Dandenong Ranges: Puffing Billy, wizard Babi Desi, Tecoma Maccas
If you’ve spotted a wizard taking a coffee, protested against Tecoma Maccas and are used to hearing the whistle of Puffing Billy, you’re from the hills. But there’s a few other things you need to tick off, just to make sure.
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From hearing the whistle of Puffing Billy to spotting wizard Baba Desi having a coffee, life in the Dandenong Ranges is truly unique.
Affectionately known as the hills, the Dandenongs are home to towns including Belgrave, Olinda, Sassafras, Ferny Creek, Monbulk and Kallista.
Home to spectacular scenery, winding roads, historic buildings and a huge range of native — and not so native — animals.
Here’s how you know you’re from the Dandenong Ranges.
You’ve spotted Belgrave wizard Babi Desi
With more than 12,000 fans on Facebook, Babi Desi, also known as Des Bergen, is probably the hills’ most well-known identity.
According to the page, Baba Desi, now in his 90s, is an artist, healer and political activist, with a “distinctive air of individualism”.
“Once you meet him, you’re unlikely to forget him,” the page said.
He can often be spotted wearing his colourful turban, eyepatch and robes, staff in hand, enjoying a coffee in at a cafe. He spent his 85th birthday protesting against Tecoma Maccas.
Free Press Leader previously reported that up until the age of 40, Des lived in Sandringham with his wife, children and had a well-paying job as a manager at a city department store.
Soon after he and his wife split, he says he discovered his healing abilities.
Among the miracles he says he performed was healing a young man who fell off a building and was in a coma in St Vincent’s Hospital.
You’re used to the sight and sounds of Puffing Billy
With the popular steam train temporarily not running due to the coronavirus pandemic many hills’ residents have reported missing hearing the train make its journey through the hills.
The century-old steam train runs on its original mountain track from Belgrave to Gembrook, and most years operates every day except Christmas Day.
As a child, you may even remember hanging your legs out of the windows, although a car accident put an end to that tradition.
Thousands of runners try and beat the train in the Great Train Race every year. Famous faces to ride the train over the years include country singer Dolly Parton and former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull.
You protested against Tecoma Maccas
It was the fight that brought thousands of hills residents together, as the community fought to stop the first McDonald’s opening the Dandenong Ranges.
Many residents felt the fast food giant didn’t belong in the “slow food” region.
Other concerns included the restaurant being opposite a preschool and primary school, traffic congestion and litter.
But community rallies, knitting nannies, rooftop vigils and even a trip to McDonald’s headquarters in Chicago weren’t enough to stop the restaurant opening in 2014.
You’re passionate about the environment
Many people living in the hills are passionate about protecting the area from inappropriate development. The community successfully fought off plans to open a zip line attraction in Olinda, fearing its impact on the environment.
The 2010 proposal for the RJ Hamer Arboretum was for a guided canopy tour, set to include tree-mounted aerial platforms connected with suspension bridges and ziplines.
But a group of concerned residents opposed the development, saying it was totally unsuitable for the arboretum and the plan was scrapped.
Locals were also worried about plans to remove trees during the redevelopment of Burnham Beeches in Sherbrooke.
You’ve had a choc top under the stars at the Cameo
Belgrave’s historic Cameo Cinemas is a favourite for hills’ residents, with its popular outdoor cinema popping up each summer, where moviegoers can enjoy popcorn and a choc top under the stars.
From a rundown cinema home to possums and even possibly a few ghosts, Eddie Tamir transformed the Cameo into a much-loved community icon after buying it about 16 years ago.
You can navigate foggy roads
You need to pay attention when driving in the hills in the best of weather, let alone when its foggy. The thick fog can make driving on the mountain a challenge, especially during winter.
You’ve spotted snow in winter
The hills are often transformed into a winter wonderland for several days during the colder months. Even footy players had to play in snow during a match in Olinda last year.
