Premier transport company Cobb & Co became a true pioneer of Australian travel in a time when passage through the country was notoriously uncomfortable.
Australia’s most iconic coach service was started in the gold rush years in Victoria by young American Freeman Cobb.
Along with John Peck, James Swanton and John Lamber, he had recognised the need for passenger transportation between colonies and mining towns, and further inland to the outback.
The first Cobb & Co route was the short trip between Melbourne and Port Melbourne in 1853. At the time, coach travel was essential but passengers were often struck down with motion sickness and injuries from the bumpy ride.
But Cobb & Co’s coaches were superior, imported from America where they were designed for travel in the Midwest, which had similar conditions to Australia’s rugged terrain.
With regular and reliable services, specially bred horses suited to pulling a fully laden coach at gallop (the coaches carried up to 17 people and luggage), and fixed stops at changing stations to rest and swap horses, Cobb & Co became the preferred and luxurious method of travel.
Changing stations were usually privately run by a family or couple who would provide refreshments for passengers and overnight accommodation; some were more established pubs and inns that prospered from Cobb & Co services.
By 1861 the company had expanded into New South Wales and Queensland after new director James Rutherford secured a valuable contract for the delivery of mail.
But with these profitable mail runs and regular routes came another danger: bushrangers who would wait for the coaches on isolated roads.
Australian artist Tom Roberts’s 1895 painting Bailed up was inspired by one of these incidents, when coach driver ‘Silent Bob Bates’ was held up by local bushranger Captain Thunderbolt in the 1860s.
At its peak, Cobb & Co’s coaches were travelling an astounding 45,000 kilometres each week and harnessing up to 6000 horses. But after 70 years of operation, the last horse-drawn Cobb & Co service ran in 1924, when train travel superseded the need for coaches.
Despite its demise, this iconic transport company was forever immortalised in Australian folklore, charmingly penned in folk singer Lionel Long’s The Ballad of Cobb & Co.: “The driver’s whips are cracking and the horses’ hooves are dragging. As across the red and dusty trail they race. There’s a distant light a burning and the passengers are yearning, for the comfort of a warm and kindly place."
Megan Arkinstall is a freelance travel writer who you’ll often find at the beach, bushwalking or boating with her young family. She loves reliving travel memories through writing, whether that be sipping limoncello in a sun-drenched courtyard of Monterosso or swimming with green turtles in the aquamarine waters of Tropical North Queensland.
Winding down in the Yarra Valley, where ‘work from home’ becomes ‘work from wine country’.
Steam from my morning coffee curls gently into the cool valley air, mist-veiled vineyards stretch out in neat rows below me. Magpies warble from trees, and the morning’s quiet carries the soft bleating of lambs from a nearby paddock. Midweek in the Yarra Valley has its own rhythm. It’s slower, quieter, with more empty tables at cafes and cellar doors, and walking trails I can claim all to myself. It’s as if the entire region takes a deep breath once the weekend crowd leaves.
You’ll find walking trails are less crowded during the week. (Image: Visit Victoria)
I haven’t come here for a holiday, but to do a little work somewhere other than my home office, where I spend too much time hunched over my desk. Deadlines still loom, meetings still happen, but with flexible work evolving from ‘work from home’ to ‘work from anywhere’, I’m swapping the view of my front yard to the vineyards.
A quiet afternoon at Yarra Valley Dairy
Wine time at Yarra Valley Dairy, where you can enjoy a toastie or bagel in the cafe. (Image: Visit Victoria)
With the Yarra Valley just over an hour from the CBD, many Melburnians could drive here in their lunch break. I arrive late in the afternoon and am delighted to discover the Yarra Valley Dairy still open. On weekends, I’ve seen queues spilling out the door, but today there’s only one other couple inside. There’s no need to rush to secure a table; instead I browse the little store, shelves stacked with chutneys, spices, artisan biscuits and gorgeous crockery that would look right at home in my kitchen. It’s hard not to buy the lot.
A cheese tasting plate at Yarra Valley Dairy.
I order a coffee and a small cheese platter, though the dairy has a full menu, and choose a wooden table with bentwood chairs by a wide window. The space feels part farm shed, part cosy café: corrugated iron ceiling, walls painted in muted tones and rustic furniture.
Outside, cows meander toward milking sheds. If pressed for time, there’s the option of quick cheese tastings – four samples for five dollars in five minutes – but today, I’m in no rush. I sip slowly, watching a grey sky settle over the paddock. Less than an hour ago I was hunched over my home-office desk, and now my racing mind has slowed to match the valley’s pace.
