Olinda

A bonsai nursery set among the historic gardens of Cloudehill, in the hill village of Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges. The focus is Japanese: bonsai and niwaki trees, the tools, wire and ceramics to keep them, and courses for those learning the craft. Visitors can browse and buy the handcrafted trees on site. Open weekends 10am to 5pm, and Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10am to 3pm; closed Wednesday.

A cool-climate garden of some five acres on the Olinda-Monbulk Road, home to the Diggers Garden Shop with its heirloom seeds and plants, and the Chojo nursery of feature trees for Japanese gardens and bonsai. A restaurant sits among the perennials. The garden and shop open seven days, 10am to 5pm through the warmer months and to 4pm in winter.

Up the Mount Dandenong Tourist Road from Olinda village, this cellar has spent more than two decades building relationships with small producers across the Dandenong Ranges and beyond. The shelves lean toward growers rather than big labels: craft beer, sake and cider sit alongside more than 300 wines, with a particular pull toward the Yarra Valley just down the hill. Staff run tastings every Friday and put together dinners and private events, treating the shop as a meeting point for the district's food and wine crowd as much as a place to grab a bottle on the way home. It's the kind of shop that knows what's fermenting two valleys over before the wine lists do. Open daily, with local delivery through the Ranges. For visitors touring the hills between Olinda and the Yarra Valley, it's a reliable stop for something made nearby rather than trucked in.