You Yangs

Infobox Mountain
Name = You Yangs
Photo = You-yangs-victoria-australia.jpg
Caption = The You Yangs viewed from the south. Avalon Airport is in the foreground.
Elevation = 352 metres AHD (1,154 feet)
Location = Lara, Australia
Coordinates =
Topographic

Type= | Age=
First ascent = 1802 by Matthew Flinders
Easiest route = Hike, roadThe You Yangs are a series of granite peaks that rise dramatically near Lara, Victoria in the Werribee lava plains in Australia, located 22 km north of Geelong and approximately 55 km south-west of Melbourne.

Although only 352 m in height, they dominate the landscape and are clearly identifiable from nearby Geelong, Melbourne and beyond. Camping is not permitted in the You Yangs. The foothills of the peaks are home to Ford Australia's proving ground. [ [http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=4591&vf=1 In search of Adventra - drive.com.au] ] [ [http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/falcon_the_story_05.htm The Ford Falcon Story: The XP Falcon] ]

The You Yangs is also the home of a Geoglyph constructed by the Australian artist Andrew Rogers in recognition of the indigenous people of the area. It depicts Bunjil, a mythical creature to the local Wautharong Aborigines. The creature has a wing span of 100 metres and a 1500 tonnes of rock was used to construct it, [ [http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Oceania/Australia/photo508934.htm TrekEarth | You Yangs Geoglyph Photo] ] and was unveiled in March 2006. [ [http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/Media_Releases/March_2006/Geoglyphs_at_Eastern_Park_and_You_Yangs_unveiled/ City of Greater Geelong: Geoglyphs at Eastern Park and You Yangs unveiled] ]

History

The name "You Yang" comes from the Aboriginal words "Wurdi Youang" or "Ude Youang" meaning "big mountain in the middle of a plain". Aboriginal people enlarged natural hollows in the rocks to form wells that held water even in dry seasons Fact|date=August 2007.

This outcrop has always been one of the most striking features in the geologic formation known as Port Philip Bay. At a time of high sea levels, some million years or so prior to volcanic eruptions in the area, the You Yangs would have appeared as granite islands in a lonesome sea. Sands and gravels containing marine fossils confirm this maritime phenomenon and are to be found along the southern edge of these ranges. They mark the beaches and shorelines that formed at that time. The You Yangs themselves are not volcanoes as is mistakenly believed, but were formed by volcanic activity. Nearby Mt. Anakie is however a dormant volcano along with many others that dot the region.

Explorer Matthew Flinders was the first European to visit the You Yangs. On May 1 1802, he and three of his men climbed to the highest point. [http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=208 Parks Victoria: You Yangs Regional Park page] ] He named it "Station Peak" [ [http://avoca.vicnet.net.au/~dromana/markers.htm Australian Historical Markers] ] but the name was changed in 1912 to "Flinders Peak" in his honour. [ [http://avoca.vicnet.net.au/~dromana/plqflin7.htm Matthew Flinders Memorial You Yangs] ]

The You Yangs have always attracted artists to paint them and feature most strongly in works by one of Australia's greatest artists, Fred Williams. Fred spent long periods developing his "en plein air" representations of the You Yangs and these have now become classics of Australian art - rugged, dramatic, yet sparse in their imagery - and unquestionably of the Australian bush.

Wildlife

The You Yangs is home to more than 200 bird species as well as kangaroos, Sugar Gliders, Brushtail and Ringtail Possums and Koalas. The nearby Serendip Sanctuary, a Victorian government wildlife research centre now open to the public, has been involved in breeding endangered Victorian wildlife species, such as the Australian Bustard. [ [http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_print.cfm?park=182 Parks Victoria: Serendip Sanctuary print version] ]

References

* [http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/infosheets/10316.pdf Information Sheet - The You Yangs] , Museum Victoria. Accessed 27 May 2007.