Sunday 8 June 2014

Melbourne Day 9 Puffing Billy Railway, William Ricketts Sanctuary, Pig & Whistle Tavern

8 June 2014

Puffing Billy is Australia's oldest steam railway and one of the finest preserved steam railways in the world. It travels 24 kilometers through beautiful forest and fern gullies of the Dandenong Ranges from Belgrave to Gembrook. We however only stopped at Lakeside and took the same way back. The open-sided carriages allows passengers to see the stunning view, and what makes them more special is that passengers especially the young ones sit with their leg hanging out of the carriages. 














Pie in the Sky has won numerous gold medals for their pies and after visiting I felt it was overrated. The pies were not pleasing to my taste and so I prefer the Beechworth Bakery. We went on long weekends and the crowd drove me to mad as I didn't expect to see this in suburb. The frustration of seeing people cut-queuing (the line wasn't obvious) and the slow service had caused me to put higher expectations on the pies. 

William Ricketts Sanctuary is a place of beauty and tranquility for its natural setting and the mystical sculptures half hidden among ferns along the pathway. There are 92 ceramic sculptures of people and animals.







We had dinner at Pig and Whistle Tavern nearby for my belated birthday, mothers' day and fathers' day celebration. It was a long dinner as the food was served quite late. However we did not mind for the waiting as we ended our itinerary early and it was warm in the tavern. We ordered fat chips with sour cream, pumpkin and pesto pizza, porterhouse steak, roast pork belly and chicken parmigiana. Not to miss out was of course a dessert, a raspberry cheese cake (very different than those normal cheese cakes) with two scoops of ice cream. This dessert was the most impressive among all we had. Total damage of the dinner was about $110.





150g steak served with sauteed potatoes wilted spinach and shallot & bacon sauce.

Slow roasted pork belly served atop bubble and squeak , creamy mash with wilted rocquet, chilli jam & jus.

Crumbed chicken breast topped with napolitaine sauce, shaved ham and cheese served with fries and salad





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