It has been blazing hot in Melbourne for the past few days so one great place to escape the heat is in the Dandenong Ranges. It is so beautiful and full of fern trees and mountain ash which are as tall as 65 metres tall. There are tons of walking tracks where Matt and I spotted an old wombat burrow, two kookaburras arguing over a sausage and lots of other creatures of the bird and insect variety. Back in the 1890's a plan was enacted to help end poverty in Melbourne. Families could have plots of land in the Dandenong Ranges if they cleared the land, built a slab hut and grew berries and vegetables for a living. As dense as the vegetation is I can imagine this was quite a difficult job with hand tools of the age. This area was also used for commercial timber until the 1930's. Luckily the land has now been preserved and returned to it's natural beauty. It is also home to the Lyre Bird which of course I didn't see. If I couldn't see one in a zoo enclosure I am beginning to doubt I will ever see one. I hear them just never see them.
I love these giant wind sock men. Matt felt the urge to dance along with them. He looks more like he's "walking like an Egyptian" than dancing with a wind sock.
