Manouevering one's way around Melbourne with a caravan is a nightmare! Our hearts were in our throats whenever we had to get from one place to another. We had to stop in Melbourne so that our caravan could have a warranty service. It took a few days to get everything finalised - all sorts of things were fixed, even a new set of wheel rims and nuts. Once this was done all we wanted to do was get out of the city. It is a mad house!! Perth is a paradise compared to the hustle and bustle of Melbourne - or maybe I am just getting too old.
One thing we did notice was the price of fruit and vegetables being a lot cheaper than Perth. In the Greek/Italian/Middle Eastern area we were in we also found the freshest Greek pastries that we could not resist - $1 each!
After the caravan servicing was done we thought we'd go and stay in "a quieter area" near the Dandenongs. Oh my goodness. The population of the Dandenongs area is over 1 million people with 140 ethnic groups. At times we could have been in a market somewhere in Asia or India. Our navlady didn't help either as there are so many new roads. One thing we did notice was how the Victorian drivers were very forgiving of our sudden turns, stops and lane changing. We were so relieved once we eventually found our caravan park in the Dandenong region. (I thought it would be a sweet little spot close to the Dandenong ranges. Not so. It was a little spot off the main Dandenong/Frankston Highway about an hour away from what we wanted to visit!)
We did keep to our plan of driving into the Dandenong Ranges for a day without the caravan and that worked out well. The little villages were quaint especially going into the teapot shop, seeing the whole of the Melbourne skyline from the highest point in the ranges, walking through the "yet to flower" rhododendron gardens and the William Rickets sanctuary where the artist has formed amazing sculptures as part of the natural rocks. (I wanted to revist the Dandenong ranges as it was one of the first places I visited when we first came to Australia. I hadn't remembered a thing from that time as I was so stressed about being away from "home.")
As we drove out of the greater Melbourne area we said goodbye and don't think we'd come back in a hurry...though life always has endless surprises.
