37°54′11″S 144°25′54″E / 37.903032°S 144.431763°E / -37.903032; 144.431763 The You Yangs Regional Park is a park in southern central Victoria, Australia . The park encompasses much of the southern areas of the You Yangs , a granite range that rises from the Werribee Plains , 60 km southwest of Melbourne . The park is operated and managed by Parks Victoria and is open during daylight hours.
24-581: Situated within the traditional boundaries of the Wathawurrung (Wathaurong/Wada Wurrung) Aboriginal tribal lands and once home to the Yawangi Baluk (local clan whose territory extended to Port Philip), the You Yangs (Wurdi-Yawang) shares historical significance with Australians of non-indigenous origin. A road known as Great Circle Drive, encircles Flinders Peak, enabling drivers, cyclists and walkers to navigate
48-525: A few hundred by 1890, and several facilities such as schools and churches were built, although a water supply was not provided until 1947. In January 1969, 17 people were killed in a bushfire which ravaged Lara. Most of the victims were trapped in or near their cars by a fast-moving grass fire, while travelling on the Princes Highway . Several scenes from the 1979 feature film, Mad Max , were shot on location around Lara, as well as several scenes from
72-435: A more spacious site for the supermarket and the re-configuration of the park. There are four real estate agencies and one newsagency. The Lara Library opened in 2011. There are several eat-in bakery/coffee/cake shops, three Thai restaurants, two Indian restaurants, three pizza shops, three fish-and-chip shops, McDonald's , Subway , three Chinese and noodle shops and other take-aways. There are two petrol stations, one of which
96-530: A proving grounds for automotive testing and evaluation at the north end of the You Yangs. Lara has regular V/Line passenger train services on the Geelong line to Melbourne and Geelong to cater for the many residents who commute to work each day via Lara railway station . Lara has become a popular place to live for those wishing to work in Melbourne and have ties to Geelong. After the extension of Myki ticketing to
120-537: Is also home to Avalon College, a school for International Students preparing them for traditional schools. On Lara's outskirts are industry parks and two prisons – the maximum security HM Prison Barwon , opened in January 1990, and the medium security Marngoneet Correctional Centre , opened 3 March 2006. The former Pirra Homestead , a home for girls age 13 to 18, part of the Victorian youth welfare system, closed during
144-591: Is also home to the Lara Giants Basketball club that was established in 1992 and competes in Geelong United Basketball association. Lara Golf Club (known as Elcho Park Golf Club until 2014) is an 18 hole course and driving range on Elcho Road. C&D recycling, a recycling facility on Broderick Road, failed to comply with its permit conditions for several years before going into liquidation in 2019. EPA Victoria estimated that 286,200m3 of waste
168-537: Is being preserved at the Lara Museum and Historical Centre on the corner of Forest and Canterbury roads. It is housed in an historic property, formerly the Lake Bank Hotel (circa 1860), which was renovated by local businessman, Lino Bisinella, and handed over in 2013 to the community group which runs the museum, Lara Heritage and Historical Inc. Lara contains a number of heritage listed sites, including: According to
192-538: Is nearby but there is no regular public transport from Lara station to the airport terminal. Lara has a post office, two banks, several hairdressers, a barber, a travel agency, a butcher, a greengrocer, a Woolworths supermarket (opened in 2016) and a Coles supermarket . The Coles supermarket opened in December 2014 as part of the town centre expansion on the site of Austin Park, as well as a re-alignment of Waverley Road to create
216-517: Is not useful as a water source. Granite peaks known as the You Yangs , 4 kilometres north of Lara, rise dramatically to a height of 352m and can be seen from most areas of Geelong. Lara offers education through its three primary schools; St. Anthony's Primary School , Lara Lake Primary School and Lara Primary School . Lara Secondary College , which accommodates years 7 - 12 and the VCE , opened in 2004. Lara
240-447: Is one of numerous internal bays in the southwest corner of Australia's Port Phillip , and is the bay on which abuts the City of Geelong . The nearby suburb of Corio takes its name from Corio Bay. When Hamilton Hume and William Hovell arrived at the bay in 1824 they met with the local Wautharong people who referred to the bay as "Jillong" and the surround land "Corayo", but by the time
264-709: Is open for business 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Lodging and entertainment are provided by a pub/hotel, sports club, and a lawn bowls club. Lara has an Australian rules football team competing in the Geelong Football League . There are two soccer clubs in Lara: North Geelong Warriors FC play in the National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 and Lara United FC play in division 5 of the Victorian State League . Lara
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#1732859482620288-567: The 2021 census , there were 19,014 people in Lara. Hovell's Creek runs through Lara and ends at Limeburners Bay , a small inlet of Corio Bay . Owing to the poor soils and low runoff inherent in Australian streams, along with the fact the region is the driest in southern Victoria because of the Otway Ranges’ rain shadow (receiving about 425 millimetres (17 in) per year), the creek is ephemeral and
