Maybe in Oz

Last weekend Phil set out to tackle his third of the 7 Peaks, Mt Buller.  After our very enjoyable recent trips to Lake Mountain and Mt Baw Baw we had high expectations for some beautiful scenery.  We drove out through the Yarra Valley and continued for just over 3 hours along rolling golden hills.  The scenery looked very similar to the Central Coast of California, minus the oak trees and with a few more gum trees. California views in Oz I dropped the boys off in Mansfield and they started on their 42 km climb. Ready for a ride Meanwhile I strolled around the town looking for an adventure.  Being a three-day weekend the cafes were packed with people, but the winery was nice and quiet and the gewürztraminer was decent.  I walked around a little more, but the mass quantity of large SUVs with snorkels in the front and swags on the roof made me was to head out somewhere quieter. Not much scenery to take a picture of in Mansfield... I decided to head ...

Pretty much in that order - that's what Cranbourne is known for.  We live on the other side of the tracks (the good side) from Cranbourne and try to avoid making the drive into that town at all costs.  Until today. My parents and I had been to the Cranbourne Botanic Gardens before but there was a quilt display at the gardens this weekend that I wanted to check out.  I made Phil go with me so he could experience the strangeness of this place.  It's free to explore and just a few minutes from our house.  It is truly a beautiful place, an island in the surrounding sea of bogans and ferals.  There are paved paths leading the way around the gardens, through eucalyptus trees and native australian wildflowers.  There is a large pond and several water features and one could spend hours wandering around the grounds.  Here are a few pictures to prove that such a nice spot exists in such a quality place as Cranbourne.

Last weekend we headed a couple hours East to explore the Mt Baw Baw area of West Gippsland.  This was #2 of Phil's quest to ride the 7 Peaks in Victoria, so I dropped him and a friend off 86k out and meandered my way along for the next 4 hours. Les and Phil ready to start the ride My first stop was the town of Warragul, where the local quilt shop was having a fabric sale.  I could hardly pass that up.  Then I started the winding drive up towards the mountain.  The Noojee Trestle Bridge sign caught my eye so I turned off to see what it was. The Trestle Bridge Next I came to the town of Noojee, what appeared to be a watering hole for bike riders before they headed up the mountain.  Here a sign pointing out a water wheel caught my eye and so I took a short hike to explore that. The Water Wheel A little farther along the road was a sign pointing out a road to Tooronga Falls.  I took the turn and followed the bumpy road for several ks before ...