As the cold days of spring get warmer with the spring blooms start fading it’s a time of excitement for my children. The start of summer means fruit picking and it’s time to fill our weekends and our bellies with the freshest berries you can find in Victora. Let’s go cherry picking!
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Our usual destination for the past few years has been Cherry Hill Orchards, one of the largest cherry orchards in Victoria, first established in 1940, and located in Wandin East. It’s about an hour’s drive from Melbourne CBD for tourists visiting Melbourne (it’s only less than half an hour from where I live). Cherry Hill Orchards has a secondary location at Coldstream, Victoria.
The historical home of Victorian cherries, the iconic Yarra Valley is where it all began for CherryHill. Rich, fertile soils, long sunshine hours and an ample supply of fresh water from the Yarra River ensure the Yarra Valley is synonymous with all things agriculture.
This cool climate region is made up of rolling hills and temperate forest valleys, with the Dandenong Ranges to the South and the Plenty Ranges to the West. The mild temperatures and dry summers, plus the fertile, red volcanic soils of our Wandin orchard, provide the perfect conditions for our mid late season cherries, producing large, juicy, deep red fruit with a superior sweetness.
The home of CherryHill’s ‘Pick Your Own Cherries’, every summer thousands of cherry lovers flock here to pick their own cherries straight from the tree, enjoying the spectacular views and quality time spent with friends and family at this fantastic location.
Only 30 minutes from Melbourne’s leafy outer suburbs the Yarra Valley’s reputation as a premier food and wine destination is owing to its enduring natural beauty and prosperity.
So how does it work? Once you reach Wandin East orchard, park your car and head to the reception area where you can pay and collect your bucket. You then hop on to vans that take you to the part of the orchard where the picking happens. A short safety and introduction to cherry picking later, you’re off picking cherries. You are allowed to eat as many cherries as you want while you pick. You pay for only what you take back.
Summers in Australia can get very hot. You need to ensure that you’re wearing loose clothes, a sun hat and if you’re particularly sensitive to sun, SPF50 protection. Please bring your water bottles.
Once you’ve finished filling your bellies and picked up your bags of cherries, you hop back on the vans and head back to the main reception where there is a cafe selling cherry ice cream, cordials and memorabilia.
Booking is essential. You can book your visit here :
Tour Group Select a Cherry Picking Location
For tourists, you can pack your cherries in boxes and fly them back to your countries. They last about two to three weeks with the stems.
Getting there: Malaysia Airlines flies twice daily to Melbourne from Kuala Lumpur. You can get to Wandin East by hiring a car.
As for me and my kids, cherry picking is our annual ritual that creates full bellies, happy smiles, and ever-lasting memories. Being lucky enough to live near Yarra Valley gives my family the enormous ability to experience the best of what Australia has to offer in terms of products.
Azizi Khan lives in Melbourne, Australia building a world class digital bank. A banking and finance specialist he has spend more than two decades in Australia.
With a background in regulatory reporting, AML/KYC and financial technology, Azizi regularly provide consulting services to financial institutions and government agencies.
With a keen interest in digital technologies, startups and digital media, Azizi founded New Malaysia Herald in Melbourne Australia to provide a new all encompassing global Malaysian news.
Azizi is a Senior Member of Financial Services Institute of Australia (FINSIA).
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