Checking in for vineyard views at Balgownie Estate
Restaurant 1309 at Balgownie Estate has views across the vines.
As my car rolls to a stop at Balgownie Estate , I’m quietly excited, and curious to see if my plan to work and play comes off. I’ve chosen a suite with a spacious living area and a separate bedroom so I can keep work away from a good night’s sleep. I could have booked a cosy cottage, complete with open fireplace, a comfy couch and a kettle for endless cups of tea, but as I am still here to get some work done, I opt for a place that takes care of everything. Dinner is served in Restaurant 1309, as is breakfast.
Oysters pair perfectly with a crisp white at Restaurant 1309.
On my first evening, instead of the usual walk about my neighbourhood, I stroll through the estate at an unhurried pace. There’s no need to rush – someone else is preparing my dinner after all. The walking trails offer beautiful sunsets, and it seems mobs of kangaroos enjoy the view, too. Many appear, grazing lazily on the hillside.
I wake to the call of birds and, after breakfast, with the mist still lingering over the vineyards, I watch two hot-air balloons silently drift above clouds. Perched on a hill, Balgownie Estate sits above the mist, leaving the valley below veiled white.
Spotting the locals on an evening walk. (Image: Visit Victoria)
Exploring the Yarra Valley on two wheels
Swap your home office for a view of the vineyards. (Image: Visit Victoria/Cormac Hanrahan)
Perhaps because the Yarra Valley is relatively close to where I live, I’ve never considered exploring the area any way other than by car or on foot. And with a fear of heights, a hot-air balloon is firmly off the table. But when I discover I can hop on two wheels from the estate and cycle into Yarra Glen, I quickly realise it’s the perfect way to step away from my laptop and experience a different side of the region.
COG Bike offers pedal-assist e-bikes, and while the bike trail and paths into town aren’t particularly hilly, having an extra bit of ‘oomph’ means I can soak up the surroundings. Those lambs I heard calling early in the morning? I now find them at the paddock fence, sniffing my hands, perhaps hoping for food. Cows idle nearby, and at a fork in the bike path I turn left toward town.
It’s still morning, and the perfect time for a coffee break at The Vallie Store. If it were the afternoon, I’d likely turn right, in the direction of four wineries with cellar doors. The ride is about 15 kilometres return, but don’t let that put you off. Staying off the highway, the route takes you along quiet backroads where you catch glimpses of local life – farmers on tractors, weathered sheds, rows of vines and the kind of peaceful countryside you don’t see from the main road.
A detour to the Dandenong Ranges
The iconic Puffing Billy runs every day except Christmas Day.
The beauty of basing myself in the Yarra Valley is how close everything feels. In barely half an hour I’m in the Dandenong Ranges, swapping vineyards for towering mountain ash and fern-filled gullies. The small villages of Olinda and Sassafras burst with cosy teahouses, antique stores and boutiques selling clothing and handmade body care items.
I’m drawn to RJ Hamer Arboretum – Latin for ‘a place for trees’. Having grown up among tall trees, I’ve always taken comfort in their presence, so this visit feels like a return of sorts. A stroll along the trails offers a choice: wide open views across patchwork paddocks below, or shaded paths that lead you deeper into the quiet hush of the peaceful forest.
The following day, I settle into a quiet corner on the balcony of Paradise Valley Hotel in Clematis and soon hear Puffing Billy’s whistle and steady chuff as the steam train climbs towards town. Puffing Billy is one of Australia’s most beloved steam trains, running through the Dandenong Ranges on a narrow-gauge track. It’s famous for its open carriages where passengers can sit with their legs hanging over the sides as the train chugs through the forest. This is the perfect spot to wave to those on the train.
After my midweek break, I find my inbox still full and my to-do list not in the least shrunken, just shifted from one task to another. But I return to my home office feeling lighter, clearer and with a smug satisfaction I’d stolen back a little time for myself. A midweek wind-down made all the difference.
A traveller’s checklist
Staying there
Balgownie Estate offers everything from cellar door tastings to spa treatments and fine dining – all without leaving the property.
Playing there
Visit the TarraWarra Museum of Art. (Image: Visit Victoria)
Wander through Alowyn Gardens, including a stunning wisteria tunnel, then explore the collection of contemporary artworks at TarraWarra Museum of Art . Cycle the Yarra Valley with COG Bike to visit local wineries and cellar doors.
