Quarter century and so...

Yes I turned 25 on 28th Oct. I am happy that I am now officially old enough to have just 3 months of learner's permit for obtaining drivers license! I no longer need to pay additional car insurance for being under 25. Also it's kind of cool to say 25 because, in your early 20's you are considered YOUNG, also in your late 20's you are categorised as NEARING 30. So 25 is chic and safe..lol..;)


We are having a gala time with my MIL for the past 1 week. Sadly she will be leaving this coming weekend. Also with the outings we did, made my birthday exxxxsssshtra special!!!
 

Entrance of Dandenong National Park

  

Though our plan to visit the Lakes Entrance got cancelled due to bad weather (I know but it's supposed to be the beautiful spring season), we did have a plan B. So on thursday morning after a sumptuous lunch, we started for the Dandenong mountain ranges. This place is about an hour drive from our place. Thankfully the weather was superb (25 deg and bright blue sky)! We reached the national park at around 2 and planned to do the Living Bush walk which was moderately steep trail walk out of the many mentioned in the map there.






Tall green eucalyptus trees

 The first part of the walk was plain ground with little ups and downs. We walked through gigantic eucalyptus trees and huge fern plants. Surprisingly we saw a lot of people doing the walks though it was a weekday. Some were even running all the way till the top. My attire didn't allow that since I didn't want to sweat in my new birthday dress. But I am sure I shall be running there sometime in near future. It's a very good work out since it's not a monotonous route of plains to the top of the ranges.





That's me..:-)



After we reached the start of 1000 steps walk, we delibrated little bit about continuing further since it said that the route is steeper. But we wanted to fulfill the whole purpose of visiting there and so WE DID "THE 1000 STEPS". These stretch of steps were built in the memory of those killed in Kokoda Trail. Along the way there were plaques depicting the lives of the men who fought and died on the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea during World War II. After reaching the top, we got a beautiful view of the city and the walk was worth it! The walk still continued from there but we wanted to return back since we didn't want to get late for the evening plans.

After resting for a while, we climbed down the steps and reached the foot at around 4:30. We drove back home and freshned up for our temple visit in the evening.

The Shiva Vishnu temple that we usually go is huge and gives me immense pleasure and peace everytime I go there. After offering our prayers to the God, we drove to The Madras Banyan Tree for our dinner. I don't need to say much about this restaurant since the food speaks for itself. We had a fantastic dinner and were quite FULL after that. We returned home and called it a day.



Melbourians enjoying their sunbathe

 
The next day we didn't want to make the best use of gorgeous weather (because it rains in between) and so went to enjoy the sea breeze. We drove to one of the famous beaches in Melbourne city, the Elwood beach and it was the first time I went there and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Wetting the legs in cold clear water in warm weather was such a treat!







The couple

 



There were quite a few who enjoyed their sunbathe, walked along with their dogs, swam etc. We strolled along the shore for a while and did the very traditional thing of eating ice creams in the end. I loved my gelato..yummy!

And so these outing were like icing on top of my birthday cake..:-)

The next big festival Deepavali is kocking at the doors and we are looking forward for a dhamaka!

Advance happy deepavali to you all. Have a wonderful time with your family wearing new dress, bursting crackers, eating good food, watching newly released movies, catching up with friends and relatives!

Cheers :-)