Healesville Travel Guide

Healesville is a flourishing tourist resort located amidst scenic countryside at the confluence of the Watts River and Grace Burn Creek, 60 km east of Melbourne and 81 metres above sea-level. In recent times the area to the west of the town has seen a proliferation of vineyards and the town itself is famous for its widely publicised Healesville Sanctuary. The current population of Healesville is 5416, plus another 1398 at Badger Creek. The area around Healesville was originally occupied by the Yarra Yarra or Wurrundjeri Aboriginal group who were settled at the Coranderrk Aboriginal Reservation on Badger Creek, 5 km south of the town, from 1863. This reservation, and others created around the same time, became infamous with many Aborigines dying through disease and maltreatment. In 'The Kurnai of Gippsland' Authors Phillip Pepper and Tess De Araugo report that by 1881 'the death rate was so high on all the Aboriginal reserves throughout Victoria that there was serious talk of closing ... Coranderrk ... where there were not enough healthy men to work on the farms'. The Healesville Market operates on the first Sunday of the month in the carpark behind the main street shops (carparking is available along River St and on the old caravan park site) while the Badger Creek Craft Market is held on the fourth Sunday of each month from February to November (and most long weekends) in Badger Creek Road. The Healesville Gateway Festival is held in early November in and around the township and the Honda Yarra Valley Grape Grazing Festival is held at the end of February in many vineyards around the Yarra Valley.