[~strawberry~]

Money has been a bit tight lately, so instead of going away we want to do some day trips to show our kids more of our wonderful state. Today we had fish & chips on the beach at Cowes and went for a swim.

I'm after ideas of where to go and what to do within 2hrs of (outer eastern) Melbourne. Kids are 6 & 4.

Also, I have limited mobility so anything that involves walking is somewhat limited.



TIA

[WibbleWobble]

Macedon Ranges area is lovely. You could have a picnic at Hanging Rock. The picnic area has some flat spaces, a toilet block and a cafe. They have a monthly market as well.

[sasar]

I've got a list going... being new to Melbourne and all

Geelong - carousel, big wheel, lots of sculptures
Where Seachange was filmed
Ballarat
Twelve apostles
Brighton beach boxes
St Kilda and Luna Park
See a game of AFL
See the snow
Coastal drive
Melbourne Zoo
Aquarium
Collingwood children's farm
See a comedy show (w/o kids)
About five different markets
The street where neighbours is filmed

I also just search 'what's on melbourne' every Saturday morning and will just choose something from there if there is a festival or a parade to go to.

Hopefully I'll get some more ideas from this thread too.

[chicken_bits]

I've heard good things about this place. Your kids would love it:
http://www.raynerstonefruit.com.au/

[Mummaduke]

Another vote for Macedon Ranges, you can drive to the top of Mt Macedon and there is a very brief (500m) paved path to the cross on the top which has a great view back to Melbourne.

You could easily do Mt Macedon and Hanging Rock in one day, perhaps Mt Macedon in the morning, have a coffee at the cafe and then drive the 20mins to Hanging Rock and have a bbq/picnic. We have been to Hanging Rock twice and haven't done the walk to the top so it's still an enjoyable non walking place to visit and they have a lovely cafe and playground as well. Be warned that there is a $10 fee to exit the park.

I also highly recommend Kinglake, it has a beautiful playground for the kids with dry stone creek beds and fallen trees as seats, it's really natural and non-plastic.

Also in the Kinglake area is a national park with a fabulous outdoor bbq and a short but quite steep walk to the falls.

As you can see I love this area and as we live nearby we visit it regularly, my boys are 4.5 and 2 and I would really recommend all these places.

[WithSprinkles]

- Werribee Zoo (Melbourne Zoo too for that matter)
- The Dandenong Ranges
- Daylesford/Hepburn Springs (Chocolate factory/cafe: http://www.chocmill.com.au/location.html)
- Could catch the ferry from Sorrento to Queenscliff

[Goggie]

Puffing billy is a good one to do, picnic at Emerald Lake.

Collingwood childrens farm is inner city but you could definitely make a day of it by having breakfast or lunch at the cafe and wandering around.

St Andrews Market (on way to Kinglake)

Warrandyte market plus a small walk along the Yarra.

[elmo_mum]

phillip island - go karting on the race track, koala park and the penguins!
healsville
ballarat
bendigo
country races

[emmaellis]

Great thread, OP. We moved to Melbourne a couple of years ago & there are plenty of ideas on here for us too. Thanks.

We went to Sunnyridge strawberry farm recently and the kids loved it! There is also a goat farm nearby - if you time it right you can see the goats being milked & they also have cheeses etc to taste. It's called Main Ridge Goat Farm, I think.

Ours also love Scienceworks, The Museum, The Zoo, The Aquarium.

We went to Sovereign Hill recently and were very impressed with the set-up and the kids had a ball!

[melaine]

Another fun activity for kids is the Diamond valley railway at Eltham Lower Park. You can have a train ride on the little trains for $3 and there is a new all abilities type playground, pony rides, food stall and oval to run around on.

You could easily combine that with a trip to warrandyte or kinglake.

The children's farm at bundoora is nice as well and it also has a great playground next door.