Up, up and away over Victoria's Yarra Valley

The plains of the Yarra Valley are dotted with neat vineyards, wineries, farms and market gardens, luxury resorts and small towns. Picture / Jim Eagles

As our huge, colourful balloon rose gently into the air the Australian pilot began singing - tunelessly, but who am I to criticise? - "Would you like to fly in my beautiful ballooooooon?"

He quickly ran out of words, but it didn't matter - we were all too busy marvelling at the unfolding panorama of Victoria's Yarra Valley in the misty pre-dawn light.

Below were the plains of the valley, dotted with neat vineyards and huge wineries, lush farms and market gardens, luxury resorts and small towns. Through the heart of this fertile landscape snaked the tree-lined Yarra River with patches of mist rising from its banks.

The sun was coming up behind the dark mass of the Yarra Ranges, where the river has its origins, and in the distance early rays of light were glinting off the towers of Melbourne, where the river meets the sea.

According to Tourism Victoria, the traditional place for Melbourne folk to go for a break is the Dandenong Ranges, with their lush eucalypt forests and cooler temperatures, and the adjacent Yarra Valley, with its food, wine and art. So we decided to follow their example.

The best way to discover the Dandenongs, I reckon, is on the grand old Puffing Billy steam railway.

Half a dozen times a day a team of volunteers run steam train services out of the town of Belgrave, chuffing along a picturesque route through the lofty eucalypts of Sherbrook Forest, across old trestle bridges and past once-busy stations, through towns with names like Cockatoo, Clematis, Lakeside and Menzies Creek to the historic town of Gembrook 24km away.

Lots of people on our trip got off at Lakeside to picnic beside the tiny Emerald Lake. But we only had time for a quick stroll before a loud whistle signalled the train was heading back to Belgrave.

To see the rest of the Dandenongs it's best to meander by car along the lovely scenic roads which wind their way through its lofty forests, countless parks, quaint old towns - with shops filled with the most awful kitsch I've seen in many a year - and beautiful gardens like the magnificent National Rhododendron Centre.

The best of these is the William Ricketts Sanctuary, now run by Parks Victoria, but created over a 60-year period by the talented but eccentric William Ricketts.

Before he died at 93 he had developed a network of paths through lush trees and ferns, and placed 92 sculptures, mostly of Aborigines, some in little grottoes, many moulded into the area's natural rocks, several peering out through the greenery.

This is a tranquil place, the silence broken only by bird calls and the occasional appearance of the lyre birds Ricketts loved.

From this mystical beauty it's only a short drive into the sunshine and hedonism of Yarra Valley, where the landscape is dominated by vineyards and the emphasis seems to be on eating, drinking and making merry.

If you visit only one winery in the Yarra it should probably be Greenpoint, home of Domaine Chandon, the Australian arm of the champagne house of Moet and Chandon, built in 1990 in a magnificent setting on the banks of the Yarra River.

Unlike most wineries it bottles all year round and has been built to give visitors a great view of every stage of the operation, including the riddling hall where thousands of bottles sit in racks and are turned by hand, a quarter turn each time (our guide reckons it takes seven years to train people to turn the bottles properly - Aussies must be slow learners).

Afterwards there's the wine to taste. For A$15 ($16) you can get four half glasses of different sparkling wines - whatever you do don't call it champagne! - and spend a pleasant time sitting in the restaurant, looking out at the vines and the lake beyond, sipping and watching the bubbles rise.

I ended up with eight half-filled glasses in front of me, and a passing group of Japanese tourists pointed in amazement, laughed, took photos and made "drink up" gestures. Unfortunately I was driving so I had to leave most of the wine.

Another vineyard not to be missed is TarraWarra, a magnificent modern complex housing both a winery and a superb art museum, created by Eva and Marc Besen, owners of the Sussan womanswear chain which also operates in New Zealand.

Wine and art lovers, the Besens established the TarraWarra Estate winery 20 years ago with the aim of producing outstanding chardonnay and pinot noir.

