Yarra Glen

Introduction

Yarra Glen

© Peter

On the edge of the Yarra Valley, the small town of Yarra Glen is a good place to stop for a few beers, some wine tasting and some excellent antique shopping.

Sights and Activities

• Sample wine at the cellar door at one of the many wineries. Among them are Yering Station, De Bortoli, TarraWarra Estate and Yarra Ridge.
• Sample local beers at the newly opened (2007) Hargreaves Hill Tasting Centre.
• Shop at one of several antique stores in town.

Events and Festivals

• The Yarra Valley Regional Food Group Farmers' Market is held on the third Sunday of each month.
• The Grape Grazing Festival – February
• Yarra Glen Agricultural Show – March
• Melba Festival – March
• The Yarra Valley Expo held at the Yarra Glen Racecourse – April

Eat

• Yarra Glen Grand Hotel serves up some very tasty meals from about $20. The building is easily recognised in town due to its large tower. It's worth wandering into just to check out the decor even if you only stop for a drink. (Location: 19 Bell Street, Tel: 9730 1230)
• A few kilometres out of town, Zonzo is attached to the Train Trak winery and serves up some great pizzas (Location: 957 Healesville Yarra Glen Road, Tel: 9730 2500)
• Yarra Valley Dairy in nearby Yering is a great place to enjoy some fine local cheeses. Their Persian Feta is one of their most popular cheeses. (Location: Mc Meikans Road, Yering. Tel: 9739 0023)

Drink

• Hargreaves Hill Tasting Centre has a selection of locally made Hargreaves Hill's ales on tap. (Location: 25 Bell St, in the old National Australia Bank building. Open: Wed-Sun, 12noon til late. Tel: 9730 1905)

Sleep

• Yarra Glen Grand Hotel provides a range of rooms from $170 per night.

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafés are very common in the larger Australian cities and popular tourist destinations. However, once you leave the major population centres, you might have trouble finding somewhere to log on. Free wifi is getting more and more common (either with or without a code) in places like restaurants, some bars and coffee places and hotels. Sometimes a fee is required.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

Australia is on a GSM 900/1800 network, so if you have an unlocked phone that works on those frequencies, you will be able to buy a prepaid SIM-card and stick into your phone when you're in Australia. You will receive a new Australian phone number with the SIM-card.

To dial out of Australia use the prefix 0011, followed by the calling code of the country you are trying to reach, followed by the area code of the city/town (without the 0!) and finally the phone number.

Within Australia, it is necessary to add an area code to the phone numbers if you are calling from outside the area. Below are Australia's area codes:

• 02 - New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory (Sydney, Canberra)
• 03 - Victoria & Tasmania (Melbourne, Hobart)
• 07 - Queensland (Brisbane)
• 08 - Western Australia, South Australia & Northern Territory (Perth, Adelaide, Darwin)

000 is the emergency telephone number in Australia, but the international GSM mobile emergency telephone number 112 also works on mobile phones.

Post

Australia Post is the government's postal service. Most suburbs will have at least one post office. Opening times are mostly from around 8:00 or 9:00am to 5:00pm though larger ones keep longer hours sometimes. A standard letter or postcard sent within Australia will cost $0.60. Internationally, it costs $1.70 to send postcards anywhere in the world. Letters cost $1.85 to send within the Asia Pacific region and $2.60 to anywhere else in the world.^[1]. It is also possible to send things as parcels or by express mail. You can also use use private courier companies like TNT, UPS or DHL as they are competitive and reliable.