You Yangs

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.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 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.

Serendip Sanctuary is a 250 ha (620 acres) protected area in Victoria, Australia, near the You Yangs and the town of Lara, some 22 km (14 mi) north of Geelong and 60 km (37 mi) south-west of Melbourne. Originally used for farming and other purposes, it was purchased in 1959 by the State Government of Victoria for wildlife research and the captive management and breeding of species threatened in Victoria, such as the brolga, magpie goose, Australian bustard, and bush stone-curlew. The sanctuary contains many different types of wetland and is home to many plant species as well, such as river red gums, tall spikerush, and tussock grass. Serendip now focuses more on environmental education about the flora and fauna of the wetlands and open grassy woodlands of the Volcanic Western Plains of Victoria. It was opened to the public in 1991 and is now managed by Parks Victoria.

Mount Rothwell Biodiversity Interpretation Centre is the largest feral-predator-free ecosystem in Victoria, Australia. It is located just north of the You Yangs, near the town of Little River.The fenced 420-hectare site protects a large number of threatened species. It contains native carnivorous marsupials such as the eastern and spotted-tail quoll, the critically endangered southern brush-tailed rock wallaby, and the mainland's largest population of the now extinct (outside of our fences) eastern barred bandicoots.

Pirra Homestead, in Windermere Road, Lara, Victoria, was built in the mid-1860s by George Fairbairn (senior), one of Australia's most prosperous pastoralists and a pioneer of Australia's frozen meat export trade, who established the property as a premier sheep stud. The homestead was originally called 'Woodlands', but by 1880 the name of the property had changed to 'Windermere'.In the first decade of the twentieth century, the property was sold to the Victorian Government for closer settlement, but the homestead and 637 acres (258 hectares) were taken over by the Lara Inebriates' Institution. After the Inebriates' Institution closed in 1930, the property was sold to James McDonald in 1938, who turned it into a mixed farm. In 1946, he leased the former Inebriates' dormitory building to the States Tobacco Company. After the Tobacco Company folded in 1948, the property was sold to Oscar and Edna Mendelsohn. The Tobacco Company workers were employed by the clothing manufacturer Pelaco, which operated a factory in the former Inebriates' dormitory. The Mendelsohns renamed the property 'Serendip' and established a commercial almond orchard. The water reservoir was proclaimed a sanctuary for the protection of the local bird life. Oscar Mendelsohn was also appointed as an assistant inspector of the government Fisheries and Game Department. In 1959, the Mendelsohns sold to the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife who assumed control of the 600 acres (240 hectares) surrounding the wildlife sanctuary. The immediate homestead, reduced to 37 acres (15 hectares), was taken over by the Victorian Government Social Welfare Department, and the two-storey mansion house and nearby buildings became the Pirra Girls' Home in 1961. 'Pirra' is an aboriginal word for moon, being a symbol of happiness. Pirra accommodated female wards of the state aged from 10 – 14 years who had come under State wardship for being "in moral danger" or for "lapsing or (being) likely to lapse into a life of vice and crime". The Girls' Home closed in 1983 and Pirra was leased to Rex Keogh and Geoff Dombrain. It became an accommodation and community establishment for the lessees and invited artists. In 1996, the property, then reduced to 6.665 hectares (16.469 acres), was sold to Rex Keogh, who continued running it as a home for artists, and as community‐based accommodation for a limited number of disabled persons. In 2006 the property was sold to the Bisinella family who undertook a $2 million+ restoration of the homestead.

Little River railway station is located on the Warrnambool line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Little River, and it opened on 1 January 1857. It was renamed Bulban on 2 May 1910, and was renamed Little River 9 December 1912.

Avalon Raceway is a dirt track racing venue located in Lara, Victoria, Australia. The track is based on a clay sand mix, is oval shaped and is 390 metres (430 yards) in length.

Lara is a town in Victoria, 18 km north-east of the Geelong CBD, inland from the Princes Freeway to Melbourne. Its population at the 2021 census was 19,014.

Little River is a town in Victoria, Australia, approximately 44 kilometres (27 mi) south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Greater Geelong and Wyndham local government areas. Little River recorded a population of 1,353 at the 2021 census.

Mount Rothwell is a locality in Victoria, Australia, located to the north east of the You Yangs hills, between Bacchus Marsh and Werribee. It is the location of the Mount Rothwell wildlife sanctuary and the historic Mount Rothwell homestead, built in 1873 for Pastoralist Robert Chirnside, (listed on the Victorian Heritage Register (H1107), inherited on his father's death in 1918 by his grandson Dr James Chirnside, and occupied by the Chirnside family until about 2000.The homestead was used for filming of the 2003 Ned Kelly, and was purchased in 2000 along with the estate by the Mount Rothwell Biodiversity Interpretation Centre.Nearby is the Mount Rothwell Aboriginal stone arrangement known as Wurdi Youang and the ruins of the Mount Rothwell Hotel.

Lara Secondary College is a public co-educational secondary school located in Lara, Australia, which shares fences with a local primary school Lara Primary School. Lara secondary college accommodates approximately 900 students from years 7–12. The school officially opened, taking just year 7 students, on the current site in 2003. As of 2008 Lara Secondary College was a complete secondary school having grades from year 7 to 12 attending. At the beginning of the 2012 school year, all of the renovations had been completed and a new more modernistic building had been built for the year 7 and 8 students.