Nature
Healesville Sanctuary Australian nature park and zoo great for young and old. Not many know the secret that Healesville Hotel operate the Sanctuary café and the Sanctuary is only a 2 minute stroll from The Willow House.
Badger Weir one of the most magical forest walks with beautiful fern gullys and crystal clear mountain streams. Easily accessed from The Willow House, 3 minute drive.
Maroondah Reservoir Park a beautiful example of 1920’s engineering, combined with large English style landscaped parklands featuring exotic plants that merge with the surrounding native vegetation and Watts River. Many Yarra Valley walking tracks begin from within this garden.
Warramate In addition to one of our best Wineries producing an excellent Shriaz, this is the location of a beautiful micro-mountain range hugging the drive into the Yarra Valley. An easy walking track taking in Briarty Hill and the Yarra River.
Toolangi Tall Trees Trail, including patches of Cool Temperate Rainforest. Massive trees, several hundred years old. Home of the threatened Barred Galaxis, Leadbeater’s Possum and Sooty Owl.
Fernshaw, Morleys Track Victoria’s tall Mountain Ash are the world’s tallest flowering plants and are protected within Melbourne’s water catchment area. Morleys walking Track is one exception where you can get up close and personal with these majestic giants of the forest.
Worawa Aboriginal College Care for Country, Koala Browse Plantation, Polytechnic buildings all make up the education, culture and wellbeing centre of Worawa. Private experiences can be organised.
Donnellys Weir Begin walking the 5000+km to Cooktown on the Bicentennial National Trail, through some of Victoria’s most beautiful State forest.
Nurture
OneSpa RACV Country Club. Beautiful spa suites overlooking Mt Riddell, known as Gumeril, to local traditional owners. Beautiful therapists and quality products make OneSpa a deeply nurturing experience.
Miss Josies Beauty Parlour Paying homage to an era when ladies took their beauty regimes seriously, Miss Josie's is a 1950s styled beauty parlour. Miss Josie (Jo) provides personalised beauty treatments along with one of the most nurturing relaxation massages you will find in the Yarra Valley.
Belinda Aquilina Remedial and relaxation massage. We wanted to keep Belinda to ourselves. The secret is, she is that good. But she should be shared with our guests and can offer in-house or in massage rooms therapeutic massage.
Worawa Aboriginal College Dreaming Trail is part of the cultural and environmental landscape of Worawa. Experience the Bush Tucker Garden as a source of food and nutrition as well as their medicinal qualities.
Shop. Retail therapy is a wonderful way to nurture your soul. Morris Brown, Alchemy of Healesville Crumbz Craft and Clarence House are all fun places to explore in the main shopping precinct of Healesville. We also have a wide range of Opportunity and Charity stores offering a selection of treasures to be discovered.
Nourish
Stones of the Yarra Valley Whether it is the intimate resturant space of The Stables, a luncheon in The Barn or the local produce menu offered for lunch and dinner at Meletos' Cafe, there is something to suit your occasion every day of the week at this iconic Yarra Valley venue
Alchemy A great choice of locally source, healthy menus. Breakfast and lunch every day. Dinner friday and saturday evening.
River Street Organic Market Saturday mornings you will find a range of season produce at the River Street Farmers Market. The Pumpkin lady, Olive man, Chum Creek coffee are a few of the local providers passionate about their lovingly created produce.
Giant Steps / Innocent Bystander Modern food, excellent pizza, good coffee, good wine and great staff. Locals night on a Thursday evening.
Healesville Hotel Great Pub with a fine dining restaurant attached. Experience consistently good food accompanied by quality Yarra Valley and ‘imported’ wines.
Harvest Cafe Next to the Healesville Hotel. Great cafe food, good coffee.
K&B Kitchen & Butcher country butcher, delicatessen, baker charcuterie and fresh local produce for all your needs in preparing a quick meal at The Willow House and Habitat House.
Yarra Valley Dairy Delicious, local handmade cheeses with tastings in the 100 year old milking shed. Great value purchases for bulk buys.
Barrique Wine Store Personable, knowledgeable, Sean and his team have a great selection of Yarra Valley wines and others from around the world. They are great at recommending the best wine to complement your Yarra Valley meal.
Wombat's Chai a rustic cafe, with a small selection of organic produce if you miss the Saturday morning organic market in River Street. Tasty food & Monica makes an excellent coffee. Relaxed place where you will find the locals.
Mocha & Lime Heather makes excellent coffee and there are always generous serves of good food at this casual café. They often have fun, live music playing on a weekend.
Create
TarraWarra Museum of Art Winery & Restaurant – Immerse in the beauty and considered design of this first privately funded, publicly owned art museum. Beautiful modern architecture that frames the landscape as art in this beautiful gallery. The restaurant and cellar door are one of our finest.
Art at Linden Gate visit artist in residence Ernst Fries to enjoy his striking stainless steel, granite and glass sculptures in the farmland gardens
Acme et al is the design studio and photographic lab of Morgan and James Calder. This gallery, store and foodspace are worth a visit.
Yering Station is known for its quality wine and magnificent restaurant set within stunning architecture and landscaped gardens. The Rathbone family’s passion for visual art that complements the food and wine is one of the Yarra Valley’s secrets. Explore the installed works throughout Yering Station and the rotating exhibitions displayed in in the Cellar door and Matts Bar. The local Famers Market at Yering station falls on the 3rd Sunday of each month and is always worth a visit
Top Secret
Yarra Yering Winery One of our favorite places in the Yarra Valley, offering a blend of creative nourishment, nurturing and a true respect for nature.
Dr Bailey Carrodus was an Oxford trained botanist and plant physiologist, a visionary with a great passion for good wine, a love of food and art. He created Yarra Yering, 12 hectares of vines at the foot of the Warramate Hills and until recently this place was a well-guarded secret.
The simple, clean architecture of Dr Bailey’s home, coupled with a selection of wall tapestries and well placed antique furnishings, makes a beautiful tasting room that invites an experience like no other. We love taking our visiting friends to Dr Baliey’s Yarra Yering. Wines offered for tasting change regularly and we love how no two people in our party ever seem experience each wine in the same way.
However it is the respect for the land and how Dr Bailey seemed to merge with the site that inspires us most. A true artisan as well as intellectual, he succeed in growing many species, including avocados far from their natural habitat, and achieving absolute optimal performance by applying his alchemy to his love of wine making.
A perfect place to sit for an hour or two, noticing the presence of Dr Baily Carrodus in every aspect of Yarra Yering.
