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Australia: Day 18: Dandenong Ranges National Park, Melbourne

My stay in Melbourne was prolonged for one day so I quickly decided to visit the Dandenong Ranges National Park, 38 km east of the city. The train took me to Ferntree Gully, where I visited the local tourist information centre. My first task was to walk The "1000 steps" Kokoda Track Memorial Walk. The Kokoda track/trail is the most famous in Papua New Guinea and is known for being the location of the World War II battle between Japanese and Australian forces in 1942.

 

Entered the Dandenong Ranges National Park, where they have a free public picnic area

Kokoda Memorial Walk - 1000 step-climb of the Kokoda Walk, where you experience a tiny sense of the exhaustion felt by the Australian soldiers following the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea in World War II.

 

Eucalyptus Regnans (Mountain Ash), the world's tallest flowering trees in Olinda.

National Rhododendron Garden in township of Olinda was my next destination - Park Notes

 

 

My last destination before my return to Melbourne was William Ricketts Sanctuary, a place of beauty and tranquillity, due both to the natural setting and the mystical sculptures half hidden among ferns along the pathways. Aboriginal spirituality and respect for the natural world was Ricketts general message throughout his artworks.

 

 

 

Soon I was on a bus to Croydon and on a train back to Duncan's place, where I stayed another night.

With public transportation to the Dandenong Ranges National Park and back