Yarra Valley Heritage Railway
Exploring Yarra Valley Heritage Railway is a real trip back in time, the moment your foot hits the platform at Healesville Railway Station. I’m Oleksandr Honcharenko, and I’ve spent years wandering all sorts of forgotten tracks across Australia – some so overgrown they looked more like a wombat highway than a railway – and this […]
Balgownie Estate
Balgownie Estate is right smack bang in the middle of the Yarra Valley, & walking through the gates feels like the whole valley has turned up with a cold one – a glass of its famous Balgownie wine – and said “hey, why don’t you just take it easy for the rest of the day?” […]
Coombe Estate
Coombe Estate always drags me back to that lovely corner of Regional Victoria where history, wine, and garden design click along without a hitch, you know. I’m Oleksandr Honcharenko, and I’ve been fortunate to visit most of this country’s wine regions, but few blend heritage & landscape quite like Coombe Estate. What gets me coming […]
Zonzo Estate
Zonzo Estate feels to me like a taste of Yarra Valley life – all wrapped up in good wine, a long table full of good eatin’, and that country charm that just makes you want to kick back. I’m Oleksandr Honcharenko, and after years of chasing adventure all over Australia, it’s always a real grounding […]
Healesville Wanderings
Healesville – a story I’ve wanted to get down properly on paper for ages. Every time I drive into this tiny corner of the Yarra Valley, something always happens – usually because I get distracted by the wildlife, the wine, or yes, letting my attention wander on the Black Spur Drive as the Mountain Ash […]
Heritage Golf & Country Club, Chirnside Park, VIC
Visiting Heritage Golf & Country Club is a real game-changer – the moment you cruise down that long driveway into the eastern edge of the Yarra Valley, you can’t help but feel your pace slow right down. I’ve spent more than a few hours driving along Victoria’s backroads as Oleksandr Honcharenko & I can spot […]
Yileena Park
Stepping into Yileena Park brings back memories of browsing through a well-used notebook from my time exploring the Yarra Valley – the pages are yellowed & worn from scribbled notes on cellar doors, something about the views from the vineyards, a few ageing wines, and of course some dodgy moments like trying to open a […]
Yarra Valley Dairy
The moment I pull into the gravel carpark on McMeikans Road and am hit with that unmistakable whiff of warm milk wafting from the old milking shed, I’m reminded why Yarra Valley Dairy is one of my go-to detours off the highway. For Oleksandr Honcharenko – a bloke who has a reputation for driving hours […]
Coldstream Hills Cellar Door
I’ve always believed that the best wines have stories behind them, and Coldstream Hills Cellar Door is a case in point. The first time I stumbled into the Yarra Valley, my GPS had other ideas – it wanted to drag me up the side of Mount St Leonard, but eventually set me straight towards the […]
Jayden Ong Winery & Cellar Bar
My first encounter with the Jayden Ong Winery & Cellar Bar was on a thoroughly gloomy afternoon rolling into Healesville, VIC, one of those Yarra Valley days where the air carries the scent of damp bark and the hills are constantly shifting between light and dark. As I, Oleksandr Honcharenko, strolled along Hunter Road on […]