AUSSIE HOMESTEAD AND FARM, PUFFING BILL TRAIN

Melbourne is magnificent. We had one of the best days. We did a Princess Tour and enjoyed it so much. We left the ship and boarded a bus to head into the farmland area. It took about an hour or so on the bus to arrive at the Warrook Homestead. This homestead has been there since 1857. I had the best time here and Sam just smiled and laughed at me.

First you ride in a wagon filled with hay to the barn where the calves and cows are. Six people got to feed the calves with a half gallon milk container with a huge nipple attached. I got to do it and was so excited – those calves can really put a suction on that nipple. The calves are so adorable – the huge eyes looking at you when you feed them are beyond cute. Then we moved onto milking the cow – I passed on this one. You could try your hand at milking the cow and drink the milk. I couldn’t bear to do that the cow – sorry I’m still a city girl at heart. I did get to “talk” to the cow – we had a conversation while others milked her.

Then we went into the pasture to watch the sheep dogs work. The dogs are super friendly and one attached himself to Sam. They bound into the pasture and immediately the sheep started to move into a circle and in just a matter of minutes the dogs had the sheep just where they wanted them to be. It was amazing to watch. Directly from here we went to watching a sheep shearing. WOW – that is truly amazing and they are so fast at it. I didn’t realize that a sheep shearer’s hands would be soft – but they are because of the lanolin in the wool that they shear. It was really interesting to watch and also hear the stories of how things have improved since the old days.

After that we had a demonstration of how to use the bull whip and boomerang. We had lunch at the Warrook Homestead and it was great. Roast beef, chicken, potatoe, fresh peas and carrots, salad, red and white wine, damper (an Australian bread – quite good)and then coffee and dessert. After that kind of a lunch you need a nap but it was onto the Puffing Bill Railway.
This was so cute – the engine was a Thomas the train kind – small. The cars were all open air and you could actually sit on the side and let your feet hang over if you wanted to. I can just see myself trying to accomplish this and didn’t even try. It was a one way ride on the train thru a dense forsest – different from the rainforests we saw in Queensland.

We arrived back at the port around 4:30 and sailaway was 5 pm. It was very cool here in Melbourne definitely jacket weather and sailaway was downright cold so we didn’t linger long.
We played some slots – Sam won $100 so he was happy (I lost $20) We ate in the buffet as there wasn’t anything we wanted on the dining room menu. This is our third night and only the first night did we eat in the dining room.

Tomorrow is a sea day and so we won’t post. The following day we will be in Tasmania and I am looking forward to see Port Arthur.We are really enjoying all the different things we are getting to see and do.

Sam and Char