A visit to Upwey and Puffing Billy
Unless you’re an Australian or train enthusiast you have probably not heard of Upwey in Australia. Upwey is a suburb around 32 kilometres east of central Melbourne. It is easy to get to with trains running regularly between Melbourne and Belgrave. A visit to Upwey and Puffing Billy is well worth doing with its proximity to the Dandenong Ranges National Park which has some lovely walking tracks. Upwey is also famous for the annual billy cart race down the main street of the town with police at the end of the street with radar guns to measure the speed of the racers.
Upwey
Upwey is a town that few tourists visit unless lost or to see family or friends. I lived there for several months and have returned to visit it many times over the last 20 odd years. The nearest biggest tourist attraction is the iconic Puffing Billy railway which I have done twice. Puffing Billy steam train costs for an adult $A51.50 return between Belgrave and Emerald or Lakeside. You also can get concessions if you are pensioner or have a family. All the details are on the website.
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- Puffing Billy entrance
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- The rail route
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- Our ride awaits
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- Hanging out on the train
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- Puffing Billy II
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- Our Final Destination
My friends Terry and Kat live close to the Upwey railway station. This train line ends at Belgrave the last stop and across from Puffing Billy and is one many people take to do the Puffing Billy railway trip. Belgrave Station is literally across the road from the start of the Puffing Billy railway. There are many attractions in the Dandedongs and around Upwey with its parks and beautiful scenery. Near Upwey there is also the Burrinja Cultural Centre which is well worth a visit. Also, the local Upwey, Returned Service Legion has a great restaurant and museum to peruse as well as their own tank outside.
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- Upwey RSL Tank
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- Meal at Kat and Terry’s
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- Pondering life
Puffing Billy is great that you can hang out the windows, in fact, it’s encouraged, which is very unusual for this sort of train. I love going to this area, as the walking is gorgeous for it’s flora and fauna. Also, on our first trip, our friends, had Cockatoos which ate from their bird feeder in their garden every morning, but they had to, get this, stop feeding them, because they became pests! They are flying around everywhere – it’s fantastic!
sounds like a real lovely place, maybe we will get there some day
Reblogged this on JohnandDebbieRTWadventure and commented:
One of my favourite train trips in Australia.