Healesville and Giant Steps

We have had friends from the Netherlands staying with us for the past week or so - they are now in Port Douglas, then driving all the way back to Melbourne over the course of a few weeks.

It's nice having visitors, because you do end up making more of an effort to get out and about.  On their last day in Melbourne before QLD, we took them out to Healesville Sanctuary and then to Giant Steps winery for lunch.

The Daddy and I really love Healesville Sanctuary - but there is one important 'insider trick'.  You must get there early, particularly in Summer and even moreso in school holidays.  It opens at 9am, and as long as you arrive within the first half hour or so, you will have a brilliant time.  If you arrive later, there may be 1 hour+ lines, in the sun.  Then, when you get in, you may find that the animals are few and far between, because they are a) hiding from the heat and b) sick of all the people.

Arriving early means you can get through in under 2 hours, seeing all of the animals, without any crowds, and you can enjoy strolling through the bushland without feeling like you are going to keel over from the sun.

We went with our guests, Chris and Cyrelle, as well as my parents, sister and her school friend.  The drive up there took about an hour, and Tabitha was great in the car (Cyrelle works in early childhood in Holland, and is kind of a baby whisperer - she can stroke her forehead in a certain way and put her into a trance!).

When we arrived, Tabby was thrilled to stretch her legs and eat an Anzac cookie:

I didn't take loads of photos because I was too busy enjoying the experience (plus other people's photos of wombats are never as thrilling as the real thing).

But there was one absolute doll of a baby wallaby who was so friendly and curious, she came right up to us and nuzzled in for us to pat her under her chin!  Because we were the only ones in the area, we got to spend plenty of time with her.  In fact, Tabitha got so chummy that she reached out, cuddled her neck and pulled her face in for a big kiss on the lips!  My mother got it on video which is gorgeous.

Here is the sweet little thing:

Right by the kangaroo enclosure, there was an enormous trampoline / super awesome jumping castle sort of area.  Basically, a giant, incredibly bouncy bubble, larger than our entire apartment!  In the middle, below, you can see my sister in the air, doing a forwards flip.  Adults are allowed to play, and I spent a good ten minutes leaping around through the air.

To be frank, having a good play on this thing is worth the $25 or so entry alone, in my opinion!

Tabitha was shrieking with excitement watching us all bounce around (it's far too intense for her to have a go in the middle).  She enjoyed bouncing around the gentle edges:

After Healesville, we all drove across to the nearby Giant Steps winery restaurant.  Everyone I know who has been there raves about it - we've been there many times, and never get sick of it.  The food is really gorgeous, even the chips (skin on, hand cut, with homemade aioli) and the bread - sourdough made on site, the best sourdough I've ever had (we always bring home a loaf or two).

The kids' menu is really decent too - Tabitha had homemade fish fingers (blue grenadier) with broccoli, which she loved, since fish and broccoli are two of her favourites.

Eskimo kisses for Q:

The best pizzas outside of Brooklyn...

Red rockling curry:

Here is my dad with our Dutch visitors:

The Portuguese custard tarts and the flourless chocolate cake are well worth a go, as is their pink Moscato sorbet.

Excitingly, Chris and Cyrelle have taught Tabitha a few Dutch words - finished, yummy, stop, more and maybe some others.