After the dry expanse of Mongolia, especially covered in white or grey snow, the green of the mountains around Warburton is like an eye-tonic. We took Bek and the girl's to visit Healesville Sanctuary to see some sleepy koalas and kangaroos. After being impressed by the bird of prey show with the hunting eagles (to which Bek said he used to do similar tricks with the wild eagles around his childhood home) we drove back to Warburton by going up and over the mountain. The fires of Black Saturday didn't reach these hills and they are lush and green. The towering mountain ash were like a cathedral spaning up and over us, the green tree ferns reaching out and filtering the hot sun a delicate green.
We drove past a hang-gliding launch point, high above the Yarra Valley. Bek decided to channel the spirit of some kind of Mongolian-Kazakh hip hop star. We then climbed the observation tower at the top of Mount Donna Buang - which is where I discovered that I am now old enough to have a fear of heights. It was a lovely day, not too hot, and seeing it through Bek's eyes reminded us of the beauty of this part of Victoria.