They followed that up six years ago by opening Australia's first privately funded art museum alongside the winery - encouraged by changes to Australian tax law designed to promote philanthropic investments - to house the marvellous collection of Australian modern art they've been assembling over the past 50 years.

The result is an amazing purpose-built gallery, on a wonderful hilltop vineyard site, which is both interesting and functions superbly.

When we visited it was mainly being used to house a fascinating survey of 30 years of work by Australian-Chinese artist John Young, who uses a mixture of painting, photography and computer-generated images to comment on Australian-Asian relations.

We had never seen Young's work before and were so intrigued by his exhibition - and the few paintings from the Besens' collection - that we decided to forgo some of the wine tasting next door in order to look a bit longer.

The farms and gardens we drifted across in our balloon produce some very tasty produce and have some great restaurants. If you can go to only one, make it the marvellous Healesville Hotel, a restored country pub. It's not only a good place for a few cool ales on a hot day but also has an award-winning restaurant.

Or, if you've got time for two dinners, why not follow the tip we got from a chef up in the Dandenongs: get a bottle of wine, buy some fish and chips and take them to one of the many picnic areas on the banks of the river. Magic!

After that, you may feel the need for a little exercise, and Healesville also offers the chance for a walk on the wild side.

Drifting across the Yarra Valley you notice there's still quite a lot of forest cover left.

We went for a night walk in one of those areas - Badger Weir, on the fringes of the Yarra Ranges National Park - with Karen Garth of Eco-Adventure Tours.

At night time many of Australia's furry little creatures come out to play. Walking through the bush with a spotlight we saw some cute little sugar gliders, greater gliders, brushtailed possums - where's my gun? - bats, owls and fat old wombats.

But if you prefer to see the wildlife in daylight, the Healesville Sanctuary, an adjunct to the Melbourne Zoo, is just round the corner and has more than 200 species of wildlife on display.

I've been to many zoos and wildlife parks in Australia but this one is special because you can get close to the shy platypus, watch wombats snuggling up for a sleep under a sacking blanket, stroke snakes and have fierce wedgetailed eagles fly centimetres above your head.

One of the highlights is the birds of prey presentation, which lets you see not just eagles but also owls, buzzards, kites and peregrine falcons flying so freely that sometimes they take a break and go to visit the rellies in the wild - just overhead.

Because of my name I've always felt an affinity for flying things and the name certainly stood me in good stead when it came to the balloon flight.

A dicey weather forecast made it likely our flight would have to be cancelled. But our pilot was keen to go - he wanted to be able to say he'd taken a couple of Eagles for a balloon ride - and the bad weather went somewhere else.

So as the first fingers of dawn were appearing over the Yarra Ranges we climbed into the basket, the gas burner produced a blast of hot air which nearly cooked my poorly insulated skull and it was, "Up up and awaaaay in my beautiful balloooooon ... "


* Jim Eagles visited the Dandenongs and the Yarra Valley as guest of Tourism Victoria.


How to get there
Qantas has regular flights from Auckland to Melbourne. See their website (link provided below) or phone 0800 808 767.

Where are the Dandenongs?
About 40km east of Melbourne.

Where to stay
Monreale Estate Sassafras offers romantic getaways in individual cottages, each with their own spa pool. See their website (link below) or phone (0061) 3 9755 1773.

Where to eat
There are plenty of good restaurants. Or you could grab a pizza from Rigo's in Dandenong, get a bottle of pinot noir from Olinda Cellars, and dine at one of the many picnic areas.

Activities
Puffing Billy is based in Belgrave. For further information call (0061) 3 9754 6800.
William Ricketts Sanctuary and the National Rhododendron Gardens are off Mt Dandenong Tourist Road near Olinda.

Where is the Yarra Valley?
About 50km east of Melbourne.

Where to stay
Sebel Heritage Yarra Valley, Australia's best resort in 2005, sits in the middle of a Jack Niklaus-designed golf course. Packages include accommodation, golf, winetasting and a balloon ride.

Where to eat
The Healesville Hotel, Australian's best country hotel, is on the web (link below).

Activities
For information about activities see the links below.