Le Journal de +Louise

Since I have some time on my hands this weekend, I thought I might as well post an update complete with pictures of Easter long weekend before I had to do another embarrassingly late travel entry.

Parents landed in Melbourne for their 3 week holiday last Thursday. Having visited Melbourne almost 7 years ago on a whirlwind of a trip, I decided to bring them to the idyllic Daylesford for the long Easter weekend.

We were given 2 side by side stone cottages overlooking a lake.

Having consulted Dad on the type of holiday he was after, Tuki Retreat seemed to tick all the boxes. Fresh produce. Countryside setting. Stone cottages. Crackling fireplace. 30 minutes from Daylesford, Australia’s spa country.

The cottages are equipped with old fashion fireplaces (boy, did Leo and Mom have a great time building roaring fires!) and small kitchenettes.

We checked in a little after 2pm and headed straight to the small in-house restaurant for a quick bite.

Tuki is known for its fresh trout as well as its lamb produce. We had a hearty lunch before heading into town.

The main pulse of Daylesford seemed to have flatlined as most retail shops were closed for Good Friday.

Eateries were buzzing with tourists, we had a walkabout and went into Frangos Frangos for coffees and cake.

We later drove into Hepburn Springs and stopped by the cluster of mineral springs in the springs reserve.

Several springs exist in the main reserve – Soda, Sulphur, Pavilion, Locarno and Wyuna. They ALL tasted like old, rusty metal. Although the Soda Spring ranked slightly higher on the likeable-o-meter, (but only due to its carbonated nature), I still could not have spat the foul tasting liquid out of my mouth fast enough.

Here’s one for the album… With me working hard at the pump, dad looking disinterested, and mom, with her crass pose (which was entirely her insistence, btw)

I should have heeded advice on making advanced dinner reservations as every single place we went into was fully booked. We rushed into the local IGA (5 minutes before shop closure), stocked up on packets upon packets of instant noodles and had a cozy homecooked dinner in our cottages.