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| An Autumn walk in Hepburn |
On a recent trip to Melbourne, we decided
to flee the City and drove north. It is autumn, rainy, uncrowded and
the road is inviting. First stop is Daylesford, a town
of natural mineral spas, wombat and former mining that on this autumn
day could easily be a movie location for somewhere in Connecticut. There are
deciduous trees in these parts and the colors are vivid. The only thing missing were carved jack o'lanterns on porches. There were moments when it felt less an escape and more of a return.
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| Mineral spring water pump |
This area has a
lot of natural mineral springs. Public water pumps push out water from
its own spring with its own taste. Fortunately, few have the sulfur (or
rotten egg) tinge that many people associate with such springs. Most
of these have a pleasant bicarbonate tingle to them. Indeed, since
'once upon a time' the town of Kyneton has made a mint bottling their
spring water for the souls in need of refreshment. Kev and I did a water tour of the area. Not quite the same as winery hopping , but hey, we're flexible.
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| Hepburn Spa private tub |
I wanted to
bathe in the natural spring, so we went to Hepburn Springs ["Australia's Spa
Town"] and to Hepburn Spa. More rainy, bright leafed, October type of weather with a breadcrumb trail of yellow leaves leading us to the door. We skipped the public pool with its chlorine mixed water and went right to the pricier private bath tubs that are exclusively mineral water. The
mineral deposits crusting on the end of the spigot will tell you there is truth in their advertising. The mineral constitution of the water is etched onto the
side of the bathtub. Special luxury bath salts and moisturizers are
part of the grand, one-hour experience. Expensive as all get-out but I fairly coasted through the remainder of the day.
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| Chestnuts on e-grill |
Now, regular readers of this blog know that I rarely pass up a chance to ogle roadside produce stands. Chestnuts were coming into season and we bought
some from the back of the farmer's truck. Where to roast them? On the
ubiquitous free electric barbeque grills found in every community
park. I started to hum "Chestnuts roasting on a 'lectric bbq, oh that
misty rain it blows" while the roasting chestnuts started to burst at
the X we cut into a side. Quite the fun snack.
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| The Mall in Bendigo |
Eventually we came to a public strip called Pall Mall complete with
statue of Queen Victoria, a few mid-19th century domed buildings,
shaped topiary and an idyllic air. London, England? Nope, Bendigo.
Bendigo must be Australian for El Dorado. As with nearby Ballarat, gold
was discovered here. No longer lying by a tiny streambed but mined
quite deep in the earth. Great depths
and experience require a greater admission charge and cheapskates like us have already read the placards elsewhere, so we felt no need to pull out our wallets even for the chance to get dirty. Only Bendigo Bank is still mining at sea level. There is a branch on every street corner...in addition to their three-block long national headquarters building.
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| Bendigo Pottery |
The Bendigo
Pottery is quite famous and nearby. Perfect to spend a rainy
morning here looking at the pottery being made, strolling through their
top grade collectibles (all kinds of curios) shop and, of course,
purchase an item or two of the famous pottery. Picked up a two-cup teapot for all the guests I have coming in the next two months.
And then there is the Beechworth Bakery.
It's Australia's Greatest Bakery--it says so right on their sign. The
best item to pick up to test this claim is their signature BeeSting. It
looks like a cream puff with a touch of apricot jam to set it above the
rest. My mother-in-law, laid low in the hospital, seemed to make a quick recovery and quick work of the lemon torte and beesting we brought to her on our way to the airport to go home.
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