The verdant sanctuary of the Dandenong Ranges, only 50 km east of Melbourne,is a tourist attraction renowned for their beauty and has been a popular picnic ground for Victorians for more than 70 years.The area is fairly closely settled and there a number of pretty townships dotted about the hills.

This suburban park stretches across three sections of Mount Dandenong.

Ferntree Gully National Park, Doongalla and Sherbrooke Forest are part of the 1920-hectare Dandenong Ranges National Park, where you can see lush trees and ferns, and variety of flora and fauna.

The Ferntree Gully block boasts natural bushland and offers a variety of interesting walks, while the Sherbrooke section includes the tumbling Sherbrooke Falls. Sherbrooke Forest is unspoiled bushland with a large population of lyrebirds. The Doongalla section offers spectacular views and rugged bush trails leading down the western side of the mountain.

William Ricketts Sanctuary, on Mount Dandenong Tourist Road, is a natural forest area in which Ricketts, a musician and naturalist sculpted a number of Aboriginal figures and symbolic scenes in clay.

The large tree ferns, the variety of eucalypts, the sounds of the many bellbirds are among the natural beauties that will reward visitors to the park.

At 633 metres, Mount Dandenong is the highest point of the ranges, and at its summit there are excellent views.

The Puffing Billy narrow-stream train, one of the Dandenong's most famous attractions, leaves from Belgrave and travels 14 kilometres to Emerald Lake. This small train runs several times daily.

The scenic journey from Belgrave through the temperate forest and over trestle bridges to Emerald.

Emerald was the first settlement in the area(1858) and is situated on a high ridge. It has a number of interesting galleries and in the surrounding countryside there are lavender farms and attractive picnic spots.

World-famous Healesville Sanctuary.

To see all of Australia's distinctive fauna in one huge natural enclosure, take a tour to Healesville Sanctuary. 32-ha reserve housing a variety of native birds and animals in largely natural busnland setting, yet displays enable animals to seen in close proximity. Opened in 1934, it has the largest collection of Australian native species in the world, including snakes, birds, kangaroos, koalas, emus and wombats. The best feature of this park is that the animals roam the ground among the onlookers.

Many of the animals room freely; there are “walk-through” aviaries, excellent nocturnal displays and viewing of the extraordinary platypus at the World of the Platypus exhibit. The highlight is the “Where Eagles Fly exhibit, for which ranges and birds of prey combine in an aweinspring display.

One of the two oldest regions near Melbourne is the Yarra Valley region.

This region's premium wine has had a rebirth after starting in the early 1850s and petering out as late as the 1920s. There is a wide range of wines produced in the area, from sparkling wine to quality reds and white table wines.

The Yarra Valley is now one of Australian's premier wine-growing districts, offering world-class vintages. St Huberts Winery in Coldstream, one of the oldest in the region. Domaine Chandon, the Australian winery of French champagne manufactures Moet et Chandon, has a vineyard