Return to the Dandenongs

Saturday May 27th – We returned to the Dandenong ranges today starting out fairly early in order to take our time, relax, and poke around. We headed first to the William Ricketts Sanctuary. William Ricketts was an artist who lived from 1898 to 1993. He purchased 4 acres at the base of the mountain in 1934 and built a home and studio where he worked until his death in 1993. This area of the Dandenongs has lots of mountain ash and tree ferns and is actually a cool temperate rain forest. Very green and leafy, and feels like a dinosaur could wander out from behind the trees any second.

William’s art was greatly influenced by his love of the environment and by his experiences while living briefly with the aboriginal people in the central Australian desert. His work consists of fired clay sculptures of aboriginal people which appear to morph out of boulders and trees throughout the sanctuary.

After taking tons of photos at the Sanctuary we had a quick lunch in Olinda and browsed the many little shops. Most of the shops had Australian made art, and we each made a few purchases. Next we went to Sherbrooke forest to Grant’s Picnic Ground and experienced the birds. This area is unique in that there is a large number of Australian King Parrots, Crimson Rosellas, Galahs, Sulfur-Crested Cockatoos, and Laughing Kookaburras.

The other unique thing is that all these birds (except the Laughing Kookaburra) will come down and eat seed that is sold at the concession stand. The Australian King Parrots and the Crimson Rosellas will actually fly down, land on your arm, and eat out of your hand. Yes, really! Of course we both bought seed and were delighted when the birds landed on us. Very cool!
We headed back to the training centre to get ready for our girls night on the town. We met Jhaneen and her friend at a restaurant where Lauren the GD trainer works on the weekends. We had a tasty dinner and some wine before heading to a night club. We all had a good time; it’s been a long time since this old married lady has had a night on the town, I'd rather be hanging out with my honey at home!