Day 6 in Melbourne, Australia: Riding on the Puffing Billy

Early in the morning, we woke up eagerly as were going to take a ride on the Puffing Billy! We purchased the Zone 1+2 day pass in order to get to Belgrave. From the Flinders Street Station we boarded the Belgrave line towards Belgrave Station. Upon reaching, we got off the train, exited the station and walked just for a short distance before reaching the Puffing Billy ticket counter.

Despite going on a weekday, the Puffing Billy train was full as many tour groups had booked seats in advance. As such, only three carriages were left for tourists like us who were travelling on our own. We chose an open-sided carriage despite the cold in order to get a better view. Whenever we passed by cars on the roadside, the local drivers would always wave at us, especially those with kids in the car. On the train, we were close enough to the forest that we could actually touch the trees as the train chugged along.

Earlier on, we had purchased one-way tickets to Emerald/Lakeside. So, we got off the train at the Emerald station. Emerald is a small town where you can stop for food or if you are with kids, play in the playground nearby. As we had the daily pass, we used it to board the bus to Gembrook. The bus is not very frequent and we waited for about 20 minutes before boarding.

On the way up, we were the only passengers on the bus. Similar to our ride on the Puffing Billy, taking the bus also allowed us to pass by amazing scenery. After about 20 minutes or so, we reached our stop at Gembrook.

At Gembrook, we had a picnic at the park nearby and strolled around the small town. As it was cold, we stopped by the Gembrook Bakery for coffee. After resting, we walked over to the bushland nearby. It is an interesting walk for nature lovers. Very quickly, it was time to board the bus down towards Belgrave train station. And then onwards back to Melbourne for the day.

As it was still early when we reached Melbourne, we took the tram to St Kilda's Achland Street where we tasted delicious cakes at the Acland Cake Shop. As we walked along Achland Street, we discovered that many shops had interesting designs as seen in the photo. Unfortunately, Luna Park was closed on weekdays during the week that we were visiting.

From St Kilda, we then took the tram all the way up to Lygon Street. After walking along rows and rows of Italian restaurants and gelaterias, we then strolled pass the Old Melbourne Gaol towards Lonsdale Street, the Greek precinct, for our late dinner.