Melbourne, Yarra Valley & Gippsland June 2009

In June 2009 I was fortunate to be chosen by Tourism Australia as one of the UK Premier Aussie specialist delegates to attend ATE – The Australian Tourism Exchange. It's a huge travel trade event held annually and that year, it was held in Melbourne. The event itself runs for three days and tourism buyers and sellers have around 100 meetings during that time, It’s a fantastic way for tourism professionals to learn about all that Australia has to offer.

Before the event, our group was taken on a three-day familiarisation trip around Victoria, taking in Melbourne, the Yarra Valley and Walhalla in Gippsland.

On our first day, we took a guided bike tour of Melbourne, passing by the Convention Centre where ATE would be held, through the university area and passing by the MCG and Rod Laver stadium. It was a great orientation tour of the city.

Later, we took a helicopter tour over the city and surrounding area, which gave us a wider perspective and showed us how close many ‘country’ attractions are to the city. The day concluded with dinner in the private dining suite of the Park Hyatt, one of the best hotels in Melbourne and a welcome bed for the night.

The next day our adventure began - after breakfast we travelled to Walhalla. Walhalla is an old gold-mining town which is being lovingly restored to its former glory by the owners of the Star Hotel, where we stayed the night. They have re-opened the steam train track and managed to locate and re-locate original buildings from many parts of Australia - the population is tiny but the civic pride is huge. Unfortunately, I missed the tour of the gold-mine as I was unwell and spent the rest of the stay in bed but by all accounts it was a fascinating tour and I must go back some time.

The following day we travelled to the Yarra Valley where we were taken on a winery tour, including Domain Chandon, the home of Aussie champagne. We went for a tasting lunch, the pleasures of which were lost on me as I was still feeling crook! We toured the area, visiting a number of accommodations including Yering River Lodge and Chateau Yering before staying overnight at the Sebel.

In the morning, before returning to Melbourne for the start of ATE, we watched the dawn come up from the basket of a hot-air balloon. The balloons are sponsored by the wineries in the region and ours were de Bertoli and Domain Chandon. It’s a lovely way to see the area, it's very quiet and peaceful up there looking down on the wildlife hopping around. It was a great start to the day and the conclusion of a fantastic little taster tour of some of what Victoria has to offer within easy reach of Melbourne.