Lara is a quaint township situated on the outskirts of Geelong on the way to Melbourne. Lara has attracted much development over the last few years as new residents discover the convenience of living a country lifestyle but living close to Geelong and Melbourne. With railroad and freeways linking both cities Lara is a very attractive option for commuters. Lara has a substantial shopping centre and most of the amenities you would expect including a swimming pool.
Lara is home to the Lara Food and Wine Festival on the fourth Sunday of March each year. This huge event attracts in the order of eight thousand people to the grounds of the historic Pirra Homestead. It is a fantastic opportunity to sample some of the gourmet products from some of the regions local restaurants, growers and producers of gourmet food, and wine. The day takes on a huge picnic atmosphere with hundreds enjoying the food and drink on the lawns.
While Little River is possibly one of the smallest of townships around the Geelong area nestled not far from the You Yangs. It has possibly one of the most famous names of any Victorian city. It was adopted as the name of the Little River Band which had world wide success in the seventies and early eighties with songs like Reminiscing and Lonesome Loser. Little River was also used for many of the scenes from the first two Mad Max movies staring Mel Gibson.
Time has not have affected the towns country village style with not much more than a general store come service station and a good old fashioned pub. There are regular rail service from Geelong and Melbourne and the township is only minutes from the Avalon Airport home to Jetstar.
Little River is home to the You Yangs and close to Ford Australia’s top secret proving ground test facilities and Earth Sanctuary where endangered native animals are bred. Earth Sanctuary was also one of the major filming sites for the 2003 Motion Picture “Ned Kelly” staring the late Heath Ledger and in was recently used by Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks feature “War in the Pacific”.
Avalon Airfield is home to the Australian International Airshow which is held every second year, which is held on odd years at the end of summer. Avalon has more recently become the local home of Jetstar, Australia’s new budget domestic carrier. Several flights a week leave Avalon for destinations such as Sydney and Brisbane and Adelaide. There is talk of international flights one day leaving Avalon and another carrier using the facilities. Avalon Airfield is also used by major carriers to train flight staff and refurbish jets.
Avalon Beach is one of the regions more unusual places in the region. Situated on the northern shore of Corio Bay it is a collection of small beach houses amongst the scrub and salt pans. It has been used in many films including the house where ’Mad Max’ lived and featured in Jimmy Barnes music video “Stone Cold”.
Petrolheads who love a night out will enjoy Avalon’s Raceway. Headline events include sprint cars, V8 dirt modified cars, rods and the crowd favourite demolition derby.
