Yanakie is a small, coastal township and district in South Gippsland

South Gippsland

South Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, is a well-watered region consisting of low, rolling hills descending to the coast in the south and the Latrobe Valley in the north. Low granite hills continue into Wilsons Promontory, the southernmost point of Victoria and mainland...

, in the state of Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, south-eastern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Description

As the nearest town to the major tourist destination of Wilsons Promontory National Park

Wilsons Promontory National Park

Wilsons Promontory National Park, commonly known as Wilsons Prom or The Prom, is a national park in the Gippsland region of Victoria , 157 km southeast of Melbourne....

, Yanakie has several caravan parks

RV park

A recreational vehicle park or caravan park is a place where people with recreational vehicles can stay overnight, or longer, in alloted spaces known as "pitches"...

, B&Bs

Bed and breakfast

A bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...

, and other forms of accommodation. There is a general store with a fuel outlet, a CFA

Country Fire Authority

Country Fire Authority, or CFA, is the name of the fire service that provides firefighting and other emergency services to all of the country areas and regional townships within the state of Victoria, Australia, as well as large portions of the outer suburban areas and growth corridors of Melbourne...

 station and a community hall

Community centre

Community centres or community centers or jumping recreation centers are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole community or for a specialised group within...

. Yanakie lies between Corner

Corner Inlet

Corner Inlet is a 600 km2 bay, 200 km south-east of Melbourne, in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Of Victoria’s large bays it is both the easternmost and the warmest...

 and Shallow Inlet

Shallow Inlet

Shallow Inlet is a marine inlet, opening on to Waratah Bay on the western side of the Yanakie Isthmus in South Gippsland, Victoria, south-eastern Australia...

s on the Meeniyan-Promontory Road. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Yanakie had a population of 270.

The main activity in the surrounding area is intensive dairy farming, mainly because of its good and reliable rainfall. The area has a picturesque location with views towards the northern end of the Promontory, and towards the Toora Hills and wind farm

Wind farm

A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...

across Corner Inlet.

History

The area was one of the last to be settled in rural Victoria. Just south of the township, one can see the Yanakie drain, which was built to drain water from a large swamp prior to settlement and runs from near the national park boundary to empty into Shallow Inlet. The Post Office opened on 5 December 1892 and closed in 1952.