Yesterday we went for a drive to Yackandandah. A very beautiful town in the North West of Victoria, Australia. The town is situated between Wodonga and Beechworth.

The whole commercial part of the town has been classified by the National Trust and features many well preserved buildings which date back to the mid to late 1800’s. Yackandandah started its life as a gold mining town.

Autumn is one of the prettiest times to visit Yackandandah as the town has many deciduous trees that line the streets.

I bet you are wondering how Yackandandah got its name and what it means. The Aboriginal word for the Yackandandah area is Dhudhuroa. To the Dhudhuroa people Yackandandah means “one boulder on top of another at the junction of two creeks”. At the intersection of the Yackandandah and Commissioners Creeks meet you can find the granite boulders.

Where I live Albury (Bree the youngest of the 3 sisters) on the border of New South Wales and Victoria the drive to Yackandandah takes about 30 minutes and is one of the loveliest drives. The town is nestled in the foothills of the Stanley State Forest.

The town was bustling when I was there yesterday, the cafes and the hotel’s were busy with people savoring the local delights. Chatted to a lady as we walked down the street, she was from Newcastle and was in Yackandandah on a bus tour. She was heading to the Yackandandah Hotel for a wine or two and then said they were off to Beechworth for more wine and probably visiting the towns Micro brewery’s and pubs. Many people stopped to chat to us and of course pat our dogs Sally and Betty, who lapped up the extra love on the day.

We decided to have lunch at the Star Hotel at the top end of the main street. The Star Hotel has been in the community since 1863. If the name seems familiar especially those of my readers in Australia, the hotel featured in the 2004 Paul Hogan film “Strange Bedfellows”, as well as being featured on the ABC TV show Backroads. If you haven’t seen the film I do recommend you watch it. Lighthearted movie and you get to see a bit of the town and New South Wales.

Greg my bestie ordered a paddle of beer that is brewed nearby. The brewery is called the Two Pot Brewery. He could have either a 4 paddle or a 6 paddle. He chose the 4 as he was the driver.

The hotel/pub also features the Backwoods Distillery which makes high quality whiskey and gin. (Can you believe I found this out after we left the town to head home) I love good Gin! Will have to go back and try some.

There is also a Strawberry Winery of course made from local strawberries and another Distillery called Yack Creek Distillery that produces Gin, Whiskey and Rum’s.

Maybe I should look at staying in a dog friendly Air BNB, sounds like a good idea don’t you think?

Lunch was amazing. Greg ordered the Chicken Parmigiana and I ordered the Gluten Free Pulled Pork & Crackle slow cooked in Mustard with pickled Apple. I also had some delicious baked potatoes served with it. I couldn’t eat it all and was able to take it the leftovers home. The staff were lovely and friendly and as soon as we sat down they brought a fresh bowl of water out for our dogs.

We chatted to a couple at the next table while waiting for our meals to be served. They were traveling around the area from Melbourne and looking for somewhere to live in the country. Having worked from home for the whole lockdown they decided he could live anywhere and keep working from home. Sounds like a good decision to me.

A lot of the menu was gluten free which was great for me.

If wine, beer and gin is not to your liking there is a great tea room called the Vintage Rose Tea Room where delicious cakes and pastries are definitely on the menu.

Another place is Scoop 21, Yackandandah’s first and only cafe and ice creamery that employs people with special needs. Unfortunately Scoop 21 was closed due to a new addition to the family when we were there. Maybe next time we go ice cream will be on my menu!

Other places in town to check out is the Yackandandah Museum.

Athenaeum (built in 1878) to be the home of 3,000 books for the local book club, had two reading rooms. Now is the home of the Sluga Gallery.

The court house (1863) which is now used as a community hall.

The Bank of Victoria building (1860) which now houses a museum.

The old post office (first built as a timber structure in 1856) where the local visitor information centre is located.

So many places still to visit although when we lived in Wodonga a few years ago we did visit all these places and more. I just will have to re-visit and do another post and fill you in on more about

After lunch we walked back to the car and decided as it was such a lovely sunny day we would go via the Hume Weir so the girls (the dogs) could have a run and cool off in the water.

We drove a different way via a town that is called Tangambalanga – what a mouthful that is. The name is Aboriginal and means White Clawed Lobster. People who come from Tangambalanga call it Tangam for short. The town is only 27 minutes to home and 5 minutes from the Hume Lake.

We first stopped at Ludlows Reserve but it was busy with Motor Homes and lots of boating, plus the water was quite low. So we then went to our favorite spot Ebden Reserve. The girls had a lot of fun at the waters edge.

To get to Yackandandah from Melbourne it takes about 3 hours and 21 minutes on Highway M31.

I would recommend staying for at least a couple of days. There is plenty of accommodation to suit all budgets. I have started looking and have found a few that are definitely pet friendly and by pet friendly I mean allow the dogs inside the property.

Hope you enjoyed the day trip to Yackandandah.