Dandenong Ranges Private Nature Day Tour From Melbourne

We had a fantastic day in the Dandenongs with Jay. The pickup near our Melbourne hotel was prompt and easy. He encouraged our feedback on the day’s plan, and then we had a comfortable drive out to the mountains. Along the way we talked about what we were going to see. As it turned out, our timing was really fortunate. We caught the rhododendrons and azaleas at peak bloom in the Botanic Garden. What a lovely place; you could really go at any time of year and there would be something interesting to look it. The Chelsea Australian Garden alone was well worth the trip, with beautiful, serene landscapes and a billabong. Other highlights were a walk through the William Ricketts sanctuary, exploring this incredible artist’s sculptures of Aboriginal people, set among the forest. Our final stop was a very welcome stroll through the cool temperate rainforest, filled with a range of birdlife, all unfamiliar to us Californians. Every part of our day was great, and with Jay as our guide, we had an engaging and memorable time. Highly recommend!

We thoroughly enjoyed the Dondenong Ranges Private Day Tour. Company owner Jay was our tour guide. We were picked up promptly at our hotel. As we made our way out of the city, Jay shared significant information about the city and its continuing growth. Our walk through the old growth forest in the National Park was magnificent. Jay was well versed in identifying flora and fauna and talking about the ecology of the forest. After a wonderful lunch, we were given the option to skip the Memorial Garden and instead visit the recently reopened Williams Ricketts Sanctuary, a sculpture garden where the works of art are integrated into the natural environment. It was mesmerizing. Jay provided fascinating information about the artists and the symbolism and interpretation of his work. We concluded our tour at the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens. The gardens were wonderful and again Jay was highly knowledgeable about the varied plants in the garden. My wife and I highly recommend the Dandenong Ranges Private Tour.

I can't say enough about our day with Jay in Dandenong. He picked us up promptly at the time of our choosing, he had an encyclopedic knowledge of the plants, animals, people and geography of the area, and most importantly he was super friendly and really put us at ease. We now have a smart new friend in Australia. The forests and gardens in the mountains are stunning and soothing. Well worth the short trip out from the hustle of Melbourne.

We booked with Awaken Tours and Jay the owner was our driver and guide for the day. Jay was fantastic, he arrived on time and was so friendly and knowledgeable about the areas we visited. If you are looking at booking any tours, make sure you contact Jay at Awaken Tours, as you won't be disappointed.

We appreciated Jay’s suggestion to start our tour earlier to benefit the better weather and cooler temperatures for our hikes. The hikes were stunning and our lunch stop was well timed. Jay’s knowledge of the flora and fauna was impressive.

This is a great way to experience the Dandenong Ranges forest, vegetation and birdlife. We also visited two additional picturesque Gardens & experienced the Jay’s Lunch Special. All in all, a great and memorable day. Thank you very much Jay. Doug & Sylviane Calgary Canada

Had a wonderful day with Jay. He is quite knowledgeable about the area - it’s flora and fauna and it was so nice to see how much he loves Australia and being out in nature - making him the perfect guide for this excursion. His transportation is comfortable. Had a great lunch too. We had nice conversation- felt like we got to know him without being overwhelmed or talked at all day like tours can sometimes be. We found it spectacular to see the tall trees and all the beautiful gardens. Highly recommend!

It was a beautiful, relaxing day in nature. Jay was an excellent guide. He was knowledgeable, friendly, and full of interesting conversation and insights. The eucalyptus forest smelled incredible and we enjoyed watching all of the birds. Lunch was delicious and we really enjoyed seeing the Australian plants at the botanic gardens.

It was a nice day out with Jay, he has a lot of knowledge on the area and the nature we were walking through.

Jay was excellent - we had an amazing tour! Highly recommend to everyone who wants an informative experience with a tour guide that is knowledgeable.

Although it was a rainy day that impacted a bit on the day, Jay was amazing in regards to his knowledge and ability to show us the beauty of the area. We would gladly have spent another day travelling with Jay!

We had a great guide. Jay took us on three beautiful walks in the Dandenong Mountains . The scenery was fantastic.

Jay was a great guide. He was very knowledgeable about the birds and local fauna. The old growth forest was fascinating with the tall trees and birdsong. We also toured two other gardens both of which were equally interesting. We appreciated the pick up and drop off at our hotel. Our tea room lunch was delicious with a close up view of the cockatiels.

