Melbourne is Australia’s natural playground. With loads of things to see and do, now is a great time to get the family together and spend some time in Melbourne. Discover interactive museums and galleries, exhilarating outdoor adventures and plenty of places to get up close and personal with the unique wildlife. Beyond the city, enjoy a diversity of regional experiences; from the incomparable vistas of the Great Ocean Road to the adorable penguins of Phillip Island.

Experience Antarctica, the first of its kind in Australia featuring live King and Gentoo penguins. Visitors will be able to watch these adorable Antarctic penguins slip and slide across the snow-covered ice and dive into the pool. The Melbourne Aquarium also boasts displays of exotic sea creatures, including sharks, stingrays, jelly fish and sea turtles. Go have a dive amongst the sharks or catch a live shark feeding presentation. The kids will be entertained with the patting exhibits in special touch tanks.

Forget those dusty museums with the ‘do not touch’ signboards posted everywhere. Melbourne Museum is an exciting attraction with plenty of interactive displays and activities for the whole family including a dedicated Children’s Museum, Evolution and Living Forest Gallery. Take the family to one of Melbourne’s newer attractions, the Eureka Skydeck 88 to enjoy a 360° view of the city. Located on the 88th floor, the Skydeck is the highest vantage point in the southern hemisphere. Those who are not afraid of highs can try the world’s first ‘edge’ experience – a glass enclosure which extends 3 metres out from the side of the building.

Experience a unique wildlife safari and enjoy close-up views of the magnificent grassland animals from Africa, Asia and Australia. One can join a Slumber Safari tour and go camping under the stars at the zoo. The tour includes accommodation, dinner, breakfast, camp activities and a tour of the safari. Werribee Open Range Zoo is located some 30 minutes away from the city.

Enjoy a sentimental journey through time on one of the world’s oldest stream trains, Puffing Billy. Take in the mountain scenery and the panoramic views which passes by your carriage view. Enjoy a magical wonderland as you hit the slopes of Mount Buller. Take a ride on the sightseeing chairlift, make a snowman, ride a snow tube  or take up the beginners’ ski lessons. Snow season often commences in the first week of June till September or as long as the snow would last.

Always a top spot for families, Phillip Island is famed for its wildlife attractions. Each night during sunset at Summerland Beach, hundreds of little penguins waddle up the sand as part of the world famous Penguin Parade. Koalas are on show at the Koala Conservation Center where treetop boardwalks allow a close-up look at those cuddly bears. There’s also a 2 hour cruise to get up close and personal with fur seals in their natural habitat at Seal Rocks. The boat drifts within meters of thousands seals enabling you to witness their natural environment first hand. It is impossible not to be captivated by these naturally playful and inquisitive animals. The Amazing World of Chocolates at Phillip Island Chocolate Factory is a fairly new attraction whereby the family can participate in various challenges such as making their own chocolate coins, counterbalance a tonne of chocolate blocks and view a miniature village made fully from chocolates! How cool is that?

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