Part IV
Puffing Billy steam train, Phillip Island and Wilsons Promontory National Park
Day 6
When we woke in the morning outside was softly wet with spitting rain over the night.
The magic warm autumn sun fabricated the day before was long gone.
Our precious walking boots were outside under the awning for the purpose of being dried with fresh air.
We forgot to bring them in before we went to bed.
While we were having our breakfast we put the heater on to get rid of dampness from them.
During our Victorian trip this was the only morning we kind of slept in without rushing to go somewhere.
Nonetheless by the time we packed everything it was no later than 8 am.
This was the day for Puffing Billy which meant just a touristy day.
Our train time was 10:30 am and we discussed what we could do before that.
We could do 1000 steps or something active but we decided against to make ourselves too sweaty
before the train ride.
We took a short walk in a small park not far from there and tried to be at the station well before the time.
However we had a hard time finding a parking spot around Belgrave Station.
I got out of the car first and went to the station as Eddie tried to park at a farther location.
I saw the sign for Puffing Billy at the entrance which I thought looked a bit vague.
From top of the stairs leading down to platforms I couldn't see an old steam engine train,
instead a train looked slick and modern was about to leave down there as if mocking my imagination.
With a slight panic inside I asked a train guard in front of the gate and asked again at the ticketing office down.
I found Puffing Billy station was actually in a different location after passing another gate.
It was hidden and waiting to be found like platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter.
I got tickets with my on-line booking reference and waited for him to come.
Keeping my fingers crossed he found it all right in time.
He couldn't find it easily of course because he didn't ask anyone at the contemporary(?) station as usual.
We barely made it to the train.
Luckily the train didn't leave on time.
Finally we were on board, train whistles blown away, off we went.
It was raining outside which made us feel shivering with the train windows non-existent.
But the strange excitement impacted on all of us in the old locomotive running with black smokes
and intermittent nostalgic whistles through dark green lush rain-forest in the cool rainy morning
without any real aim of getting to certain destinations.
We were obliged to take millions of photos and put our legs outside of train carriages.
Whenever the train turned around the curvy rail ways people from carriages made exclamations
in unison.
It made a perfect cut in shot especially from carriages behind.
It also because it did confirm we were exactly in the scene we saw so many times before.
"The picturesque scenery with the steams, the old fashioned warm maroon colored train,
excited people with their legs dangling outside."
It was fun.
We had a return trip between Belgrave and Lakeside for a total of 2 hours plus 1 hour intervals
in between at the Lakeside station.
We planned to take a walk around the station and in my imagination there were good and nice cafes too but
wet weather was another element we didn't consider.
We had a light lunch and coffee at one of two non-fancy-looking cafes but in a quiet one away from
buzzing noisy people.
Before we left Dandenong Range we visited one more place.
It was William Ricketts Sanctuary where more than 90 mystic sculptures were shown scattered in natural setting.
The theme was aboriginal people which came to me as a unique feeling.
When it came to Australian indigenous people it gave me a somber sad feeling.
Now we set off to Phillip Island.
Phillip Island was very famous for little Penguins apparently.
But for some reason I didn't feel like going to see them.
I didn't book tickets beforehand and I thought I could go if I changed my mind
when we got there but it didn't happen.
It was very expensive like any other things in Australia.
Plus it's late at night when you could go and see them with other too many enthusiastic tourists after 8 pm.
Just like everywhere it was obvious we would be with noisy tourists(?) with one purpose of "been there
done that" attitude which wasn't too much appealing to me.
Puffing Billy was enough for one day.
It occurred to me entering Phillip Island itself gave me a symbolic fulfillment even though
you didn't do much in there.
Our accommodation was located in quiet residential areas where Coles and other big supermarket were
only a few blocks away.
The owner of the caravan park was an elderly couple who were nice to customers and dedicated for what they were doing.
In this context I believe old people could be much better at workplaces.
I bought one kilo of fresh prawns at Coles which was on special along with lots of fruits ,vegetables and nuts.
