Wine tour and riding the pufferbilly

Friday August 6:

We awakened at 4:45 AM after our first good night of sleep for our first tour of the trip. We're off to visit the Yarra Valley wineries and ride the Puffing Billy RR.  Our hotel is in Healesville about a 30 minute drive from Lilydale, which is about an hour from Melbourne by train. The Metro train took us straight to our tour bus station. We joined our tour and were away at 8:15.

The train was very easy to negotiate and we found that passengers were very willing to talk and advise us about stops, where to get on and off, and how to get where we needed to be.  I can't help but remember many trips on New York subways and some futile attempts to ask folks for directions.  We are all impressed by the friendly inquiries and helpfullness of the folks here, even at 6:00 AM!

A Cockatoo

Our first stop was to have some tea at Grants Picnic Ground. It featured a very nice Aviary with many local and exotic birds. We got our first look at a Cockatoo and some other very colorful birds.

The Puffing Billy

The Puffing Billy railway was next and we enjoyed our 25 minute ride through the Sherbrooke Forest.  We rode through the clouds and fog of the Dandenong mountains, enjoying the tree ferns and stately eucalyptus trees. The forest was rich, full and green. The season here is late winter/early spring.

Riding the Puffing Billy
the Traditional Way

Our first winery was the Fergusson vineyard where we ate lunch and had our first tasting. The Sharaz Jeremy was my favorite. Karen enjoyed a glass of Victoria Chardonnay.

Our second winery was the Rochford where did a full wine tasting of three different wines. A little fudge and some wine flavored ice-cream and we were off to Domaine Chandon and some sparking wine. We took a tour of the facility, learning about the types of wine and the wine making process. We learned about fermentation, riddling, crown caps, and corks, finishing our tour with a toast and a taste of Australia's finest sparkling wine.

At Domaine Chandon