Scenic Choice In Suburbia

The Age

Saturday June 7, 2008

Mary Costello

Ferntree Gully has gorgeous mountains on its doorstep, writes Mary Costello.

FERNTREE GULLY took its name from Eugene von Guerard's famous 1857 painting, Ferntree Gully in the Dandenong Ranges. The tree ferns and lyrebirds featured in the painting still thrive and continue to delight visitors who come for the mountain scenery, the flora and the bushwalking.

Ferntree Gully shares the 3156 postcode with Upper Ferntree Gully, Lysterfield and Lysterfield South - a big tract of land where suburbia runs into the foothills of the Dandenongs. From the suburban streets flanking the Burwood Highway to the semi-rural roads close to national parks, there's a great mix of housing.

The market here has benefited from the promise of the soon-to-be completed EastLink but the area is still affordable. A modest family home in Ferntree Gully costs between $330,000 and $400,000. Newer homes in preferred areas, such as around the Waterford Valley golf course, sell between $500,000 and $700,000. Large homes in small-acreage enclaves such as Carrington in LysterfieldSouth will cost up to $1.5million. There are not many units in this green wedge district. Older ones are between $240,000 and $280,000.

TOP TEN SPOTS

1 Dandenong Ranges National Park, Mount Dandenong Tourist Road. In Tremont, the soul of Ferntree Gully, this national park has been popular with Melburnians for a century. Try the Living Bush walk, full of surprises for plant lovers.

2 1000 Steps Kokoda memorial trail. This famous, steep track starts at Ferntree Gully Picnic Ground and climbs to One Tree Hill. It's a memorial to those who fought and died on the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea in 1942. The plaques are replicas of those on the Kokoda Trail.

3 Ferntree Valley, Commercial Road. This small estate has 34one and two-storey townhouses close to amenities. Prices from $419,500.

4 Lysterfield Park, Horswood Road. One of Melbourne's great nature conservation and outdoor leisure spaces. The State Mountain Bike Course hosted the Commonwealth Games mountain biking events. There's bushwalking, horse riding, swimming and boating.

5 Ferntree Gully Watch and Clock, 117-119 Station Street. The resident horologist has repaired and sold antique timepieces here for 25years. The council has just renamed the lane beside the shop Horologists Lane.

6 Upper Ferntree Gully Market, Burwood Highway. A small, appealing Sunday market in a leafy setting. Pick up ferns, wild figs, knitted jumpers and jewellery.

7 Tim Neville Arboretum, Dorset Road. Beautiful gardens set against the Dandenong Ranges with easy, lakeside walks, picnic areas and good playgrounds.

8 Royal Hotel, 1208 Burwood Highway. The Royal dates from 1889; the facade is 1930s art deco.

9 Churchill National Park, Churchill Park Drive. From 1837, it was the headquarters for the Aboriginal Native Police Corps and later used as police horse paddocks. It's home to 172bird species.

10 Ambleside Historic Homestead, Olivebank Road. This 1890s brick homestead turned museum gives an insight into life as a pioneer.

HOME TRUTHS

EDUCATION

There are six primary schools in Ferntree Gully and one in Lysterfield. Auxilium College houses the Australian novitiate of the Salesians of Don Bosco. The brothers also run St Joseph's Secondary College (Catholic, boys) in Ferntree Gully. Fern Hill, Scoresby and Rowville secondary colleges are close by, as is the Wantirna campus of Swinburne TAFE.

TRANSPORT

Ferntree Gully is 35 kilometres east of Melbourne along the Burwood Highway. EastLink will provide an alternative route. Both Ferntree Gully and Upper Ferntree Gully have their own train stations on the Belgrave line. The journey to the city takes about an hour.

SPORTS, LEISURE, SHOPPING

For visitors, the information centre at Upper Ferntree Gully services the whole Dandenong region. You will find friendly, informed staff operating from an interesting art deco building. The national parks offer an array of outdoor activities. There's also the Waterford Valley Golf Course and the Knox skate and BMX park, one of the state's top board-riding facilities. There are several small shopping centres in the area, and Knox City is just down Burwood Highway. Ferntree Gully seems to specialise in automotive outlets of every sort.

LITERARY FERNTREE GULLY

Melbourne writer Ilsa Evans features Ferntree Gully in her series of comic "laundry" novels, Spin Cycle, Drip Dryand Odd Socks.