The Dandenong Ranges is a really lovely place to visit at any time. And this was our meetup point today.
The drive up to Olinda took me through tracts of gorgeous tree ferns and towering mountain ash. I rolled down my windows so I could also hear the birds. I even spied a kookaburra in the branches above me as I drove up the hill.
The road is quite narrow and windy with sharp bends. There are restaurants, function centres and private homes beside the road on the steep hillside.
The fresh green spring growth added to the allure of the place especially where the sun shines through the leaves.
Unfortunately I could not take photos as I was driving on my own today. You can get an idea of the place from what others have posted here of Sherbrooke Forest which is a popular walking and picnicking area in the Dandenong Ranges.
I pass Sassafras on the way up. It is smaller and quieter than Olinda where I am headed. There is a well known toy shop (Geppetto’s workshop) there and Miss Marple’s Tearoom. I often see tourist coaches parked in front of it.
Soon I am in Olinda. It is quite crowded today in Olinda and most of the parking spots are occupied. I eventually find one along the road where there is no time limit.
There are boutique retails stores that sell teas, tea cups and pots, perfumes, soaps, oils, vintage clothes, ceramics, gemstones and other items mixed in between cafes, restaurants and fish and chips shops which just very recently started selling cakes and coffees through a window facing the street.
There is a new very pretty resting spot with benches and landscaping now too in Olinda.
Tono, Femmy and Creighton are already there when I arrive. I had been held up by a traffic accident along the way. Today is going to be quite chill as it’s just the four of us - we are not strangers to one another.
After ordering our food, we catch up with one another’s lives. Pie in the Sky is a well known pie shop. It’s an ideal location to eat and give my local guides presentation.
It’s an ideal spot because it provides so many illustration points to what I’m going to share with the group.
Tono and Creighton are serious photographers and shoot with their Leica and Nikon while Femmy and I use our mobile phones.
These were some of the things I share with the group about reviews and photography.
Photos are probably the easiest place to start contributing to especially if you’re already into photography. Composition, lighting etc was nothing new to these expereinced photographers.
Where Google maps is concerned however, there are a few things to guide what you might want to include in your photos in especially an eatery.
Put yourself in the shoes of as many kinds of people as you can e.g. what might someone dining alone like to know about a place, what about parents with strollers, people with disability issues, couples, a group of friends hanging out together, coffee/tea lovers, pet owners etc.
In those scenarios you might like to pay attention to presence/absence of stairs, pet bowls, high chairs, toilets etc. People naturally take photos of food, but what about the menu? Menus give a lot of useful information which would be good to include.
I like to include photos that give you an idea of the ambience and vibe of a place. Opening hours, the specials of the day board, payment method, awards and delivery methods are also worth including.
Pictures are worth a thousand words. Yes you can describe them when you do a review. Not many people like to write captions, I encouraged the group to do that.
The group had a lot of questions. Yes, when you write a review it is about your personal experience of the place. It has to be truthful and if you have any complaints do give constructive criticism rather than shredding a place. Everyone deserves a chance to improve. There may however be exceptions …
You can add your photos directly via the photos option or attach it to your review. If you return to a review and edit it to add more photos that way, you will not be awarded any points unfortunately. (This is something I wish could be changed.) If you are uploading a lot of videos or photos, internet speed can quickly become an issue. Sometimes it’s better to hold off on posting your review until you’re in a place with reliable internet.
Shop frontage are also desirable subjects to include alongside your food photos.
Yes, anything that is on Google maps can be reviewed (unless posts have been turned off for some reason or other). You can add new places to Google maps too - it is a super power you should use with caution and a great deal of thought. Car parking lots, toilets and playgrounds are all suitable subjects.
It’s good to familiarise yourself with the local guide policies and also be sensible when taking photos with people in it. Yes you can blur out faces with the highlight pen in markup under edit of photos on Google maps but I just noticed the redact tool which pixelates selected sections really beautifully which makes blurring faces much easier.
I encouraged them to add photos they had taken from recent visits to dining places and gardens. And yes, you can keep uploading photos and doing reviews when travelling. Again, be aware of internet connection impact on uploads.
One lesser known fact for local guides to be aware of is that you can only use the one email account to set up your profile on Google maps and the connect platform. Do not post to Google maps on more than one profile/account.
After the explanations and answering more questions, we headed out for a walk around the small township to take photos and do reviews.
We were discrete when taking photos inside a shop and didn’t encounter any issues. I had already mentioned how some proprietors might not like having their art pieces photographed. But most shops are okay with photos. If unsure, do ask for permission.
We met Steve who is a well known photographer Instagram at Loop Art & Photo Space. This is actually his business.
We spent quite a bit of time chatting with Steve and told him also what we were doing in Olinda today as Local Guides.
We didn’t go to the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens in the end because we had spent more time at the photography shop than planned. We were fine with that as we wanted a coffee/tea to finish our outing instead. Most of the cafes close at 4/4.30pm and we wanted to give ourselves time to enjoy our cuppa and nibbles.
We were just the threesome by that stage as Creighton had to leave at 3pm.
Our final stop was Olinda Cafe which is a pet friendly place with an outdoor rear courtyard. We decided the fresh air appealed more to us than indoors on such a beautiful day as today.
Femmy was my star student today. She was an “accidental” local guide. After today’s workshop, she was already advancing in leaps and bounds with the quantity and quality of her photo posts before the end of our time together. I think I’ve got a challenger for a spot at the next Connect Live meetup.
Thanks for reading.
Was there anything in what you’ve just read that you found useful?