Our dinner was stir fried vegetables with prawns which was really fresh and good. A feast actually.
As usual our night was quiet and peaceful after dinner.
Good early rest at night made us refreshed in the morning during the trip.
Day 7
We left our accommodation early morning to see another sun rise in Phillip Island.
We drove to East and stopped our car at a small pier opposite from houses near the bridge
and waited for the sun rise.
One man stopped his bike and watched it with us quietly.
People were quietly busy with their preparations for work around us.
It was one beautiful sun rise again.
Before we said good bye to this lovely island we went a morning walk to The Pinnacles at Phillip Island
Nature Park.
There was no one there except a couple of kangaroos we met on the track.
We walked on the wet sand first with the great actively alive ocean in our right hand side
and then climbed up to the track and then climbed down to the Pinnacles.
With the wildest waves and cool winds we were soaked in the beautiful and serene morning mood.
Huge and vast Victorian ocean made us feel so small and vulnerable.
In Victoria it reminded me again and again that nature was big and powerful
and cruelly beautiful.
Around 9ish we could head for Wilsons Promontory.
Promontory means simply a peninsula and it was said Prom(Victorians call as a nick)
is one of Victoria's most loved places.
This was the place we could have spent a long time to explore through trails and beaches etc.
Eddie was excited and looking forward as we didn't have a real hike after Bright.
But time given to us here was only one afternoon so we had to use it wisely.
Luckily the weather was relatively good although several patches of clouds hanging over the sky.
We stopped at Wilsons Prom Cafe Bakery around 10:30 am briefly for just a cup of coffee on the way.
Their coffee was impressively nice and the owner gave us a piece of information about hiking courses
and places where we could have real good views.
We might not have looked like experienced hikers(?),so we thanked him for his kindness but
disregarded his advice, took our own course to Sealers Cove.
According to Eddie's research Sealer's cove was a top destination for hikers.
We wouldn't like to miss it.
When we parked our car at the entrance to Sealers Cove it was already 11:45 am.
Sign said "20 km and approximately 7 hours to Sealer's Cove for a return walk".
It made me feel pressured again unlike Eddie.
We hadn't seen many cars on the way but Mt Oberon parking lot at Telegraph Saddle was full of cars proving its fame
and a big group of young people with leaders were preparing for their soon-to-be camping hiking.
From there it's divided into an easy access up to Mt Oberon and more like a real hiking down to Sealers Cove.
We had to press on in order to come back as soon as possible because we needed to travel 2 more hours to Sale
for the night.
We climbed up to Windy Saddle diligently where we had our lunch around 12:30 pm.
We saw traces about 2011 floods in many parts and learned the track was closed 2 years after that.
We enjoyed this hike very much of course.
It was an easy walk breathing in pristine beauty.
Especially we loved the last part of it before the cove which was the long 2 km of board walk
on top of swamps and creeks surrounded with ferns and shady trees.
I was hugely impressed with the cove as well.
It's a real hidden gem with high tide of the water rippling into the shore sparkling under the sky.
Eddie wanted to visit a toilet there and I volunteered to carry his treasure,his precious camera
and I kept on walking to save time believing he could catch up with me in no time.
He was however very upset because he missed the chance of taking photos of the places near the cove.
(Which was the highlight of the track I realized.)
We came back at 5 pm at the parking lot but as usual Eddie wanted to go and see another place understandably.
We stopped at the Squeaky Beach.
White sand, high huge waves....sands under our boots were squeakily noisy like the name.
I had a great deal of real trouble here.
Too many beautiful places and moments to take all of them in me.
We were on the way to Eden NSW now but we were supposed to stay one more night at Victorian soil before that.
We stayed at another humble but nicely furbished place here in Sale.
It was a really pleasant stay with good and modern facilities.
The premises were on the busy road but it was impossibly quiet at night.
We were exhausted after a long busy day.
But I couldn't go one day without washing my clothes especially after a sweaty hike.
We had a sweet dream that night as well very luckily.