Hanging out at Maroondah Reservoir Park on New Year's Day with a couple of my best buddies over an amazing picnic spread (we were so hungry we devoured all the food without taking any photos at all) and a little bit of a walk to explore the park. There is so much the Yarra Valley has to offer!


The dam wall. Believe it or not, we tried running up the wall. It looked doable from afar but it sure was steep up close. I only managed to run up about half my height. The scariest part was turning around and realising how vertical I was. If I had tripped and fallen, I would have gone face first into the ground.


Looking down from the top of the dam wall.


There was a waterfall on the other end of the dam where the spillage was channeled to the other dams around the area. That's really smart, not wasting any water at all. It was great to see the dam full to the brim. Thank you God for the rain!


Just happy to listen to the sound of rushing water.

Labels: Eastern Adventures, Maroondah Reservoir, Yarra Valley

Adding one more winery restaurant to the Yarra Valley list. The drive to Balgownie Estate was a beauty! The photos are no where near doing the view justice. Balgownie is located in Yarra Glen, a route that I have not taken before this. It was such a refreshing change of scenery, not that I am bored of the usual routes that I take, of course. I never want to take all this for granted.


On the way to the restaurant.






The view from Rae's Restaurant @ Balgownie Estate. The resort was beautiful. I totally forgot to take some photos until we settled down at the restaurant.


The wife had the flounder. The scallops were super fresh too.


I had the duck with some lovely caramelised shallots. Had a glass of their Shiraz to match this dish. I must say, the Shiraz was delicious! I would have preferred a more generous pour though.

Labels: Balgownie Estate, Eastern Adventures, Yarra Valley

This was another spot we stumbled upon during our Eastern adventures.


Welcome to Silvan Reservoir Park.


The view of the reservoir was just breathtaking.


I know, every picture like this looks the same. A whole lot of green. But I love it.


These ants were huge. Well, not humongous but definitely larger than the common Malaysian ant.


Isn't this sight postcard material?


The picnic spots at this park is awesome. Can't wait to come back for a picnic or a barbie.


Spotted a monkey in the forest.

The series of photos next were exactly how I saw it in real life.

First, I saw this sign that wasn't unusual at park exits.


Then, as I approached the exit gate, I saw this on the ground! This looks like one of those spike strips they use in the movies to puncture your tyres and as you are in distress, robbers jump out to rob you. So I made a u-turn and drove the other way.


Then this sign appeared! I thought to myself, hey, if I'm driving the wrong way towards the entrance, there may well be another spike strip there. So I made a u-turn again and headed to the exit gate before. I got out of the car and stepped onto the strip and it turns out, the spikes will depress when you drive over it, from the right direction. Phew!


Before we left, we took a picture of those short trees, assuming that they were newly planted so that when we come back next time, we can see how much they have grown.

Labels: Dandenong Ranges, Eastern Adventures, Melbourne, Picnic Spot, Silvan Reservoir Park

Over the weekend, we took a short drive out to Belgrave to have a look see. It turns out there was nothing much there so we drove on ahead to explore. We didn't feel like going up to Sassafras so I made a turn into a junction to make a u-turn and stumbled upon this bird feeding site! I was a happy boy.


As we drove in, we saw this cockatoo rolling the V can! If it were a Red Bull can, I would have titled this post "Red Bull gives you wings". It's clear that the birds here have gotten used to the idea of humans hanging out in their territory. Although it was quite amusing to see the cockatoo playing with the can, it was really disturbing as well because the can does not belong in this picture. Dear humans, please take your rubbish with you!


This photo just doesn't do these Crimson Rosellas justice. They were way more vibrant in real life.






This one here looks like a rainbow mutant. Can't quite put my finger on what species it is. I don't think it's a Rainbow Lorikeet. Might be a Rosella or Parrot of some kind.


I can't believe I have never done this before! It was great to feed these birds. I loved it when they landed and ate out of my hands!


Trying to pat its head but I was unsuccessful.


This King Parrot was so confident, flying onto my hand without hesitation. At the time, I didn't know it was a King Parrot and I said, "wow, this one is so confident it must be the king of this park or something".




Adoring the beauty of this King Parrot. As a kid, I've always liked the idea of holding a parrot in my hand, just like Captain Hook did and here I did it! The best part was these birds were all free to fly in wild and they were not kept in captivity. Awesome!


"Forget about feeding me. I'll help myself. Thank you very much."


Dig in!


Two is better than one.


The pattern on the feathers kinda look like fish scales or at least those I would draw for art class when I was a kid. I just love the vibrant colours!

Labels: Birds, Dandenong Ranges, Eastern Adventures, Grants Picnic Ground

What better way to spend a day off than having a picnic at the park and look at who decided to show up.





Kookaburra, up close and personal. Just when I thought this was a pretty good photo, I saw this other one HERE.


and a few cockatoos joined in to suss out the food we brought. After they realised they weren't getting anything from us, they all flew off. It's awesome to see these birds just in the open like this rather than in captivity. I am absolutely loving it!


I was quite baffled the first time I saw this sign. What do they mean? I understand the last one as it's clearly "no diving", but what about the third one? River dance allowed?


The Yarra River


What's a picnic without the food eh? Fresh avacado rocks!


Hommus, avacado and salmon sandwich.


Flavoured cheese. Yum!


The Coles Home Brand hommus was really tasty...

Labels: Eastern Adventures, Warandyte Park