We loved our day with Jay. He was so informative on the wildlife & fauna and was so personable. The first hike was incredible and felt magical, filled with so many birds. We loved the cafe we stopped at for brunch as well. It’s well worth it if you want a day in beautiful nature and gardens outside of the city.

Jay is friendly, knowledgeable, and accommodating. I thoroughly enjoyed my day trip to the Dandenong ranges and botanical gardens. Lunch was at a very quaint cafe where the food was good and the ambiance was peaceful. We got to take the hikes in at a good and moderate pace and still enjoy the scenery. I highly recommend this tour into nature.

I was so glad I found Jay’s company. He offered the perfect day trip allowing for me to immerse myself in a beautiful temperate forest and observe amazing flora and fauna. The commute to the Dandenong Ranges is only 1 hour from city. If you are looking for a nature filled excursion while in Melbourne I would highly recommend this tour. The two botanical gardens we also visited were incredible and we also stopped off at an awesome spot for brunch. Jay has a lot of insight into the surrounding nature and went above and beyond knowing my interest in wildlife to show me some iconic species. I was amazed to see different types of parrots, kookaburras, swamp wallaby, and echnidnas to name a few. I wish I had time to take some more of his tours.

This tour fit us perfectly because it included a hike through the National Forest and guided walks through two excellent botanical gardens. In addition, Jay picked us up at our downtown hotel and took us to lunch at a tea room featuring local cuisine. The rhododendrons were huge and in full bloom. We have never seen any like that in the SE US. Jay was very considerate of our walking mobility while giving us the full tour in spite of downtown traffic delays. Highly recommended.

Enjoy nature and fresh air meditate our body and soul. Our guide Joe being a great job to explain all kinds of plants and flowers👍

Excellent tour with Jay! He picked us up at our hotel right on time. He is very personable and told us about the areas we were driving through on the way to the forest. He guided us through the forest describing the local ecosystem. We went to a couple fascinating botanical gardens after that. Lunch (on our own) was at a great restaurant where we could see cockatoos in the tree. As it was a private tour, Jay took us to a store that made its own chocolates to pick up a few treats for friends. All in all, it was a worthwhile tour :)

I went during the winter, on a day that was cold and wet but that just added to the experience. I got to see the area in a different climate whereby the mist made it all that more enchanting. Thanks to Jay for being very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

We are truly grateful for this private tour. The Dandenong Ranges forest is breathtaking, with the majestic Mountain Ash trees towering above us. The forest walk was definitely memorable — the air was cool and the sounds of birds captivating. Jay, our tour guide, was passionate and knowledgeable. Thanks Jay for the experience and for accommodating to our request to visit the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie instead of the cool climate gardens. We had lots of fun and learnt a lot!

Jay was a terrific tour guide. The Forest walk was amazing and his knowledge of the trees and birds was impressive. If you want to know more about the nature of the area, this is a wonderful choice. I also enjoyed the botanical garden and seeing all the Aussie plants in one area - see if you can find cousin It! The conversation with Jay was also interesting as he shared a bit about local life. And, the tea room he stopped at for lunch was delicious. All in all, a great day!

Jay is just such a personable guy who led us on some interesting walks in the Dandenong ranges. Scenery was amazing - such tall trees and great bird sounds. My nine year old son just loved him! Had a great break at a tea room with a ton of sulphur crested cockatoos for scenery. He’s willing to arrange all sorts of private tours involving nature, and we will use him the next time we are in Melbourne.

Excellent tour by Jay. Very knowledgeable about everything and highly recommend. Gave great recommendations on places to eat and things to see.

A perfect day with a great guide! I thought I had seen everything there was to see in Dandenong but I wanted my French friends to discover nature with a guide (Japanese garden, wild or native nature) and I don't regret it. Jay, a passionate guide, knows everything about this region and I discovered places I didn't know, including the Chelsea Australian Garden in Olinda, officially opened in June 2023. I will go back in a month and a half to admire the fall colors. Plus a very pleasant little restaurant where I will certainly return.

Was wonderful yo see 3 different places with very different, yet equally tranquil gardens and landscapes.

Traveling with Jay was great! Really cool to have a personalized tour and learn more about the areas history. Would definitely recommend for a half day trip.

