Back to my long-overdue Melbourne trip. To Melbourne city itself!

I used to love sweet stuff a lot that I often ordered the overly sweet caramel frappucino at Starbucks when I was in primary school / early secondary school. I don't eat that much sweet stuff now but I don't mind having it once in a while.

I also enjoyed watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the Oompa Loompas that work there produce the best chocolates and sweets.
So, when I found out that there was a famous chocolate factory at Philip Island, I was thrilled!



There wasn't a golden ticket but there's still a chocolate ticket.
*warning: melts easily, especially during hot summer days*



Rows and rows of chocolate that made up a picture. Which image? Find out for yourself. Heh.



What would it be like to live in a chocolate village?



This contraption that will blow your mind (or make you feel dizzy, at least).



No Oompa Loompas but mini chocolate workers and managers.





And their collection of jokes.



You could play games to get wooden balls, which you could redeem for actual chocolate balls. 2 is enough, don't be greedy. You wouldn't be able to finish 10 in one go anyways.



Place to test your senses.



... and I got more than half of them correct! yay.



Ever seen a ton of chocolate?



Or a chocolate fountain?



OR CUTE PENGUINS GETTING YOU CHOCOLATE COINS? (for free)
You could choose from dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate.



Make your own random squiggles too. Unfortunately, it wasn't easy making a nice one.



And it's even harder to get them to fall out the tray (it takes quite long for your masterpiece to reach the end of the conveyor belt, where you could pick them up and eat your linework).





So there was this make-your-own-chocolate-bar machine. You could pick the type of chocolate that you want (dark, milk, or white) and the flavour(s) that you want.
Note: Payment is required, was 2AUD if I remembered correctly.

Out of curiosity, I took Cola and Vegemite. BECAUSE WHY NOT.



They added strawberry in even though I didn't pick strawberry. Maybe it's to balance out the weird combination?
How does the chocolate bar taste? Not much of the vegemite though. Just a faint hint of it.

Somehow I managed to get my sister to add in wasabi to hers. Could distinctly taste the wasabi but the chocolate wasn't spicy/choking me so I guess it was cool.

Would like to go to another chocolate factory. Hehe.

Visit their website for details on how to get there and other information.





(click on the image above for more posts on my Melbourne trip!)

Of course, there's also the photogenic Brighton Beach bathing boxes in Melbourne. Was surprised that none of my relatives ever heard of it (or maybe it just wasn't their thing).

Of course, a trip to the Puffing Billy Railway is a must if you are visiting Melbourne. It is a century old steam train that runs from Belgrave to Gembrook at the Dandenong Ranges.

They also offer themed train rides in addition to the normal ones. If only we had the opportunity!
Nevertheless, I was still hyped even though it was not my first time on a steam train.





We boarded at Belgrave.




AND WE'RE OFF!
Conductor was really friendly though. Waved goodbye to everyone.

Met some Aussies who were quite unfriendly and racist during my two trips (airport arrival hall officers were terribly rude on this trip) but good to know that it was just a small group and not the majority... right?



I don't know. I just like the composition of the blurry tree. So it's up on this post.



And my subtle blue hair (not that subtle actually).
It was a hot summer day but we were sheltered by the trees and greens so it wasn't that bad.

Did I mention that you're allowed to sit with your legs dangling outside the train carriages? I was surprised at first when people started sitting that way but the train conductor assured us that it was cool if you want to do that despite being an adult with responsibilities.
I mean, how often could you leave your legs out on a train ride, or any other ride for that matter?




Look at the number of legs hanging out of the carriages when we cross the Monbulk Creek trestle bridge.

It was pretty scary at first as there was nothing much to support the whole train and we were quite high above ground. Of course, there were also people on the ground who stopped by to take photos of the Puffing Billy and its passengers.
We saw this same guy thrice taking photographs at three different locations, in the middle of nowhere. Talk about dedication.



Menzies Creek, one of the train stops.



We stopped at Lakeside (approx 1hr from Belgrave station) and had lunch at a small store there. Apparently it was a nice place for picnics and BBQ's too but it was just too hot for lakeside activities so we opted out and headed back to Belgrave. It was quite an experience, really.

*Travelling tip: Get carriages at the front or at the rear of the train to get good photos during the journey.


For ticketing and other information on Puffing Billy, visit their website.




(click on the image above for more posts on my Melbourne trip!)