In the hidden Dandenongs

I was operating until the wee hours of the last night but in their true consistent fashion the kids greeted me with usual cuddles and hugs at 630am.  Despite the routine start to the morning it was the start of an all but routine day.  Our friend Chantal is visiting Melbourne as she is managing the Canadian footy women's team (Go Northern Lights!) and she had the day off to spend some time with us so Keith collected her from the train station at 8am.  That would already be exciting for the kids because they love Chantal and her big hugs.  But they got double the fun of their favourite people because Marta was taking us to the Dandenongs, a mountain range east of Melbourne.  Everyone was at our house before 830am and Chris even got up on a Sunday morning to bring us all coffee from his new favourite coffeeshop.   Keith stayed home and had a much deserved day without the kids. We were set for our adventure to the Dandenongs (after we all said the word a few more times cause it's really fun to say).

The first stop was the hospital since I needed to see my post op patients.  Everyone was in fine form and I got to leave pretty quickly but it was nice because the kids got to show Chantal around including the sharks and the puffer fish (I had forgotten about the puffer fish - I can't believe Cian remembered!)

We then headed out to the Dandenongs.  We made an early start of it because Marta had been planning out the day and decided when we needed to leave. I had no idea what we were up to but knew it would be fun.  We stopped at the Puffing Billy carpark and the kids were already psyched.  Puffing Billing (http://www.puffingbilly.com.au/) is an old steam train that seems to be a quintessential part of a Melbourne childhood.  I can't believe they let you do it but they still let you sit on the windows and hang your arms and legs out the side of the carriages (so fun).  We bought our tickets and were off.  Marta, the lovely person that she is, got us to ride the train and said she'd drive behind to collect us at the Lakeside stop cause it's better to go one way and have someone collect you.  We have heaps of pictures including one of Cian, Emily and Chantal with the conductor.  It was great fun and a beautiful way to see the scenery.  It was also an amazing "winter" day in terms of weather - perfection.

Marta waved and honked at the Emerald station and then met us at Lakeside and ran along the train which Emily loved.  We walked around Emerald lake and saw the Rosellas and Ibris, the painters and the people renting water bikes.  We were all really hungry at that point so we went back into Emerald for the market.  Chantal got all 4 different kinds of Gozlemes to try and they were all delicious.

After lunch we got back in the car and 2/5 of us had a nap (Chantal and Em) on our way to the SkyHigh Mount Dandenong lookout point.  It was a bit foggy but still a terrific view.  We got coffees and 2 sweets (lemon meringue pie and lime coconut tart). This is when Emily really woke up out of her post-nap stupor.  She devoured the cakes - what a sweet tooth.  The kids got activity bags too so it was a great stop.  We then walked around the grounds there a bit before heading home.

In the car Emily said "I can't find those Dandenongs" and we had to explain that we were in them - mountains are kind of an abstract concept when you are 2.  We had a beautiful drive back into Melbourne with lots of singing and stories.

Once back in Melbourne we got some pizza and Keith and Chris joined us for our supper feast.  We toasted to great friends (both old and new) and had a great evening full of lots of laughter.  Cian even asked for "big hugs" to do his bedtime story and I said "do you mean Chantal?" and he said "Yes!  Chantal!" and he asked her himself - I think they were both really excited for storytime.  It was a wonderful day.