HOT: Cherryhill Orchards, 474 Queens Rd, Wandin East

Christmas is cherry season in Australia and Cherryhill Orchards, Australia’s largest U-pick cherry orchard, there is only 45 minutes from Melbourne.

I was invited to experience Cherryhill and took Lady AB for a morning of cherry picking and cherry treats.

Cherryhill is located in a picturesque part of the fruit growing region in the Yarra Valley, with its hilltop location providing expansive views of the valley and beyond.

There are picnic benches and you can also bring your own picnic blanket and basket and enjoy the gorgeous views.

The small cafe sells cherry products, including a delicious cherry soft serve ice cream made with macerated pitted cherries mixed with vanilla ice cream.

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Also try the cherry baked goods by Gladysdale Bakehouse in Yarra Junction. I can report the brownies are worth the $4 – gooey, chocolatey with pops of cherries inside, served with a little scoop of ice cream.

Cherry picking is surprisingly easy for little people, as there’s lots of low-hanging fruit, they’re easy to remove from the stem and you can eat as many cherries as you want as you pick!

Lady AB acted as quality control, inspecting each cherry carefully before placing it in the bucket. If you fill the bucket to the brim it’s about 5kg of cherries.

We visited on a very sunny and it turns out the cherry picking (for fun) is actually not a very hot activity. Of course wear hats and slather on sunscreen but the cherry trees provide a lot of shade, unlike say strawberry plants. Visitors have been known to take a nap under the trees!

In December Cherryhill have extended its U-Pick hours every Friday, Saturday and Sunday so families can pick cherries up until 7pm and avoid the afternoon sun.

In the end I’m glad that I didn’t take Baby 2.0 as the location is not really suitable for prams or energetic runaway toddlers – there are gravel tracks going up and down hills, you have to take a minibus to the actual u-pick orchard and there are no fences anywhere.

Cherry picking at Cherryhill is a great trip out with the family. Cherry picking is relatively easy work, even for youngsters, and afterwards you can relax with an ice cream or a coffee. There are many farms and attractions close by and visitors to Cherryhill often combine it with a trip to the Blue Lotus water garden and/or Warratina lavender farm.

And If you can’t make U-Pick this year, or just want some extra cherry treats, dial 1300CHERRY for delivery to your door!

Cherryhill Orchards, 474 Queens Rd, Wandin East

U-pick season from 15 November 2014 to late January

7 days a week, 9am to 5pm, December only – Fridays through Sundays 9am to 7pm

$10.00 per adult, $5.00 for children aged 3-13 and Infants (3 and younger) free