30th March  The day started bright and sunny so it was decided we would do the Puffing Billy up in the Dandenongs. the kids were loaded in the Van and away we went.

We arrived with plenty of time to look around and take a few pictures. for you Train buffs here are a few.

A nice old Station though not as old as it looks. A nice rake of carriages as well.

A nice American designed (Baldwin I suspect) Australian built Tank loco all fired up and ready to go. The line opened in 1900 so they are over a hundred year old.

All connected and ready to go. It ran from Belmont to Emerald Lakeside today.

It looks like something out of India with people sitting on the edge with their legs hanging out in the breeze. This all changed when it started to rain. It didn't last long and it was back to normal again.
A lovely trip up through the landscape of the Dandenongs.

At the end of the trip we met the train going back down. Same type of Loco but different carriages.
We only went one way so Deb met us at the top in the van and we came back by car.
A nice day out with everybody enjoyed by all.

1st April.  decided that Helen and i would go and have a look at Kinglake and Healsville where the big fires were.
We headed up to Kinglake and soon came across signs of the fire though the new foliage was well on the way to covering it up.

We got to Kinglake via a narrow winding road with a sign at the start saying there had been 265 motorcycle accidents on this stretch of road last year. Half way up we had to give way to an Ambulance on its way to some emergency. At Kinglake the rescue Helicopter flew over  and
as we headed on our way to Healsville, just out of town we were stopped and told there was a double fatality 2 M/cycles and a car on the road ahead and the road was blocked. Explained the Ambulance and Helicopter,so we turned around and retraced our steps back home.
Thats it for now. Regards Helen and Dave