The Royal Botanic Gardens of Melbourne consist of two parts: the main one, with an area of ​​38 hectares, and a branch in the town of Cranbourne, with an area of ​​363 hectares, 45 kilometers from the city. The gardens, founded in 1846, contain over 50,000 plant species from Australia and other parts of the world. In the urban part of the Botanical Gardens there are lakes, a boardwalk with observation platforms is equipped for visitors, from where you can admire the artificial volcano Gilfoyle. An observatory of the 19th century operates here, a three-hundred-year-old eucalyptus grows, under which the independence of the state of Victoria was declared. Part of the territory is occupied by a bamboo forest and thickets of ferns. The pride of the reserve is the Silver Garden, which consists of a variety of California plantations and rainforest. The gardens are home to rabbits and possums, foxes, water turtles, ribbed eels, tropical frogs and bats. You can take a break from walking and have a bite to eat in the park cafes "Terrace" and "Observatory".