Yarra Valley Wildlife & Wine Day Tour from Melbourne with Healesville Sanctuary

Covid-19 has been a massive interruption for so many people and businesses, but Paul and Rob didn't miss a beat, and neither did the Healesville Sanctuary and the vineyards. Healesville Sanctuary had only just re-opened, and some exhibits were not available. The staff and volunteers were friendly and welcoming, happy to share their knowledge. The bird presentation was the highlight. Lunch at Yering Station was exquisite and the grounds and cellar door are just beautiful. The van is quite comfortable. Paul is a consummate guide and host, and I enjoyed it so much, I went on another tour the next day.

Nice, interesting trip. Seen typical Australian animals; bird show at Healesville. Wine tasting good, dinner excellent. Really great guide Shaun.

Stephen did a really nice job the two winery's and the sanction make a good combo mind if breaks it up thx andy

This tour was excellent. Rob was a great tour guide as were the volunteers that walked us through the sanctuary. Could have spent more hours at the wildlife sanctuary, 3 hours was not enough time to see everything. I need to go back. After the sanctuary moved to the Yering Station Winery for our first tasting flight that was most excellent (came home with 2 bottles of their Pinot Noir) followed by an amazing lunch over looking the valley. After lunch drove 15 mins to the DeBortoli Winery for a perfect wine and cheese pairing. Again, some great wine (came away with another bottle of Pinot Noir and Cabernet). Drove through the countryside enroute back to Melbourne, beautiful country, and got to see a mob of kangaroos. Was a perfect day! Picked up at the Marriott Lonsdale 0900 and dropped off shortly after 1800. Proud to say, all 4 bottles, survived the flight back to the US.

Shane was a knowledgeable and pleasant guide. He learned all our names and made an effort to engage everyone. The sanctuary was very good as well as the wines we tried.

Great trip and driver. Enjoyed seeing the Australian wildlife at Healesville very much. Our afternoon in the Yarra Valley with lunch at Yering was a great way to finish off the day. Lunch was exceptional, we tried some new foods and cheeses which made the afternoon interesting.

Wonderful trip to see the animals of Australia. Multiple birds as well as mammals that are not usually seen outside of Australia. We even went to the animal hospital where we saw a koala being cared for after the fires as well as an anesthetized Tasmania Devil. Lunch was in a gourmet restaurant on the grounds of the winery. The stops at the wineries included high end wines from the wineries. We tried a panoply of wines that reflected what the area could produce. These wines are not usually available in the USA.

We had a wonderful trip. We were first picked up at our hotel by Shane, our guide and driver for the day, who took us through the origins and history of the city of Melbourne. His extensive knowledge of its history was extensive and fun to listen to. First stop at the Healesville Sanctuary was informative and enjoyable. Helen, the volunteer guide at the sanctuary was lovely and entertaining. Her depth of knowledge of both the plants and animals in the sanctuary was impressive. She showed us around as much as she could, and even had us feed the different types of birds there. The bird show was totally awesome too. Our questions were always promptly answered and we really appreciated that. We were then picked up again by Shane, and headed for the wineries. His knowledge of the different wines, their respective aromas and undertones was truly amazing. He was not only well versed in the history of each of the wineries but also of Yarra Valley. He was a great help to us amateurs who knew little about the types of wines. Lunch at Yerring Station was of good quality and delicious. It was paired with a glass of wine of our choice, with Shane offering useful suggestions which was greatly appreciated. He was cheerful, warm and friendly, attentive, helpful and very passionate about wines. In all aspects, both of them were wonderful and excellent guides. We absolutely enjoyed ourselves. Time allocated for all the individual stops and activities was adequate and the pace was not rushed nor too long. Once again, thanks for the really fantastic time!

Our tour guide, Steven, was excellent. Experienced and knowledgeable. I felt that he made sure we got the most out of the day particularly at the wineries. Picked up right on schedule just before 9am but as we were the last picked up we were "stuck" with the least desirable seat at the back of the van. A bit cramped and got the most of the bumps. Sit toward the front if you can. Fairly quick trip to the Yarra Valley (approximately an hour) but peppered with insights throughout. Dropped off at the Healesville Sanctuary for almost 3 hours of exploring. Nice facility throughout. Was able to see all of the "traditional" Australian wildlife. This was not our first trip to Australia so we've been to other sanctuaries that we could compare it to. This would be lower on our list for koalas and kangaroos, however, the highlight for us was the Platypus exhibit. Go to the presentation and get to see a a platypus up close and in broad daylight. That was the highlight for us. Steven picked us up right on time and we went to Yering Station Winery for a private tasting and lunch. Both were excellent. Lunch was a little later in the day than we Americans would typically do so be prepared with a snack or get something at the Sanctuary. Beautiful view of wine country from the large windows of the restaurant. Finished the day at De Bortoli Winery. Even better tasting paired with great cheeses as well. Beautiful property and the vineyards seemed endless. Back to Melbourne and arrived at the hotel around 6pm. All in all a great day and was able to see a new area of Melbourne for us. Great tour company and tour guide!

My mom and I were looking for a day trip from Melbourne and were thrilled that we decided on this one. We did a lot of research into different options, looked at some that were purely wildlife-focused and some that were entirely winery-focused, and booked this one after deciding that we wanted some of both. It was the perfect combination, and the perfect amount of each! The sanctuary visit was wonderful. We both care a lot about animals and conservation and really liked what we saw there. The two vineyards were also incredible. We got to sample a good amount of wines, the tastings were fun and informative, and the lunch at the first one was delicious. Our tour guide, Paul, was fantastic the entire day. He was extremely knowledgeable, personable, friendly, and experienced. He went out of his way to learn each of our names, and he shared an incredible amount of information. The small group size (ours was 9) was also a plus...small enough that you get to know the other travelers, especially over lunch. The tour is a good value for what you get. If we had done the day on our own, it would have been at least as expensive, and we wouldn't have gotten the benefit of the guide and the group to travel with. Overall, a fabulous experience! We are so happy we did it, it was one of our favorite days in Australia!