A train ride...

The reason for our recent visit to Melbourne was that DH had wanted to fulfill a dream to go to a World Cup of Golf. ( as a spectator) And  it just so happened that the competition was being held in Australia this year; in Melbourne. And there was another reason why he really wanted to attend. A young man called Cameron Smith was one of the two golfers representing Australia. When still only 15, Cameron was the junior champion at the golf club where DH is a member. DH and friends have watched this young man ‘go places’ in the golfing world so to watch his play was going to be special. DH had tickets for 2 days; the Thursday and the Friday. 

Here are some of the photos he took. The golfer in the photo collage is, you guessed it, Cameron Smith! 

And even Ricky Ponting, a former Australian Cricket Team captain, came along for a look...

So while DH was watching golf, on the Thursday my cousin and I went for a ride on the historic steam train ride known as Puffing Billy. We caught the suburban train to Belgrave and from there we caught Puffing Billy. We bought a return ticket to the town of Emerald but Puffing Billy does go further...to Gembrook. The day was cold...can you tell that from the next photo? 

You might notice that the carriages are open; no windows, just metal bars across 😨. That is all part of the charm of this old favourite. Many of the carriages were filled with bus loads of overseas tourists; so a wonderful Aussie experience for them. 

The countryside is hilly and very beautiful.

The conductor in our carriage had started chatting to Shirley and I and when he heard that we were getting off the train at Emerald, he recommended a bakery in the town where he said we’d get a nice lunch. 

So we took his advice and easily found the bakery cafe. 

Wow! When we walked in it was like an Aladdin’s cave of baked goods! Lol


Our lunch was delicious...I had the veggie quiche and my cousin had the potato topped pie...both were yummy.

Shirley loves vanilla slices and talked me into sharing one with her. It was the largest vanilla slice I’ve ever seen! A quarter of it would have been enough; a half was still a bit much.


We had just over an hour before we had to catch the train back to Belgrave. The station at Emerald is very quiet and has lots of history. 

And here are some photos taken on the trip back to Belgrave. Note the bridge! And of course the station is Belgrave and that’s the station master waiting to meet the train.


Recently I’ve been sorting old photos and came across a photo taken on Puffing Billy in the early to mid 1990s. That woman waving is me and the child beside me is either DD1 or DD2...a terrible mother aren’t I; I can’t tell which child it is! Lol

You might notice the two girls sitting on the ledge of the carriage and hanging on to the metal bar. This was common practice until fairly recently. Amazing that it was allowed for so long. But according to my cousin ( and some FB friends also pointed it out when I posted my photos), a child fell and the authorities acted on it and now sitting up there on the ledge is banned...thank goodness! 

It was a lovely day spent with my cousin. It’s only 12 months ago when we found each other after she took a DNA test. When she contacted me about the match we were able to work out how we were related. Her grandmother and my maternal great grandmother were sisters. So lots of phone calls, texts etc and sharing of family photos ensued as well as 2 meet ups. Wonderful!