We decided to spend our lunch in the city of Melbourne. Caught up with Mike's friend in Melbourne for coffee. I can't believe how much I miss good coffee after spending 2 weeks in USA.
We checked in at the Barcaldine bed and breakfast. We were greeted by our wonderful hosts. The B&B boasts beautiful European interior situated near the heart of Daylesford.
It has been over 5 years since my last trip to Daylesford. Daylesford is famous for its natural mineral spring also known as Australia spa country town.
We headed to Cosy Corner restaurant for dinner. I ordered the black angus sirloin steak with chips and steam vegs and pepper sauce. It was one of the best steak and pepper sauce I've had for a while! Highly recommended.
Day 2
We enjoyed hot cooked breakfast of bacon, creamy mushroom, tomato and eggs.
Then we headed to Hepburn bathhouse and spa. We spent two hours on the bath, spa and spa couch, salt pool and aroma steam room. It was my first experience of spa couch! It's basically a seat in the middle of the pool connected to a number of spa jets. The salt pool was pretty awesome too. We ended our spa experience with devonshire tea and date scones, splendid.
On the way home, we stopped at Daylesford cidery and tastes three different ciders: dry, medium and sweet. Rather different to the ciders we have tasted, this local cidery does not use persevatives, they also only use organic apple grown in the area. The ciders are not carbonated and it does not contained additional sugar. It's quite easy to drink and it doesn't leave you with that bloated feeling. I love cider
Mike has arranged for a cooking class at the B&B. So we spent our dinner there. We learnt to make the best Napoli sauce, the softest gnochi and coffee panacotta for desert. Thoroughly enjoyed our dinner. The gnochi was so soft and it was as good as the gnochi i had at the gnocheria in Italy! Can't wait to be making them at home. We ate so much that we decided to take an early nap. Great way to end the day.
Day 3
We started our morning with scrumptious breakfast. The weather today is not very accommodating. Max 13 degrees and raining! I think it's warmer in Canberra today.
We checked out the farmers market at Daylesford primary school. Interesting stalls, from eggs, live chickens, organic fruit and vegs to local olive oil. We left with a couple of tubs of kalamata olives and olive oil soaps.
We stopped at the Herbal Lore Liqueurs. We tasted 9 different fortified wine distilled and made locally at this distillery. I was really impressed with the port, we walked away with three different liqueurs! And that wont be the last one, thanks to online ordering.
The we drove to the chocolate mill but ended up at taking a wrong turn. We came across the Mill Market, it has to be the biggest antiques market I have ever encountered! We spent almost two hours in there, lots of interesting things, if only we had live in Melbourne. We ended up leaving with two old shears and an antique glassware which I am planning to use as a candle holder in our bathroom.
So we continued our journey to the chocolate mill. Gosh I love that place! We bought a couple of truffles and a bag of milk chocolate bullets. The bullets are the best one I have ever had! Apparently the chocolatier does not use palm oil in their products. Whatever it is, they are pretty yummy! We also ordered a cup of hot chocolates, highly recommended!
I think I have eaten more than I should so I think dinner is skipped tonight.
Day 4
We went to St Erth nursery at Blackwood to check out their heirloom seeds collection. I bought a couple of heirloom tomatoes and silver beet seeds. They have vast collection of dwarf fruit trees, I wish I could buy and carry them home on the plane!
From there we headed to Trentham, about 10 km away from Daylesford. A pickup truck with the number place CRIKEY and a whole heap of animal cast on the back of the ute got our attention. Such a quirky shop, it's worth checking if you happen to be at Trentham. We also found a Redbeard bakery cafe, where we enjoyed our coffee and vanilla slice. Highly recommended!
After Trentham, we headed to a winery called Passing Cloud, in Daylesford. We were greeted by a Kelpie who is convinced that his only existence in this world is to fetch the tennis ball. We headed to the B&B to enjoy chocolates that we bought and a glass of champagne.
We spent our dinner at Sault Restaurant. We ordered an entree each and a main, the Duck Orange is the best one I have ever had!
Tonight is our last night in Victoria, it has been nice and relaxing so far - thank you Daylesford!
RATINGS
Barcaldine Bed & Breakfast, Daylesford: 4.5/5
Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa, Hepburn Springs: 3.5/5
Daylesford Cidery, Daylesford: 3.5/5
Herbal Lore Liqueur, Daylesford: 4/5
Barcaline Winery, Daylesford: 4/5
Passing Cloud, Daylesford: 3/5
St. Erth Nursery, Blackwood: 4/5
Sault Estate Restaurant, Daylesford: 4/5
Redbeard Bakery, Trentham: 4/5
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