Healesville is a small town in the country of Victoria, Australia close to an hour’s drive from Melbourne’s principal business district. Healesville is situated in the Watts River, which flows directly to the Yarra River. Healesville is perhaps most famous for its zoo currently renamed Healesville Sanctuary. The town is home to a population of 789 in 2021, however that number is typically higher when you add to that the tourist. The township was first settled in 1864 primarily as an accommodation destination in the vicinity of the goldfields as well as to develop the Yarra Track and was named in honour of Richard Heales who had been the Premier of the State of Victoria from 1861 to 1859. Healesville is situated within the ancestral territory of the indigenous Wurundjeri people. A reserve devoted to the Aboriginal people, known as Coranderrk was established in 1863, just to the south of the main township. In addition to the tourism sector, the majority of employment within and surrounding Healesville is in sectors like the sawmill, horticulture and viticulture. Healesville is now a tourist destination since the 1880s which led to The Grand Hotel becoming built in 1888 as well as The Gracedale House becoming constructed in 1889. In addition to the Healesville Sanctuary The tourism area is located in the area of the wine and food businesses of in the Yarra Valley, and includes attractions like The Badger Weir Park Area, Yarra Valley Railway and the Healesville Organic Market. Additionally, there are numerous eateries and restaurants as well as volunteer-run events like Healesville Music Festivity, Healesville Music Festivity, Open Studios and The Yarra Valley Rodeo where they attracts people to visit to the area for a day, whether they are from Melbourne or even to take holidays. The first tourist organization was in the 1920s to promote the area. The township is the southern end to the Bicentennial Heritage Trail which has its northern end in Cooktown, Queensland, north of Cairns. The trail is 5330 kilometers long which makes it the longest of its kind anywhere in the world.
The Healesville Sanctuary which was formerly known as Sir Colin MacKenzie Sanctuary is an area for nature-based recreation or zoo, with a vast variety of native Australian animals, which are shown in an open natural environment. Sir Mackenzie created an Institute of Anatomical Research in 1920, on 78 acres in Coranderrk. In 1927, the institute was passed over to the Healesville Council changing into the Sir Colin MacKenzie Sanctuary later in 1934. It was renamed the Sir Colin MacKenzie Sanctuary in 1934. Healesville Sanctuary is now just one of two zoos that have an active breeding program for platypus that was able to breed their first in 1943. In 1978, the Zoo was put directly under the control of the Victorian Zoological Parks and Gardens Board. The Sanctuary is situated within an ecosystem of natural bush where pathways wind through various habitats that display wallabies, emus and kangaroos, as well as more than two hundred indigenous birds. Visitors typically spend two to three hours walking around the zoo. They also enjoy a flying show with native birds. The zoo in 2009 was been threatened by the severe Black Saturday bushfires that ravaged many areas. A lot of endangered animals at the zoo were moved for relocation to Melbourne Zoo at that time. Healesville is home to a highly active Country Fire Authority volunteer fire brigade, which was formed in 1894. It played with the other fire brigades in fighting fires in the region during that time.
