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King Valley

The King Valley is home to exciting new Mediterranean wine styles including those of Italian, Spanish and Russian heritage as well as traditional French varieties. Milawa and Oxley, at the Northern end of the Valley, are the centre of the Milawa Gourmet Region where the wineries and restaurants are just around the corner from producers of specialty cheese, mustard, bread, olives, berries and honey, as well as jams, pickles and preserves.

The Italian influence on the arms of the KingValley are evident in the warmth and generosity of the King Valley welcome, where family run Cellar Doors are a great place to pass some time tasting, talking, learning and laughing. The hospitality extends into the award winning Victorian bed and breakfasts, fine wine and gourmet food restaurants, cafes and tearooms of the area.

Country holidays involve exploring the natural beauty of Lake William Hovell, Harry Power's Lookout (with views across the Alpine National Park and the pristine King River), trout fishing, adventure water sports and summer swimming. A King Valley sunset, with the slopes that cup the valley turned deep red and magenta, will not be forgotten one of many gourmet food and wine weekends in North East Victoria.

Wangaratta becomes a focal point in North East Victoria over the Melbourne Cup Weekend when the TAC Wangaratta Festival of jazz brings music lovers together for jazz, blues, food and wine.Year round Wangaratta's vibrant artistic and musical culture and wide variety of accommodation and dining options make it a good base for short breaks from Melbourne.

Whitfield

Quick facts

Population approximately 100
260 km north-east of Melbourne
Excellent wineries and vineyards
Beautiful scenery, waterfalls, rivers, mountains

Whitfield is a very pretty and very small town situated in a dairying and tobacco growing district in the highly scenic King River Valley where lush river flats are surrounded by some magnificent high country. Wine is the main produce of the valley, along with gourmet foods, apples and berries.
Whitfield is located 245 km north-east of Melbourne, 60 km north-east of Mansfield and 50 km south of Wangaratta. It has a general store cum post office, a vehicle repair service, two caravan parks, public toilets and the attractive Mountain View Hotel which is situated by the intersection of the roads to Wangaratta, Cheshunt and Mansfield. It has a restaurant and a beer garden. Just south of the hotel is a scenic nine-hole golf club.

The state's first narrow-gauge railway from Wangaratta to Whitfield was once the main form of transportation into the valley and the former station signs remain at locations such as Docker, Byrne, Angleside and Claremont.

Bushranger Harry Powers once operated in the area in the 1860s and, in 1869, formed an association with a 13-year-old Ned Kelly. As a result Kelly was arrested and held in custody for seven weeks as a suspected accomplice but the charge was dismissed. Power was captured in 1870 and sentenced to 15 years at Pentridge prison.

At a later date, when Kelly was a wanted man, he allegedly rode his horse down the hallway of the Mountain View Hotel which is still in existence. More solidly, it is known that Dan 'Mad Dog' Morgan stole a horse from the Evans station at Whitfield in 1860. Pursued by Mr Evan Evans and a Mr Bond he was fired upon and hit with buckshot. He returned to the station on April 6, 1865 and set fire to some haystacks and, when the people from the property appeared, Morgan held them up. He asked for Evans who, fortunately for him, was absent. Morgan explained he wished to see Evans and Bond as a result of the previous incident. After eating, Morgan departed with the police soon in pursuit. He was killed three days later.