A Family Outing - Mt Dandenong

Hubby & I took our Little Miss to the Dandenongs for the first time on the weekend. It was a perfect sunny day, & the area was abuzz with people: young families, elderly couples, young couples, tourists, cyclists, locals, & the odd motorbike rider or 2. We stopped at Sassafras & Olinda. Here are some of the highlights from our day:

Tea Leaves - a store full of tea, coffee, teapots, infusers, mugs, chocolate-coated coffee beans & more. If you enjoy your tea, or know someone who does, it's definitely worth a visit. It's at 380 Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd, Sassafras, next to Miss Marples Tearoom (another fabulous place which we didn't visit this time around, as our pram was very likely going to be in everyone's way on a busy Sunday afternoon).

Olinda Cafe - a spacious cafe which also has a produce store where you can sample jams, relishes & other yummy local produce. The cafe menu was quite good & the staff were courteous, fast & helpful. Easy access for a pram. 17-19 Olinda-Monbulk Rd, Olinda

Westminster Gifts - my favourite store in the Dandenongs. It has such beautiful gifts, you could spend quite some time in there, as I usually do. They had some lovely French music playing (so I bought a cd), lots of French inspired gifts (I bought one of their canvas prints of the Eiffel Tower), bridal & baby gifts, Venetian masks, ceramics, lace, & so much more. It's a very pretty store. Hubby stayed outside with Little Miss, so she couldn't grab or break anything. It also gave me some valuable time alone to shop. 381 Mount Dandenong Tourist Rd, Sassafras

The Dandenongs are a great day out (or half a day in our case). It's a relaxing day, whether you choose to do some shopping in one of the many little shops, have a picnic, hike on one of the many tracks, have breakfast or lunch, or just take a leisurely stroll. It's beautiful any time of year.

x  Kathy  x