Like many others, we have never heard of a town by the name of Yea. We've had our fair share of driving up to Yarra Valley for wine tasting etc, but never Yea. So quite coincidentally when we were looking the ideal site for our retreat, we were thinking of popular tourist spots like Yarra Valley, Dandenong, Daylesford but never Yea.
The idea for our business was conceived when we were still in Malaysia - and we were then thinking of Bentong. Well to cut it short, it was hard to find a decent piece of land at the price that we could afford. Yes, we were price sensitive.
A little history about our background in case anyone is wondering, we both graduated from Melbourne University. I hold a bachelor degree in Information Systems from University of Melbourne and Ming has a bachelor degree from University of Melbourne and a Masters from Monash University. We both worked in Australia for a good few years before we went back to Malaysia - started our company called RedRibbon Days - an online company, then went to a fully brick and mortar business after 2 years of being online. We expanded the team - grew the business and even ventured in the entertainment industry. We produced few movies and a local 30 episode drama for a local TV station. Life was very high society - and comfortable, and fun!
So the fateful day came when we were driving to Yarra Valley to inspect few potential lands. Nothing quite fit what we were looking for - so we decided to take a rest and drive somewhere near for a break. We came to a sign that read Yea. The drive was peaceful and cruising down the highway, we enjoyed the scenic view and how the landscape changes by the minute. From the vineyard scene we were now passing green pastures with cows, horses and goats grazing grasses and some sitting underneath big trees -seemingly doing nothing but just enjoying the late arvo breeze.
We entered the quiant town of Yea after 45 minutes drive. The town is small - with only one row of cafes, shops on one side. There's not much options for dining - a few bakeries and local pubs. We went into a shop, grabbed a bite and wallked down the main road and came across some advertisement for land sale.
We walked in the office, it was almost 5pm then and didn't think they would even bother to attend to us (since apparently everything closes early in this town). A friendly lady attended to us - and we asked about the land that was on the ad, and we were then asked if we were keen to have a look at the land. We said OK - drove about 3 minutes and we arrived.
Was it love at first sight. Yes and no.
It was a 51 acre land - used for grazing for many many years - so its bare, with nothing on it. Frankly speaking, we cringed thinking about how it used to be. But the view was spectacular. We drove up to the highest peak of the land (which we now called it Buddha Point) and the sun was just setting. Yes, it was breathtaking. Many months later, we finally gain ownership of the land.
And the move began. The big move from Malaysia to Yea.
240 something boxes and 2 months later the container arrived and we finally settled down in Yea.
The irony of it all is we weren't even looking at Yea, but guess Yea found us.
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