Just north of the Great Dividing Range the township of Yea is nestled in a beautiful valley at the meeting of the Yea and Goulburn Rivers. Only a 90 minute drive from Melbourne, Yea offers a relaxed country experience.
The Yea township boasts historic buildings, a thriving main street and a strong arts culture. It's also a key town on the Great Victorian Rail Trail. With a range of award-winning wineries, restaurants and accommodation options on offer, Yea is the perfect base to explore the area’s surrounding scenic and historic sites.
HIGHLIGHTS
RAIL TRAIL
The Great Victorian Rail Trail winds through much of this area making these townships a great stopping off point for cyclists wishing to explore the fabulous range of welcoming country pubs, great eateries, local art galleries and quirky stores.
YEA WETLANDS DISCOVERY CENTRE
Drop into the Alexandra Timber Tramway and Museum for a ride on one of the historic locomotives and learn more about the early history of rail in the area.
MURRINDINDI SCENIC RESERVE
One of the lesser known gems of our region, the Murrindindi Scenic Reserve, is a great spot offering a bit of everything. There's a range of bushwalking, multiple camping areas, waterfalls, a picturesque river for water play as well as bird watching and fishing opportunities.
EAT & DRINK
Sedona Estate
From Sedona Estate’s humble beginnings in 1998, Paul and Sonja’s vision has been to produce fine cool-climate wines from their vineyard north of the Great Divide in the Yea Valley. Their passion and dedication is reflected in the Sedona Estate range. Varietal purity makes each bottle of wine a true experience.
Tucked away in the rolling hills of Murrindindi, Sedona Estate offers a true country experience with stunning views and plenty of Australian wildlife around. The stylish cellar door and hillside terrace is a great place to enjoy a relaxing afternoon with fine wines and delicious artisan platters to share.
Winemaker Paul Evans employs a very hands-on approach to capture the essence of this emerging wine region. It is cool climate viticulture, but plenty of sunshine at the right times provides the perfect conditions for producing complex Shiraz and delightful Sangiovese. Their outstanding quality is reflected in many national and international awards at esteemed wine shows.
Paul and Sonja pride themselves in offering friendly country hospitality and authentic wine tasting experiences. Looking behind the scenes and experiencing the real winemaking world is one of many offerings at Sedona Estate.
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
Cycle Dindi 25
CycleDindi24 is a joint project by the Rotary Clubs of Alexandra and Yea, together with Friends of the Great Victorian Rail Trail and is a charity bicycle ride along the trail on the last Saturday before the April Victorian school holidays.
It is centred on the lovely townships of Yea and Alexandra and includes those towns plus Merton as starting locations. Riders have a number of distances and options to choose from. This year the prices are again linked to the rider, not the distance. Included in your entry ticket is Billy tea and damper, a barbecue lunch at Cathkin and free admission to Nutfield; a working farm with Devonshire tea in the shearing shed, a sheepdog demonstration and a trailer ride. The ride includes cycling through the historic Cheviot Tunnel.
Monies raised will be used to support Rotary Youth Projects.
STAY
Yea Springs Holiday Accommodation
Yea Springs has two large and luxurious holiday units of 100 square metres each, set on four beautiful acres in a peaceful rural area, only five minutes drive from the Yea town centre.
The property has direct access to the Great Victorian Rail Trail for cycling and wonderful views of the Goulburn River Valley and Strathbogie Ranges.
The two homes are of the same size and layout, comfortably accommodating up to four persons each.
Both have two well-appointed bedrooms with full wardrobes, ceiling fans and quality linen and bedding.
Wattleseed has one queen bed and two king singles, while Ironbark has queen beds in both bedrooms.
The fully equipped kitchen and exceptionally spacious lounge and dining areas are fully air conditioned, have large digital televisions (satellite transmission) and open onto outdoor covered decks.
Yea Springs is perfectly suitable for couples (or a family of three or four) sharing a single residence, or groups of up to eight people taking both.
And it’s especially great for cyclists wanting to ride Australia’s longest rail trail, which runs from Tallarook all the way to Mansfield.