Olinda Travel Guide

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I next drove up to the nearby Mount Dandenong Arboretum. Here there is a carpark, a picnic table and little else save the trees, of which there are 16 hectares of deciduous and conifer varieties. Should you walk among them you may reach a dirt road below and that track you see immediately across the other side is the Mechanics Track, a 2km trail linking the Mount Dandenong Tourist Drive with Olinda Falls.
The track can be slightly boggy in the wet so hiking shoes are advised but the walk through dense thickets of tree ferns beside the gurgling stream is a delight; otherwise though the falls themselves are fairly minor, though attractive. You can also take the option to park at the nearby carpark and then it’s only a short, but steep, hike to the cascades.

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We found a glossy brochure advertising this place so we took a run up to have a looksee. It is not far from Olinda township - in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges - and from what we could see of it it was really something.
I say what we could see - because we didn't have a look at the gardens because I thought the entrance charge was extreme. $7-50, $5 concession, $20 family. I was only in the mood for a quick look.
Maybe we will go back another time. Have lunch in what looks like an agreeable cafe and then stroll in the formal gardens.
The deck of the cafe is the only place you can see into the gardens from.

The nursery is amazing with many rare and unusual plants - not the rows and rows of petunias and azaleas one usually sees - and lots of garden art. Fountains, urns etc. (Very expensive alas, top of the range.)
I was totally inspired and we plan to go back.
I have just checked out the website and I definitely plan to go back. The gardens look quite extraordinary.
The brochure does not mention any charge to go into the gardens - no mention at all - and it just made me cross to find out there was.

An unpresuming restaurant at first glance but, if you like your food Italian style, then this is the place to eat.
Take no notice of the for sale sign, that's only for the premises, not the restaurant.

Favorite Dish: The pizza was the closest to true Italian that I've eaten in Australia. Thin crispy crust lightly garnished with the flavours you'd expect. Best pizza I've had in Australia.

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Favorite thing: My next goal was the perennial favourite, the National Rhododendron Gardens, set tucked away at the back of Olinda. I deliberately used the word “perennial” because many people think that the only time to visit is in spring when a stunning array of rhododendrons is in full bloom. My advice is to visit whatever the season for there is so much more to the gardens; the lush greens of summer, the exotic lilies, the reflective lakes with their reed beds and the weird trees and shrubs. To walk there anytime is a pleasure as I discovered while talking to a local who comes here every day for her daily stroll. She described in vivid detail the changing seasons and what they bring to the garden.

Fondest memory: Walking around here in spring is one of the great garden walks of Australia but, as I said previously, just walking around here anytime is special. Take note of all the exotic species, some will amaze you.

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Favorite thing: However, that magnificent garden is but the tip of the iceberg. Next time up I went to William Ricketts Sanctuary, an iconic attraction whose creator originally named it the Potters Sanctuary, to revisit the wooden and stone sculptures of aborigines, a race that William had a special affinity for after spending time with them in the outback. He felt that their spiritual values regarding the land should be adopted by all.

Fondest memory: No less a well known figure than Billy Connelly said it, “..was the most impressive thing I’ve seen in Australia”. Ricketts died in 1993, aged 94, but there’s a self portrait of him among the sculptures. Every face carved is of someone, they are all original and, while you’re there, try and discover the spiritual meaning of the concentric circles, a theme revisited many times throughout the park.
It was here that I found out things had changed. Every Parks Victoria site on the mountain was free, where once there had been a charge.
There's a story behind pic 3. The lady is ex-German and had never been to the garden but her mother in Germany read an article about it and wanted to know why she hadn't been there!

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Favorite thing: The winding roads lead ever upward to near where Mount Dandenong, at 633 metres the highest point, lords over all that surrounds and the attraction called Sky High can be found. A cafe, BBQ and picnic areas, attractive formal gardens, and spectacular views across Melbourne's eastern suburbs and to the city from various viewing platforms can be had. Views can also be enjoyed from Burke's Lookout at Mount Corhanwarrabul, about one kilometre south of the Mount Dandenong peak.
However Sky High costs, to get in, to park, to do anything. Might I point you in the direction of other aspects of the Dandenongs, particularly those associated with Parks Victoria, for which you won’t even have to reach into your pocket for loose change.

Fondest memory: On one of my previous daytrips up there I visited the Albert Nicholas Gardens, named after the man behind that most famous of medications, Aspro; for this was once the family home. I was shocked to learn that this garden, whose boatshed features on every second publication about the Dandenongs, was free to the public. The winding pathways that lead up and down the hillside ultimately finish up at the most delightful pond in the area. It took an English gardener and 80 assistants to render what you see today after Alfred bought 20 acres in 1929.