Quiet contemplation

Nineteenth-century Melburnians had the right idea. When the pressure of their big city lives became too much, they took to their carriages (either horse-drawn or railway) and headed to the country.

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In one direction, they made for the Dandenong Ranges. These days, visitors are still lured by the quiet villages, bracing mountain air, tall forests and beautiful gardens. Nature is at its most compelling in the Dandenongs and the active will make use of more than 300 kilometres of walking tracks.

Those in search of solitude headed north towards the alpine high country. Today, it comprises ski resorts Mount Buller, Mount Hotham and Falls Creek, which attract visitors summer and winter. The downhill runs draw crowds in the coldest weather while the colourful wildflowers and air of alpine serenity add their own special kind of magic in the warmer months.

Near-alpine towns like Mansfield are attracting significant meetings and corporate retreat business and Victoria's excellent highway system means that transporting delegates into regional areas is easy and takes very little time.

Teambuilding activities are especially popular. The untamed nature of the alpine regions, both in summer and winter, means that corporate groups can easily imagine they are transported back to the days of the Man From Snowy River. Getting a disparate group of executives to bond can be a trial at the best of times; when it's a case of testing their mettle with nobody else around for miles, the measurable outcomes of these goals come thick and fast.