I N F U S I O N: Australia, Victoria

The trip to Australia was quite a last minute thing... we actually booked the tickets less than 2 weeks before we flew off, although we did plan it for some time but haven't actually got to it because initially Michelle would only be able to get off about 6 days... were we thrilled when we found out that the off days would be inclusive of the public holidays... which gives a grand total of 12 DAYS!!!!!.... yea... so to make full use of the holidays we were in Oz from May 1st to May 12th!

The journey to Melbourne!

I must say I'm pretty impressed with AirAsiaX. This is my first time on AirAsia and I pretty much expected it to be something like the Boeing 747's that I sat to Philippines 5 years ago... cramped sits, no TV, drab looking interior and air stewardess who couldn't give a toss whether u are thirsty or not! So as the flights were not too full, Michelle and I got 3 seats to ourselves... the seats can't be reclined but u can sort of push the bottom seat horizontally to get the "reclining" effect but it really eats too much leg space, so couldn't be bothered with it. To get to the entertainment channels u have to purchase a package of RM30 which consist of music, movies and games. We gave that a miss but regretted it later... there's only how much books u can read in 8 hours!!

Anyway we arrived pretty late on Friday, the cold weather was a far contrast from the heat in Malaysia, although it's only autumn in Oz!. Anyway the next day my bro-in-law, David planned a short trip for us to Mount Dandenong. It's about 30km from Melbourne and about 633m above sea level. From the peak you can get a bird's eye view of Melbourne City.

Driving up to Mt Dandenong

The drive up was a pleasant experience, passing through Olinda, where the famous "Pie In The Sky" cafe is located. You can bet I wouldn't miss this!... the pie was just superb! I had the steak and cheese Pie (sounds sinful yea!... :P) and bought different varieties to bring to the peak and have a bite there.

The selection of pies in Pie In The Sky Cafe...

Didn't had space for the scones... :(

View from SkyHigh Restaurant and the 5 of us!

Anyway after walking around the peak we decided to go for the "Puffing Billy" basically it's a tour around Mt Dandenong on one of the oldest steam train still in service. I've couldn't take any pictures that do justice to "Puffing Billy" so just some pics taken by Greg Furlong @ puffingbilly.com.au...hopefully these can paint a picture of what a relic it is!

The Puffing Billy...

Here's some shots we took on the train with my niece, undoubtedly we were bored after awhile!

After the trip on the steam train we just took a walk around Emerald Lake and later drove nearby to feed wild birds!. It was a really pretty lake with beautiful surroundings. We bought the bird feeds nearby and allowed the birds to freely peck from our hands! On a sour note though, just as we were feeding the birds, a group of chinese tourist came on the bus and they carried bags of "kuaci" and started pouring around to attract the birds, although it was BOLDLY written that the birds feeding food are regulated and have to be purchased from the nearby store... it was quite an embarassment actually... no civic-mindedness!