This regional town sure knows how to pack a punch. Just north of the Great Dividing Range and only a 90-minute drive from Melbourne, Yea offers a relaxed country experience but with a progressive twist.
Boasting modern street art, award winning wineries, restaurants, historic buildings, a thriving main street and a strong arts culture, Yea Victoria is a key town on the Great Victorian Rail Trail.

HIGHLIGHTS

RAIL TRAIL
The Great Victorian Rail Trail winds through Yea, making it a great stop to wet the whistle, indulge the palate and inspire your inner creative, as cyclists can explore the fabulous range of welcoming country pubs, great eateries, local art galleries and quirky stores.
YEA WETLANDS DISCOVERY CENTRE
A trip to Yea, Victoria, isn’t complete without a wander through the Yea wetlands and the Yea Wetlands Discovery Centre
Situated on a 32-hectare floodplain the wetlands are home to platypus, koalas and many native and migratory waterbirds that watch over the billabongs. While the YWDC is an environmental learning and accredited visitor information centre, where you can also learn about the traditional owners, the Taungurung people.
The Yea Wetlands may be small on a world scale, but they provide inspiration in spades, opening your eyes to an abundance of bird life and fauna throughout the seasons.


MURRINDINDI SCENIC RESERVE
Pack a picnic, throw a line in, or even pitch a tent at the Murrindindi Scenic Reserve. Situated at the northern end of Toolangi State Forest, this large green oasis is less than 2 hours from Melbourne.
It includes tumbling waterfalls, Mountain Ash, fern-filled gullies and is the perfect place for bushwalking, bird watching, fishing and paddling in the shallows of the Murrindindi River.
EAT & DRINK
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
Niusia
Niusia is a critically acclaimed play, the debut solo work by Beth Patterson, a writer, opera singer and multidisciplinary artist.
Niusia was a Holocaust survivor. Her granddaughter Beth only remembers an angry, dying woman. She’s ready to learn her stories, but what she discovers is all the questions she didn’t know existed and wasn’t allowed to ask.
Weaving together memories, handed-down stories, and interviews with family, Beth sets out to understand her nana’s complex legacy. She gives voice to the cruel thoughts you shouldn’t have about your Holocaust-surviving nana, stumbles upon her own Jewishness and ultimately confronts how deeply embedded these horrific memories are in her family line.
Discovering what happens when aspiration becomes assimilation after fleeing war and devastation for belonging and safety, Niusa interrogates what remembrance looks like when all that is known are the spaces where questions should have gone.
The play tackles the stories of Beth’s family with a lighthearted sense of humour and lively energy, despite its heavy sounding themes. Journey with Beth as she is shown the tenderness she missed out on, learns to laugh at the unlaughable, and wades through the complexity of trauma-laden memories, love, and familial relationships.
Content Warnings: Discussion around adult themes of war crimes, violence, antisemitism, and genocide; descriptions of concentration camp experiences; depiction of PTSD flashback; mild coarse language.