't be to careful in this country.
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| Macy |
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| Summer |
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