The Yarra Valley and The Dandenong Ranges

The beautiful Yarra Valley, at the foot of the Dandenong Ranges, is home to some of Australia's best cool-climate wineries. They are known for their Methode Champenoise sparkling wines, Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. Most of the wineries are open daily for wine tastings. Several Cranbourne Restaurant also have restaurants, serving food to accompany they're fine wines.

Just past the bush town of Yarra Glen with its old hotel, the Yarra Glen Grand, is the historic Gulf Station. Owned by the National Trust, it provides an authentic glimpse of farming life at the end of the 19th century.

The Dandenong Ranges

Since the mid-19th century, the Dandenong Ranges, to the east of Melbourne, has been an accessible weekend retreat for city residents. The cool of the mountain ash forests, lush fern gullies, and bubbling creeks provide a welcome relief from the bayside heat. The area abounds with plant nurseries, bed-and-breakfasts, and tearooms reached via twisting mountain roads that offer outstanding views over Melbourne and the bay.

The magnificent gardens of the Dandenongs, many of which once belonged to the mansions of wealthy families, are excellent for walks and picnics. Particularly famous is the Alfred Nicholas Memorial Garden at Sherbrooke with its oaks, elms, silver birches and Japanese maples around a boating lake. Flowers are the undeniable attraction of the National Rhododendron Gardens at Olinda and Tesselaar's Tulip Farm at Silvan. A steam train, Puffing Billy, runs several times daily from Belgrave through 24 km (15 miles) of gullies and forests to Emerald Lake and on to Gembrook.

The superb lyrebird makes its home in the Dandenongs, particularly in Sherbrooke Forest. The 7-km (4-mile) Eastern Sherbrooke Lyrebird Circuit Walkthrough mountain ash offers a chance to glimpse these beautiful but shy birds. Another gentle walk is the 11-km (6-mile) path from Sassafras to Emerald.

Healesville Sanctuary, with its 30 ha (75 acres) of natural bushland, remains the best place to see indigenous Australian animals in relatively relaxed captivity. Highlights of any visit are the sightings of rare species such as platypuses, marsupials, and birds of prey. This is a favorite place to bring children who want to learn about Australian wildlife.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne

The royal botanic gardens in Melbourne are the city's pride and joy, but they have not concentrated exclusively on native flora. The Cranbourne Botanic Gardens fill that niche. Amid the lakes, hills, and dunes of this bushland park, banksias, wattles, grevilleas, casuarinas, eucalypts, and pink heath bloom, while wrens, honeyeaters, galahs, rosellas, cockatoos, and parrots nestle among the gardens' trees.