One of the most popular attractions is the Puffing Billy steam train.  A favourite with both kids and adults, it is a great half day or full day event.  You can catch the train from Belgrave to Emerald Lake and stay there for a picnic, or walk around the lake, or stay in the kiosk for a meal.  Or you can travel further to Gembrook and wander the street there, looking at the various stores, before catching the train back to Belgrave.

Belgrave also offers a lot to view. The main street is lined with lots of interesting shops and many, many cafes or all sorts of types of food.

The Puffing Billy on the historic Trestle Bridge

Emerald Lake Park

A Vintage car on display in Gembrook

Below are just a small selection of photos I took when we recently visited the picnic grounds on Mother’s Day. There were a lot of people there and it was a beautiful day to make a visit.

So far, the firemen have kept things under control as they’ve worked hard during the past week backburning and setting up other strategies to protect towns around our state.  But today everyone was on tenterhooks waiting to see what might occur.

The cool change is just sweeping through the state now, it hasn’t quite hit where I am in the south east but we know it’s on its way and ahead of it is rain – wonderful sweet-smelling rain. I hadn’t realised how much I missed that smell!  It’s not heavy but hopefully it will keep up regularly, even if it’s soft rain. They’re forecasting showers for the next week – nothing heavy unfortunately but it might finally help get the fires put out which have been going for weeks now.

The fire started at the edge of one road (Nixon Road) and then headed north as it was fanned by the strong winds and heat of the day.  It also has burnt some of Lysterfield Park – the very place my husband and his mate ride every weekend and where I was taking photos just yesterday.  The fire is further up the hill from where we were.

I can’t understand this.  There was no thunder and lightening and unless there were problems with a powerline there, that pretty much leaves it to two possible things:

1.  Someone threw a cigarette butt out of their car window – something I’ve seen happen so many times in the past, or

2.  Someone deliberately lit the fire.

Either way it was a deliberate act and I can’t help feeling that the person in number 1 above is just as liable for the damage and terror as the person in number 2 above.  And the person in number 1 could have driven on their way merrily totally oblivious to what they have done.

I don’t like the fact that smokers litter places anywhere – you just have to walk around cities and suburbs and see cigarette butts where smokers congregate. There aren’t always ashtrays or sandboxes available and it seems to me that many just seem oblivious to their actions. But to throw a live butt out of a car window as they drive along is totally irresponsible and I expect they’ll be eligible for a jail sentence if ever anyone was seen to do that immediately before a fire was started.

Tonight the wind is blowing strongly and I remember back to the year we first shifted to Melbourne.  It seemed to rain all year long in 1992 and we wondered what on earth we had done, shifting to such a wet city!  How I wish it were like that again, this drought has gone on for far too long and our beautiful state is really suffering.