An enjoyable outing with a guide who is knowledgeable and passionate about nature and gardening.The walks are informative , beautiful , and easy to do.

Jay gave us a fantastic tour of 3 areas. We started in an old forest of eucalyptus trees that was stunning. The walk was easy and full of magnificent trees and ferns. Then we went to a public garden that was once part of an estate and so how formal gardening was used to bring more English style to Australian plants and trees. We had a lovely walk that included a Japanese pond. Our last garden was more botanical. It had more of Australian indigenous plants that were very unusual, a billabong, surrounded by walks willed with hydrangeas and rhododendrons. Great end of the day.

Jay was extremely professional and a great guide to explore the beautiful forest and gardens! We had great conversations along the way, as he kept me informed of the treasures before me. I highly recommend for a wonderful experience to explore the natural beauty of areas surrounding Melbourne.

Our tour guide, Jay, was wonderful. He took us on a few hikes in the Dandenong Ranges and then to some beautiful botanical gardens. We stopped for lunch at a great cafe and were an arms length away from a hundred cockatoos. He then drove us around the city while explaining the history of Melbourne. Soooooo much fun. Best guide ever!

We just spent the day with Jay touring the Dandenong ranges He picked us up at the appointed time and place. It was a private personalized tour for just the two of us in his private car.. He immediately ascertained our physical limitations and planned the day accordingly. The hike through the Dandenong forest was incredible with the gum trees, and the fern trees just captivating us. He is very knowledgeable about botany. He has another business in native landscape, gardening. He has extensive knowledge about the indigenous people and respect for the land and he willingly shared that knowledge with us He then took us to Dandenong botanical gardens and took a special interest in showing us the Australian garden, the highlight of which was a billabong For the entire day, he was very solicitous of our physical limitations, taking frequent breaks along our walks We would recommend this tour heartily for anyone as a great way to spend a day.

Highly recommend. A great day trip. Respect shown for the sacredness of the area fir the indigenous tribe who worshipped there. He knows his birds and nature and the history of the areas. Due to my health issues after a forest walk he realised i could not climb hills so he added on a trip to the botanical gardens there and saw the Chelsea award winning landscape. A great trip to get a taste of what one would like to see again on other trips there probably for overnight stays. Highly recommend this trip and this guide Jay.

First of all I would like to my Guide to Jay. He was very helpful and kind. He give all information about tour. Thanks to him. Tour was very good. Nature was perfect, fresh air. Many different kind of birds.

Excellent experience! We can't praise Jay enough. Due to unforeseen events, we couldn't stick with our original plan. Jay came up with a creative solution that allowed us to sort out our issues, while still getting a taste of the forest that he clearly loves. Our time in the car was filled with delightful conversation on a wide variety of topics, and our time in the forest was calming and awe-inspiring. If you have a chance to tour with Jay, grab it!

Jay was extremely fun to hang with and made this tour very personable. He has great knowledge of the forests and is easy to communicate with. It feels like you're with a friend more than a tour guide who is completing a check list of things! I went solo and he also kindly adjusted to my pace and helped me to take photos. Definitely recommend signing up a tour with Jay if you are in Melbourne. He is able to customise the tour to your desires based on where you want to explore too. Thanks for a great afternoon, Jay!

Jay was a great host, made us felt comfortable and we had insightful conversations throughout the day which was nice. Prior to the day trip there was swift communication in regards to customising and finalising the itinerary. Unfortunately we couldn’t do William Ricketts Sanctuary due to damage from the storms, so we chose to do the Skyhigh Mount Dandenong beforehand but on day the weather became foggy and there wasn’t much of a view to see of the City. Jay then took us to Brighton Beach to get a nice photo of the City instead. Dandenong Range walk itself was pretty serene and it was wonderful to know that the ancestors preserved the forests.

Awesome nature immersion saw kangaroo lyre bird kookaburras cockatoos and many smaller birds amongst giant eucalypts

A fantastic day with Jay to the William Ricketts sanctuary was definitely the highlight of the trip. Jay is such a warm , friendly guy and very knowledgeable . His detailed explanations on each of the sculptures and an insight into the Aboriginal cultures was very soul stirring . I think this has been a very inspiring and humbling experience for me . Thank you Jay .