You worry about falling trees
The magnificent trees in the hills can also be incredibly dangerous, causing significant damage to many residents’ homes over the years after crashing down in wild weather.
Tragically a 46-year-old man and a 10-year-old boy were killed when a falling tree struck their car in Sherbooke last July.
And in March a Melbourne husband and wife and their nephew visiting from India were tragically killed when their car was smashed by a falling tree in Kallista.
You’ve used to spotting wildlife
Cockatoos, deer, foxes and the superb lyrebird are among the creatures that call the hills home.
Cockies have long wreaked havoc in the hills, damaging homes and property.
Upwey’s Kaz Mackay made legal history in 2008 when she fought her insurance company after it refused to uphold her claim for damage to her home caused by the cockatoos.
The Victorian Ombudsman ruled she should be fully compensated.
A “cockie conference’’ to tackle the problem of cockatoos chewing their way through homes and schools was held in 2009.
Some people were too scared to leave their homes in fear of what they might come home to.
A feeding ban was introduced this year at Grant’s Picnic Ground, putting an end to a 20-year tradition, because of property damage caused by the cockies and other native bird species being displaced.
Deer became such a problem in the Dandenong Ranges National Park that several years ago Parks Victoria introduced a culling program. A more welcome visitor is the elusive superb lyrebird, which calls Sherbrooke Forest home.
You appreciate the CFA
The hills is one of the most fire-prone areas in the world, and CFA brigades play a crucial role in protecting the community.
Ash Wednesday on February 16, 1983, ripped through Cockatoo, Belgrave Heights and Upper Beaconsfield, killing 27 people and razing 545 buildings.
Fourteen years later, on January 21, 1997, fire tore through Ferny Creek, killing husband and wife Graham and Jenni Lindroth and their neighbour Genevieve Erin. Forty-one homes were destroyed.
Black Saturday, February 7, in 2009, saw fire return to the foothills and it was the hard work of firefighters and residents that saved the Dandenong Ranges from destruction.
You’re creative
There is no shortage of amazing artists in the hills. The region hosts the Dandenong Ranges Open Studios event each year. The Burrinja Cultural Centre in Upwey also holds regular music and art shows.
You know the history of Burnham Beeches
The sprawling Sherbrooke property was the former home of Alfred Nicholas, who co-launched pain relief product Aspro in 1917.
He built Burnham Beeches as his rural retreat in 1933 and died at the historic art deco property in 1937.
The property was used by the Nicholas Institute for medical and veterinary research and was then used as guesthouse accommodation.
Chef Shannon Bennett has since bought the property and opened the popular Piggery Cafe.
Bennett has plans to turn the estate into a $40 million luxury retreat.
You’ve celebrated a birthday at the Cuckoo
German-inspired tourist mecca the Cuckoo opened in 1958 and has played host to countless birthday and celebrations over the years.
Karin and Wilhelm “Willi” Koeppen took over what were known as the Quamby tea rooms, built in 1914, and turned the Cuckoo into a major tourist destination.
Offering a smorgasbord of Bavarian classics, the building is decorated in the style of a Bavarian chalet, staff dress in traditional costumes and it has a popular floorshow.
The restaurant boasts the biggest cuckoo clock outside Germany, and draws tens of thousands of visitors to the Yarra Ranges every year.
The Cuckoo remains at the centre of the hills most enduring mystery, after the disappearance of the country’s first celebrity chef and co-owner Willi Koeppen in 1976.
You’ve spotted the elusive big cat
Are there big cats in the Yarra Ranges? Many people in the hills think so, with many unexplained sightings of mysterious cats over the years. In 2016 a big cat was sighted by Tim Hurley and his girlfriend near the Maroondah Reservoir at Toolangi.
The following year a big black cat the size of a large german shepherd was spotted in Warburton East. Australian Big Cat Research Group founder Vaughan King said the most likely explanation for the existence of big cats in Australia and Victoria was a circus “accidents”. But a 2012 State Government report found the existence of big cats in Victoria was “highly unlikely”.
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