The Nomadic Explorers | Australian Travel Blog

Today is Dec 18, 2015 and I am happy to say the summer has finally arrived to Melbourne, as well as school holidays (no more lunch-boxes!!!). It is a perfect time to spend on a beach, swimming and relaxing. In case if you are not a big fan of water activities (as I am), there are lots of places in Melbourne to escape the heat and enjoy warm weather.

Today I am going to tell you about some of these places with no crowds, no sand but some water and tall trees. It is about one of our trips to Warburton - one of the most picturesque places in the Yarra Valley. As you may guess, it is a retro post again, but I thought that it is a perfect time to get back in time.

Ho-ho-ho! Christmas is coming! Have a nice virtual day walk with us to celebrate the festive season in true Melbourne style!

(I'll share night photos with projections a little bit later, so stay tuned!)

For last couple of months it is been quiet here. As usual, I have perfect excuses for being silent: we had some family-related issues, projects to be implemented, small business to run and so on… For many reasons every evening I felt very exhausted and couldn’t find any strength to sit down and spend 3+ hours to write a new post…

Things are slightly better  today, so here I am, back with retro-post about one of the family cycling trips in Melbourne that we did this winter. We travelled from Pluto to the Sun and back in just 2 hours.

Interested? Then keep reading.

Alowyn Gardens and nursery in the Yarra Valley just outside of Yarra Glen was on the top of my "to visit in spring" list. I have heard many great things about this garden and I happy that we visited this beautiful place in spring whilst the garden is in full bloom.

As Yarra Valley is quite far away from our place (~1.5h drive), we usually prefer to see other places in that area as well. For this weekend trip we've planned to visit not only Alowyn Gardens, but also see 'HopForHope' exhibition at Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery. Finally we went to Maroondah Reservoir Park to enjoy the rest of the Saturday.

When I posted last time I mentioned that we spend most of our weekends walking and cycling. I also realised that there is not that much in this blog about our adventures on bikes. Here is the reason for this: I don't have enough photos to illustrate our trips :) Each time when riding I see a good spot to take a photo, I have to 1) stop 2) get off from the bike 3) take a camera 4) switch it on 5) focus 6) take a picture 7) put the camera back 8) hop on the bike 9) ride as fast as I can to get back to the main group. Sounds annoying? Yes, it is. In fact, it takes a LOT of time, and I hate to keep my friends waiting for me on literally every corner. So even if I take my camera with me, I rare use it. As a result, even if have cycled most of bike trails around Melbourne, I have only two or three posts about them.

Anyway, it is time to change things a little bit, so in a few weeks I'll post some more about our rides.

Last Saturday we cycled from Roxburg Park to City via Broadmeadows Valley, Moonee Ponds and Capital City Trails. The 33kms downhill ride is relatively easy and can be done with kids.

Its been a while since I posted my last entry. There are two reasons for that. Firstly I am quite busy at this moment finishing other projects. It is a real challenge for me to find some time to sit and write down a blog note. Secondly, as the weather warms up, we prefer to spend most of the time not indoors, but outdoors, walking and cycling altogether.

Anyway, as spring has arrived to Melbourne, everything is in full bloom. One of our latest trips was to the National Rhododendron Gardens - one of our favourite gardens in Dandenong region. End of September is the best time to see cherry blossoms and magnolias, so if you love these flowers as I do - read no more further.

Situated in the Dandenongs in a ferny glade, the William Ricketts Sanctuary is a place of beauty and tranquility, due to the natural setting and the mystical sculptures half hidden among ferns along enchanting pathways. It is a place for quiet reflection and for contemplation of the essence of the vision of William Ricketts.

The Sanctuary is one of the hidden gems in Dandenongs. This wonderful open air gallery of sculptures  blends seamlessly into the surrounding forest. It is a great place for Melbournians who have not before been there as well as a fantastic tourist attraction.

The Cape Schanck Lighthouse at Mornington Peninsula has been sitting at the top of the cliff top overlooking the Bass Strait since 1859. This working lighthouse keeps the shipping lanes safe for boats of all types as they pass Mornington Peninsula to and from Melbourne, as it is part of a triangle of Bass Strait lights, the other two being Cape Otway and Cape Wickham Lighthouses, of radio controlled lights and signals.

Cape Schanck is also one of our favourite one day trip destinations, as it takes only 1h drive to get there from our place. I took lots of photos of the Lighthouse from the Cape many times and wished to see it closer one day. So when my mum came to visit us we decided that it is time to visit the Lightstation altogether and learn more about it.

As some of you may know, we LOVE zoos. At the moment of writing (Aug 2015) we visited zoos in Melbourne, Ballarat, Adelaide, Perth and in Sydney. And when I am talking about zoos I mean classic ‘zoo’, not a wildlife park (we love and visit them on every occasion as well).

Today I am going to share with you a lifehack how to receive a free entry for a year to most major zoos around Australia.

The Montalto Sculpture Park located on Mornington Peninsula is the place designed for those who enjoyed walking in the McClelland Gallery, but also would like to try some local wines. The Park houses over 20 permanent sculptures sensitively sited throughout the grounds amongst the vines and wetlands.

We visited the park on rainy winter day, so don't be surprised with dark photos :) I believe that when it is warm and sunny the Park looks completely different.