点评:We did 5 different tours with our 6 days in Melbourne with Melboune Private Tours with our guide and driver extraordinaire, Jeff. The planning process was easy in contacting them via email and suggestions of what to add to tours or if we did not want something in the tour taking it out.
Our first tour Great Ocean Road, this is a long day- 12 hours to be exact and worth every moment, the views that you will see are extranordinary. There are stopping points along the way where we took beautiful photos and of course Jeff will take photos of you with your phone/camera. One would think that 12 hours is a long time to spend with a guide but the time passes quickly as he has so many things to tell you, but not in a matter of fact or I have given this tour so many times way, as if he is telling the informaiton for the first time , as if you are speaking with a friend. There is stop for lunch and other stops along with some koala and kangaroo spotting if lucky, (we were).
The next adventure was the Mornington Peninsula and we added Moonlit Sanctuary to this with a koala encounter. This will be a 8 hour day. This is a beautiful area. The tour included wine tastings, however we were not interested in that aspect, so it was removed for us. We did however have lunch at a beautiful winery,(Rare Hare Winery) with amazing food ( we all raved over the the food here it was wonderful) and a view to boost. Then the encouter with the koala, although a short time period, long enough that you could pet, take photos and the person at the scnctuary even made sure that everyone in the group had an individual photo and a group photo. Great way to get up close with not only the koala, but also wallabys and feed them. Little town stops and the beach boxes with a short time to walk on the beach.
Our next adventure was Phillip Island with the Penquin Parade and Ranger Tour. I will start by saying there was 1 disappointment here. With the ranger tour, one gets the closest possible to the penquins, and with the description and the photo on the Melbourne Private Tour website it appeared we would be on the beach as the penquins paraded by us. This is not the case, we sat in bleachers, in the 1st row. Binoculars are still needed to see the penquins come in from the beach (provided by the ranger) but it is still neat to see and if lucky as we were some of the penquins came up to the bleachers and even went under them chatting away. Then at some point the ranger will gather the group ( no more than 8) and leave to take us to a spot on the boardwalk where the penquins will be right at your feet. Note, at no time are photos allowed and rangers do patrol to stop the photo taking. However the true highlight of the Phillip Island is not only going to another sanctuary to see koala, but to drive around the island, not only for its beauty but looking at the many nest that the blue penquin make and the possibility of seeing that penquin come out. (They stay in their nest by day due to preditors), we were lucky enough to have a blue penquin standing outside of its nest, and see 2 others inside. Additonally we saw 2 babies while standing on the boardwalk. An unusual tour and well worth the 12 hour day. If wondering why 12 hours 2 hours each way in driving, the penguins only come in at a specific time, sanctuary stop, small town stops and dinner, ours was at a French restaurant.
Melbourne City Sites Tour was our next tour, this is just 4 hours. Due to scheduling we did not get to this until day 4, I would recommend doing this earlier in your trip as you get more of a sense of the city. We did no just fine in getting around ( Melbourne is fairly easy to get around) but we found different areas once we explored with Jeff. Also of note Queen Victoria Market is closed on Wednesdays so plan accordingly, another reason we had this later in our week, as it was high on the list and in no way disappointed. This is worth going to as many times as you can while in Melbourne. This was a tour we modified before we arrived in Melbourne as we do not have interest in sports, so we had all of those stops removed. However as Jeff got to know us a bit better, during the week, he modified it for us even more, which is another reason he is an outstanding guide. He geared ours more to architecture, art and added an opal stop, along with record store locations, we ran out of time to do that stop, as there is so much to see. What I like about this tour it is not just driving around and having things pointed out to you, it is a combination of driving and walking. I do think this your could be 5 hours .
Last was Puffing Billy and we added Healsville Sanctuary (Dandenong Ranges) One may think that this is just for children, but we had no children and it was just pure fun. The train ride itself is not much in scenery and a bit crowded, but the whole purpose is where else are you going to sit on the window of the train and legally hang with your feet over the side as you ride through the ranges? And although Healsville Sanctuary may feel like a repeat of Moonlit it was a completely different feel. Here we did a kangaroo feeding, it was awesome. Again Jeff took our photos, gave us information of the area, and chose a lovely little town and restaurant for lunch.
After doing 5 tours with Melbourne Private Tours we highly recommend the company, the vehicle was comfortable, always clean, water was provided on each tour and working with them was easy.
As for Jeff our guide and driver, he was wonderful. During the course of our vacation we were in other cities,countries where we had other guides where, they appeared to waste our time taking us to places of little interest, dropped us off to literally find the front door to the attraction, where silence felt awkward or talking was too much, none of these applied to Jeff. He was always happy, on time, either guided us to the correct location or brought us to it. He filled us with information and stories with not giving us too much and always in a conversational manner. I left some details out on each of the tours as I think the surprises will be well enjoyed. ( did someone say chocolate) This will be a most memorable vacation for us . Thank you Melbourne Private Tours and thank you to Jeff!
