East Warburton

I can't locate Warburton on the map so I've just listed it as Melbourne. Warburton is on the eastern fringes of Melbourne. Some would call Warburton the outer suburbs, others would call it a country town. In any case, it's at the very edge of Melbourne. In East Warburton, my friend's parents have just bought a piece of land. We went to explore it the other day, and I just thought it was worth mentioning it because of how different it is to the 'country' I'm used to in Rutherglen.

Victoria's north-east region (where Rutherglen is) is known for being dry and hot. In East Warburton, the outer-eastern suburbs, Eva's property was half way up a mountain in the Yarra Ranges, and very, very wet. They have a spring that wells from the ground, a very full dam, and lots of bush. It's so wet there, that there is dew on the grass even at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. And when we walked along the bushy area following the little stream, trees and fallen logs were covered in moss, and ferns sprouted in every-which direction. And we were in danger of getting eaten by leeches! A very different Australia.

We trapsed around the muddy banks, said hello to their one horse (called Pete) and two cows (called Maggie and Sabrina) on the adjoining paddock, then went for a wander at the back of the property. We eventually reached an unsealed road, which must have been part of the national park that the property backs onto. Here, we found a lot of deer tracks (yes, apparently there are wild deer in this part of Australia!). We also saw Currawongs, Galahs, Laughing Kookaburras, Fairy-wrens, two pairs of King Parrots, and other small birds we couldn't identify.

A much wetter Australia than I am used to! Granted, it's winter, but Rutherglen would never, ever get this wet; even in winter!