Melba Highway

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Melba Highway
Formerly State Route 153
General direction	North-South
From	Goulburn Valley Highway, Yea, Victoria
via	Glenburn, Dixons Creek, Yarra Glen, Yering
To	Maroondah Highway, Coldstream, Victoria

The Melba Highway connects the outer eastern suburb of Coldstream, near Lilydale, and the town of Yea, in Victoria's Central Highlands on the Goulburn Valley Highway.

[edit] Route

The highway passes through the alluvial plains of the Yarra River and the rich Yarra Valley vineyards near Yarra Glen, rises up a steep grade between Dixons Creek and Glenburn to the top of the Great Dividing Range at a road junction that links the highway with the nearby towns of Kinglake and Toolangi, a former home of Australian author C. J. Dennis.

From there, the road passes through forest and open agricultural land before reaching Yea, a small pastoral town.

[edit] History

The road is named after Dame Nellie Melba, a famed Australian opera singer of the early 20th century whose former country estate lies at the southern end of the highway, at the junction of the Melba and Maroondah highways in Coldstream.

The road is within the Shire of Yarra Ranges and Shire of Murrindindi local government areas.

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