Dandenongs & North-East Country

Getting away from the bustle of Melbourne is easy when the lush green of the Dandenong Ranges and the enticing food and wine region of North-East Victoria is only an hour’s drive away.

Country style abounds at many top-class meetings venues, all offering creative options for conferencing and touring. The Dandenong Ranges are an idyllic retreat, with picturesque villages, beautiful gardens, and magnificent tall forests and views.
Visitors can explore Olinda and the National Rhododendron Gardens, browse through art, antique and handicraft galleries, or ride on Puffing Billy, Australia’s oldest steam railway, through thick forests and fern-filled gullies. The Dandenong Ranges National Park has 300 kilometres of walking tracks to be explored.

>> Conference & function venues in Dandenongs

The Yarra Valley is home to Victoria’s earliest vineyards and recognised as one of the world’s great wine-growing regions. Cellar doors offer tastings and sales, and many wineries have restaurants serving gourmet local produce. In many cases, the winemakers are on hand to answer questions.

Take to the skies in a hot-air balloon for a different perspective on the region, or get up close and personal with Australian wildlife, such as dingoes, kangaroos, wombats and platypus at Healesville Sanctuary.

At the foothills of the Great Diving Range, RACV Club Healesville combines experience, flexibility and friendly club staff to deliver better outcomes for conference organisers and delegates. Three multi-purpose meeting rooms with syndicate and outdoor areas provide flexible conferencing facilities with a full range of audiovisual, presentation equipment configured to your needs upon request. For those requiring overnight accommodation, RACV Club Healesville boasts 47 comfortable accommodation rooms each complemented by a private balcony or verandah with spectacular views of the surrounding area.

In the North-East, historic townships, art galleries, nurseries and museums are dotted around the hills and valleys of the region, where Ned Kelly and his gang once roamed. This too is the country that gave birth to the legend of the Man from Snowy River.

Close to some of the oldest and most diverse wine regions in Australia, including Rutherglen, Glenrowan, King and Alpine Valleys, and just 250 kilometres from Melbourne, is the Lindenwarrah Hotel.

Framed by the High Country mountains and opposite Brown Brothers winery, the hotel has three purpose-built meeting rooms, as well as function facilities and a dedicated conference co-ordinator. The Merlot Restaurant can be used for meetings of up to 170 theatre style or 120 for banquets.

Accommodation is in 40 individually decorated bedrooms, including two suites, all with floor-to-ceiling windows with shutters and either first floor balcony with vineyard views or ground level garden access.

At historic Chateau Yering, which has spectacular views across the Yarra Valley to the Great Dividing Range, accommodation is in 22 River Suites, six Yarra Suites, three Four Poster Stable Suites (in the old stable block) and the Yering Suite, on the upper floor, with it’s own private staircase.



The chateau is set on 250 acres, including heritage-listed gardens and a 2.7 kilometre frontage to the Yarra River. The Oak Room has a seating capacity of 140 and has been purpose-built to cater for weddings, private functions, conferences, product launches and special events. With magnificent views across the valley and vineyards, The Oak Room also has a bar and pre-dinner anteroom, for flexibility to suit all events.