Have You Heard Y.E.T? – Oct 2023
Winter is over and Melbourne comes out to play in this edition of Have You Heard Y.E.T?!
Welcome to the October edition of ‘Have you Heard Y.E.T?!’
This month’s article features some highlights from our September tours as Melbourne comes out to play. Shore Excursions are our feature destination experience of the month and this month’s team member spotlight is on Peter Forsyth.
What’s happening at Your Exclusive Tours?
Although starting out as a slow month, September certainly came roaring home with a number of enquiries for bespoke tours and future bookings. Personally, the highlight was the Mighty Pies winning the AFL Grand Final.
Melbourne is renowned for 4 seasons in one day, and the weather really did influence a number of tours throughout the month. A couple of highlights were:
- Mother Nature was in fine form on our Great Ocean Road Full Day Private Experience. From strong winds, constant rain and fog, occasional peek-a-boo from the sun between the clouds, and massive swell banging & crashing along the rugged coastline. It is never a dull day and our itinerary changed several times throughout the course of day to cater for the weather. The helicopter flight over the 12 Apostles was cancelled, we ended up at the Timboon Distillery to taste and sample their award-winning single malt whiskey. What an experience!!
- Departing Melbourne it was pouring with rain, yet upon arriving on Phillip Island it was another story; the sun out and clear blue skies. Our visit to the Koala Conversation Centre saw some active Koalas climbing, eating, and posing for photos. A highlight was seeing a joey Koala move around a gum tree with the mother koala following in tow.
We were proud to receive the following 5 star review from Tiah and thank her for taking the time to leave it for us
“Our tour to along the Great Ocean Road had the most chaotic weather, but we had a wonderful time, nonetheless. Rob
expertly chopped and changed our itinerary multiple times and when our helicopter tour was cancelled due
to strong winds, he organised a private whiskey tasting after hours on the spot. I would recommend him to anyone wanting
to have a memorable experience in Victoria catered specifically to them.”
Whilst attending a roundtable with Yarra Ranges Tourism, an invitation was extended from the team at Rayner’s Orchard. The Yarra Valley is a food bowl for local and fresh produce, and Rayner’s Orchard did not disappoint, with a tractor and farm tour picking our own fruit. The fruit in season was citrus and let’s just say the oranges, mandarins, and blood oranges did not last long in our household.
In our August edition of Have You Heard YET?!, the featured product was Wedding Transport and as we predicted, wedding season would be upon us come spring. It was an absolute pleasure to provide our services to several lovely couples throughout the month and be a part of the Wedding Expo at Vines of the Yarra Valley.
Destination Experience of the Month – Shore Excursions
From the end of October 2023 to the start of April 2024, Melbourne is set to have a bumper cruise ship season with over 130 cruise ships coming into port. What is even more exciting is two new cruise lines being Disney and Virgin coming into Melbourne this season.
As Melbourne is built around Port Phillip Bay, we have several destinations and regions that can be explored with a 5-minute drive into the centre of Melbourne or within a 60-minute drive from the port being the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, Geelong & Bellarine Peninsula and Ballarat & the Goldfields. With time permitting, the Great Ocean Road or Phillip Island can be explored and experienced if your cruise has a late-night departure time or is in port overnight.
Over the years, Shore Excursions have proven to be a very popular product here are Your Exclusive Tours. We have our favourite private shore excursions and have created many bespoke experiences for our guests to maximise their time in port.
These private shore excursions have been customised to suit our guests’ requirements based upon sights, activities, budget, and number of guests. A Your Exclusive Tours private shore excursion lets our guests feel like a local Melbournian and yearning to stay longer in Melbourne. Some of these tours include:
- Melbourne City Sights & Surrounds Private Experience
- The Wildlife Experience (encounters with Koalas, Kangaroos, Dingoes, Snakes, Kookaburras & Wombats).
- The Wine & Wildlife Experiences
- Gourmet Food Tours
- Distillery Experience
Our team takes great pride in getting to know our guests and delivering a memorable experience and capturing those moments. A highlight from the 2022 / 2023 shore excursion was getting a photo outside of Rod Laver Arena for two of our guests and completing their goal of visiting every tennis venue that hosts a grand slam tournament.
From these itineraries we have created many memories for our guests.
Should you wish to find out more about booking and customising your perfect shore excursion, please reach out to discuss your requirements with us, or learn more here.
Team Member Spotlight – Peter Forsyth
Each month we highlight a member of the YET team and let you get to know them a little better. This month our spotlight is on Peter Forsyth.
- What is your role at Your Exclusive Tours?
Chauffeur / Tour Guide. - If you weren’t part of the Your Exclusive Tours team, what other job would you like to attempt?
I’m very interested in public policy, so I’d like to be head of the Prime Minister’s Department (if it wasn’t for the fact that the job would be very difficult to get and extremely stressful once I got there!). - Tell us something about yourself that we don’t know
I’ve done about 800 scuba dives, mainly in Victoria but also interstate and a few overseas.I was locked inside Pompeii after hours a few years ago. I tarried leaving and found myself locked in! I thought I’d have to stay overnight but I eventually found someone with a key. - What’s your favourite quote?
“You don’t care for the environment by concreting it”.
Peter Forsyth – a commentary on Australian Realities
Stay tuned for more news in our next edition of ‘Have you heard Y.E.T?!’ and in the meantime, if you haven’t yet subscribed, you can do so here: