Emerald Lake Park

Yesterday was Saturday. I decided to go to Cardinia Reservoir with my uncle, aunt, grandma, and another family. We took two cars.

When we arrived at Cardinia Reservoir, we couldn't find any spare barbecues, so we had to leave and go elsewhere. We went instead to Emerald Lake Park and saw Puffing Billy. We didn't actually ride on Puffing Billy but we saw it. The reason why we didn't catch the train was because my aunt was very price conscious and didn't want to pay $20 for a train ticket when she could buy a train ticket from Connex for $3. She clearly didn't understand that the Puffing Billy experience is completely different to a suburban train ride. The former is recreational while the latter is functional, that is, we catch suburban trains to get to work.

We ate food at Emerald Lake Park and then walked around the place. There were many families around and lots of little kids running about. One little girl with pigtails was running around in circles and I blocked the circle she was running around in, so she stared at me for a while.

We saw a donkey that was being used for someone's party. It was a party for a little girl named Vanessa. It was her third birthday party. I must admit I was envious when I see kids nowadays getting spoiled with nice birthday parties because I had nothing when I was young. One little girl got on the donkey and as the donkey rode past us, the girl waved at us.

Even though we had to pay $6 for parking for the whole day, I must say it was worth it. The place was beautiful. The lake was especially beautiful. I think it's good that they charge us because that way the place is not too crowded. That was the problem with Cardinia Reservoir. Parking fees keep enough people away so that there is space for everyone. If there are too many people then the administrators can simply increase prices. They keep raising prices until supply equals demand. The fact that I didn't actually pay helped as well.

When we drove back from Emerald Lake Park, we went to Cardinia Reservoir again and found some Kangaroos. We got close to them and took pictures but once we got too close the Kangaroos got scared and backed off.