Today is our last night in Melbourne and this reminds me that our holiday is coming to an end. The children have behaved so well during our drives I am beginning to wonder if some aliens have abducted my real kids and replaced them with new ones! They said they do not want this trip to end, they want to keep going on to Darwin ... by road! Please where are my real children!!!! Anyway, I had to gently remind them about a certain institution called 'School' that is still a necessary part of their existence. Our first outing here was the train ride on the puffing billy steam engine train into the Dandenong Mountain Ranges. It was scary and exhilarating stuff for me, I have a respectable fear of heights( if I have to fly anywhere, i generally keep my eyes shut during take off and landing), but looking down into the deep valleys and beautiful mountain terrain tested my resolve. The kids kids kept asking why I had my eyes shut while we passed such 'beautiful scenery'. Child one insisted and was brave enough to ride the train the 'traditional way' that is sitting on the window with his legs and half his body outside the carriage and sticking outside. I had to open my eyes then, I couldn't quite decide what was giving me grief at that point: 1. The fact that I was riding an old steam train that was choo chooing and tethering along the edge of a mountain gorge on a hundred year old wooden rail track and bridge or 2. That child one was half hanging out from the window and saying 'this is awesome!' Or 3. That my husband, and the authorities think this is a perfectly normal way to ride or 4. That my fears are dismissed as completely irrational. To my surprise we arrived our destination in one piece. Our stop was the lakeside station just outside Emerald Vic. There is a lake, walking trails, playground and national park up there and it is a beautiful spot. We had come up with our packed picnic lunch and i am certain the food tasted better as well, must be the mountain air! Lots of places for kids to run around as well. Now the train ride back...... One of the my favorite sights in Melbourne was not the cafes or art galleries etc it was actually watching drivers do the hook turn at the CBD! I think it is fascinating that something as simple as turning right at an intersection can become so complicated, though I am aware of the arguments for it, it is still an amusing sight to behold! ( In a country where cars drive on the left, the hook turn is done by drivers at an intersection who want to turn right. To do this they have to approach and enter the intersection from the left and then turn night. If this is confusing to you, you are not alone) The kids had a good time at at the Melbourne Museum. The dinosaur bones, animal fossils, bugs, insect gallery and the 'how the body works gallery' where they explored the digestive system by touching a tube that simulated the esophagus was fun as well. They loved and repeatedly pushed the '****' button on the 'body' and this made some really interesting noises, I simply walked away from them at that point and pretended they were not my children. Getting around the city was easy and there are lots of secure parking spots available, too many perhaps because we had to try to remember a couple of times exactly which parking lot our car was in! We also used the city tourist shuttle around Melbourne, free for kids, where one can hop on and off the bus all day at selected stops. Next stop Adelaide, a little bird told me the city came in amongst the best 10 live-able cities in the world recently. What can I say, there is a proverb in my language that says ' don't overlook the little pot, it can still boil over and put out your fire'.