312-645: The ABC mockumentary , We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year , in which the town carried the fictional name "Dunt". On 13 February 2024, a freak storm hit the area, leaving thousands without power. The temperature reached 41 °C (106 °F) at about 2 pm, just before a wind gust of 122km/h was recorded at nearby Avalon Airport . During the thunderstorm, the temperature dropped to 25.3 °C (78 °F) before briefly rising to 35 °C (95 °F). A cool change arrived at 4 pm. The town's history
336-636: The Geelong CBD, inland from the Princes Freeway to Melbourne . Its population at the 2021 census was 19,014. Lara and its surrounding land was occupied for tens of thousands of years before European colonisation by the Wadawurrung people. The explorers Hume and Hovell arrived at Lara on 16 December 1824, believing that they had reached Westernport Bay . They recorded that the Aboriginals described
360-406: The 1980s. Lara is home to St Laurence Park retirement village, which is set on 42 acres (170,000 m ) of parkland near the centre of the town. It includes 119 fully self-contained units, 17 apartments and a holiday unit. A more recent development on the eastern edge of Lara is Lakeside Lara, "a retirement or over 55's lifestyle community" with more than 200 cottages. Ford Australia operates
384-482: The Geelong line in 2013, Lara became a Myki Zone 2, 3 & 4 station. Following the introduction of 20-minute off-peak services in 2015, there has been an increase in passenger traffic by train between Geelong and Lara. Under contract to Public Transport Victoria , CDC Geelong operates bus services in the Lara area on routes 10, 11 and 12, running to and from Lara station. Taxis are also available. Avalon Airport
408-526: The area was surveyed in the late 1830s the Aboriginal names had been swapped. The names "Corayo" and "Jillong" had since been Anglicised to "Corio" and "Geelong". The Port of Geelong is located on the shores of Corio Bay, and is the sixth largest port in Australia by tonnage. Before the initial settlement of Geelong, a sandbar across the bay from Point Lillias to Point Henry prevented ships from entering
432-610: The bay as Djillong and land as Corayo , suggesting origins for the names of Geelong and Corio . The area was originally named Kennedy's Creek but was also given several different names, including Duck Ponds, Hovell's Creek, Cheddar, Swindon and Lara Lake. There were no more than a few farms there at that time. The railway through the town was opened in 1857 along with the local railway station , and several residential subdivisions were then announced. A Post Office opened on 1 March 1858 as Duck Ponds, renamed Hovell's Creek in 1872, and finally Lara in 1884. The population had grown to
456-455: The inner harbour. Ships were required to drop anchor in the bay, and cargo was brought into Geelong on small barges . At times it was possible to walk across the bay on the sandbar at low tide. The first channel through the sandbar was started in 1853, providing less than 4 metres draught for ships. This channel was straightened out and dredged at a depth of 6 metres in the 1860s. In 1881 a new channel started that took 12 years to complete. It
480-472: The park's western area, providing a link between Lara and Balliang. The park has a well-developed network of mountain bike trails, ranging from easy (green) to two downhill tracks for experts (double diamond). The trails are in two areas: Stockyards and Kurrajong Plantation. It is managed by volunteers working with Parks Victoria. Lara, Victoria Lara is a town in Victoria , 18 km north-east of
504-405: The undulating terrain, from flat forested areas to hilly scenic views. The road passes by many lookouts, rest areas, picnic areas, barbecues and other features. The main public entrance to the park is located on Branch Road, near the intersection of Forest Road North, 5 km north of Lara and 5 km west of Little River . The gate is open daylight hours. Sandy Creek Road also passes through
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#1732859482620528-480: Was later re-branded as 'GeelongPort'. The shores of Corio Bay have been a popular playground for Geelong residents. Since the 1930s Eastern Beach has been a popular swimming location. Boating is also popular, with a number of public boat ramps and piers provided. The bay is also the home of the Royal Geelong Yacht Club that was established in 1859, and the adjacent Bay City Marina that was constructed in
552-630: Was named the Hopetoun Channel after Lord Hopetoun who opened it on December 20, 1893. Management of the channels and port was the responsibility of the Geelong Harbour Trust that was formed in December 1905. In 1981, the Port of Geelong Authority took over from the trust. The authority was privatised by the State Government in mid 1996, being sold to TNT Logistics for $ 49.6 million. It
576-531: Was stockpiled at the site, creating a high fire risk. The cleaning-up started in September 2019 and ended in June 2022, contractors handling large amounts of timber and soil as well as concrete, bricks, plaster, plastic, glass and ceramics. Soil contaminated with asbestos was also removed. The Victorian state government provided $ 30 million to the operation in order to minimise fire risk. Corio Bay Corio Bay
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