翻译:我们在墨尔本的 6 天里参加了 5 次不同的旅行,由 Melboune Private Tours 提供导游兼司机 Jeff 服务。计划过程很简单,通过电子邮件联系他们,并建议在旅行中添加哪些内容,或者如果我们不想在旅行中去掉某些内容,就可以了。
我们第一次旅行是大洋路,这是漫长的一天——确切地说是 12 个小时,每一刻都值得,您将看到的景色非同寻常。沿途有停靠点,我们在那里拍了漂亮的照片,当然 Jeff 也会用您的手机/相机为您拍照。有人会认为 12 个小时对于导游来说很长,但时间过得很快,因为他有很多事情要告诉你,但事实上,我多次介绍过这个旅行,就好像他是第一次告诉你信息,就像你在和朋友说话一样。如果幸运的话,这里有午餐和其他停靠点,还有一些考拉和袋鼠的观赏点(我们很幸运)。
下一个冒险是莫宁顿半岛,我们增加了月光保护区,在那里遇到了考拉。这将是 8 小时的一天。这是一个美丽的地方。这次旅行包括品酒,但我们对这方面不感兴趣,所以它被取消了。不过,我们在一个美丽的酒庄 (Rare Hare Winery) 吃了午餐,那里的食物非常美味(我们都对这里的食物赞不绝口),景色也令人振奋。然后是与考拉的邂逅,虽然时间很短,但足以让你抚摸、拍照,保护区的工作人员甚至确保团队中的每个人都有一张个人照片和一张集体照。这是近距离接触考拉和小袋鼠并喂食它们的好方法。在小镇停留,在海滩边短暂停留,在海滩上散步。
我们的下一个冒险是菲利普岛,参加企鹅游行和护林员之旅。首先我要说的是,这里有一个令人失望的地方。参加护林员导览,可以最接近企鹅,根据墨尔本私人导览网站上的描述和照片,我们似乎会在海滩上看到企鹅从我们身边走过。但事实并非如此,我们坐在第一排的露天看台上。仍然需要用双筒望远镜才能看到企鹅从海滩上飞过来(护林员提供),但看到企鹅还是很壮观,如果像我们一样幸运的话,有些企鹅会游到露天看台上,甚至会钻到看台下面聊天。然后,护林员会集合大家(不超过 8 人),带我们到木板路上的某个地方,企鹅就在你的脚下。注意,任何时候都不允许拍照,护林员会巡逻以阻止拍照。然而,菲利普岛真正的亮点不仅是去另一个保护区看考拉,而是开车环岛,不仅是为了它的美景,还为了看看蓝企鹅筑的众多巢穴,并有机会看到企鹅出来。(由于天敌的存在,它们白天呆在巢穴里),我们很幸运地看到一只蓝企鹅站在巢穴外面,还看到另外两只企鹅在里面。此外,我们还在木板路上看到了两只企鹅宝宝。这是一次不同寻常的旅行,非常值得花 12 个小时。如果想知道为什么开车 12 个小时,单程 2 个小时,企鹅只在特定的时间进来,在保护区停留,在小镇停留,吃晚餐,我们的晚餐是在一家法国餐厅。
墨尔本城市景点之旅是我们的下一个旅游项目,只有 4 个小时。由于时间安排,我们直到第 4 天才开始,我建议你在旅行的早期做这件事,这样你会对这座城市有更多的了解。我们在四处游览方面做得并不好(墨尔本出行相当方便),但我们和杰夫一起探索后发现了不同的地方。另外值得注意的是,维多利亚女王市场周三不营业,所以要做好相应的计划,这也是我们本周晚些时候选择这个市场的原因之一,因为它在名单上名列前茅,而且绝对没有让人失望。在墨尔本,这个市场值得你尽可能多地去。这是我们在到达墨尔本之前修改的一次旅行,因为我们对运动不感兴趣,所以我们取消了所有这些站点。然而,随着杰夫在一周内对我们有了更多的了解,他为我们修改了更多的内容,这也是他成为优秀导游的另一个原因。他让我们的行程更注重建筑和艺术,并增加了一个蛋白石站点以及唱片店的位置,我们没有时间去那个站点,因为那里有太多东西可看。我喜欢这个旅行的一点是,它不仅仅是开车四处游览,还会有人给你指路,它是开车和步行的结合。我确实认为这可能会花上 5 个小时。
最后是普芬比利,我们又加了希尔斯维尔保护区(丹德农山脉)。有人可能认为这只是为孩子们准备的,但我们没有孩子,这纯粹是为了好玩。火车本身风景不多,有点拥挤,但整个目的是,当你穿越山脉时,你还能在哪里坐在火车的窗户上,合法地把脚悬在车外?虽然希尔斯维尔保护区可能感觉像是月光的翻版,但感觉完全不同。在这里,我们喂了袋鼠,太棒了。杰夫再次为我们拍照,给我们提供了该地区的信息,并选择了一个可爱的小镇和餐厅吃午餐。
在参加了 5 次墨尔本私人旅游后,我们强烈推荐这家公司,车辆舒适,总是干净,每次旅行都提供水,与他们合作很容易。
至于我们的导游兼司机杰夫,他很棒。在我们度假期间,我们去过其他城市、国家,在那里我们有其他导游,他们似乎浪费了我们的时间,带我们去一些不太有趣的地方,把我们送到景点的前门,沉默让人感到尴尬,或者说话太多,这些都不适用于杰夫。他总是很开心,准时,要么引导我们到正确的地点,要么把我们带到正确的地点。他向我们介绍了很多信息和故事,但不会讲得太多,而且总是以一种对话的方式。我省略了每次旅行的一些细节,因为我认为惊喜会让人很享受。(有人说巧克力吗)这将是我们最难忘的假期。谢谢墨尔本私人旅游,谢谢杰夫!