The William Rickets Sanctuary, the lunch and the forest walk were each amazing--and each was enhanced (along with the car ride!) by the conversations with Jay. We highly recommend this trip. In addition, we subsequently booked a private tour with Jay to the Mornington Penisula, with a hike and a visit to the Peninsula Hot Sprints. This was a fantastic day out.

We had a fantastic day with Jay. He picked us up from the hotel early and took us straight up to the sanctuary where he gave us a personalised tour of this magnificent outdoor display of art incorporated into nature. He explained the spiritual significance of the work enthusiastically. Afterwards we were treated to a satisfying lunch at a nearby restaurant. We completed the day at Sherbrooke Forest. Jay was magnificent. As we were about to return to the car it poured with rain and a thunderstorm started. All of us got soaked through but Jay kept his cheerfulness, patiently enduring our need to connect with nature. My husband and I would thoroughly recommend this small group eco tour. Thank you Jay and the restaurant staff.

Jay was very informative about William Ricketts Sanctuary. He made it interesting describing the history of how and why the Sculptures were made. He explained the symbolism and spirituality behind them. William Ricketts lived with the Aborigines for several years and fought for there causes of preserving the environment. I loved the tour and would highly recommend it

I have wanted to go to the William Rickett's Sanctuary ever since I saw photos from there over two decades ago. I traveled across the world to see it and it did not disappoint. Jay was extremely knowledgeable and explained the significance of the place including both land and sculptures. He gave plenty of time to absorb this magical place. Afterwards, we had a delicious lunch followed by a walk in the woods. What a perfect day!

If you like a passionate, intelligent and highly motivated tour guide then Jay at Awaken tours will fill the bill nicely. The William Ricketts Sanctuary is an amazing place. Jay, your tour guide makes sense of it and makes it come alive. He only takes 3 people at a time usually. He spends as much time as you need to see everything, He even provides you with lunch at a nice little restaurant. You will have one of the best days you have ever had on a tour. I would give it more than 5 stars. Best tour guide we have ever had. A truly amazing young man.

Our trip out of the city and into nature with Jay was fantastic from start to finish. He offered to pick us up at our hotel and arrived promptly on time, and then we had a lovely conversation about our trip, questions we had about Australia, and many other things on the way out to William Ricketts Sanctuary. The tour of the sanctuary was deeply informative - Jay clearly knows a lot about it, and he was a great asset in helping us to understand and reflect on the messages that the artist was trying to convey. After the sanctuary, we had lunch at a cozy little spot - it was delicious and well-balanced. Finally, we headed into the mountains for a nature walk, some bird-spotting, and getting views of the tallest trees we'd ever seen!! Jay had a lot of information about the trees, the birds, and the forest that was really interesting. This tour is highly recommended as a way to get out of the city and explore nature. Jay is an excellent tour guide, and will customize your experience to your preferences!

The time I spent at the Dandenong ranges with Jay was such a special and magical experience that upon recounting my year to my friend just now (on New Year’s Eve) I realized it was my highlight of an already great year. I was on a solo work trip last June (their winter!) so I had no friends available to go with me on the weekend I was visiting from Los Angeles but wanted to see the rainforest. Jay was not only an incredibly knowledgeable guide but just so fun to hang out with. I also really appreciated that he took me up into the Dandenong range despite the fact that it was just me. Usually the tours have more people which makes sense but I had explained to him I only had the one day available to go. It was very kind of him and I’m very grateful! He even made us a homemade ginger root tea to drink in the forest. The places we visited in the forest and the sanctuary were so peaceful and gorgeous. Jay’s tours are a real gift. I hope I get to return to Melbourne someday and when I do I’ll be booking again!

I had a private tour with Jay and it was a great tour. It was very informative and the guide was as receptive to questions as possible. I highly recommand this tour.

Jay hosts a maximum of 3 people on a tour, I was one of 2. A wonderful personalised trip where we learnt so much. William Ricketts' Sanctuary was fascinating and humbling to visit. It is truly a sanctuary where one experiences a great closeness to nature. The sculptures are remarkable and Jay is knowledgeable in their timeline and meanings. Ricketts has left a wonderful jewel for those who visit.

Jay personalized & customized this trip for us adding at our request the National Rhododendron Gardens which were bloom. He is very knowledgeable on a very broad range of subjects; covering flora, fauna and culture. We had a lot of very interesting discussions. The time passed much too quickly. We had a special lunch in a quaint little restaurant. A tour not to be missed.