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I've listed this under Victoria as we sort of travelled around, rather than stayed in any one place. We initially went to visit family but threw in some great history and nature along the way.
We flew into Tullamarine airport, hired a car and drove out to Daylesford (1.5hr north) to visit my hubby's father. Daylesford is a lovely little town known as the 'spa capital of australia'. It is full of relaxing retreats, spas, springs and some very impressive 4 and 5 star restaurants. We had last visited when the Little Man was 2 and it wasnt very toddler friendly then, but i had investigated better this time and the children are better at being 'still'. But...it was cold 😞 On Saturday it was maximum of 8 degrees - eeek! The temperatures never hit that in Perth so the poor kiddies...i took them down to the lake to play on the play equipment on Saturday morning and they were very excited, ran to the playground, touched the very cold metal monkey bars for 1 second and that was it, they huddled around me and wanted to hold my warm coffee cup! I think i have to put off my
snow trip for a while lol!
The town is really set up for just wandering around, looking in little art galleries or trinket shops, so we did that for a few days. We headed into the hills a little to see some of the natural springs and let the kids do some walking/hiking which they seemed to enjoy. We went up to Hepburn Springs and their is a little water pump you can get a drink from and the water is super sulphery (mineral water). The pump has been there for over 100 years and some of the little treks in the forest had very cute bridges and were easy enough to get around.
My hubbies brother flew up from Tasmania aswell and it was lovely to meet him and his girlfriend. They kept the kids entertained and the kids loved them too so that was relaxing for us 😊 Due to the number of people my fil had booked us in to a chalet across the road from him called 'Dayget'. It was excellent! It was soooo modern and lovely and very warm with a bedroom on each side of a large open kitchen/lounge/dining area. They had
a gas fire and rugs on couches and it looked like it would be the best place to get out of Melbourne city and get away for a weekend.
On Friday we headed out to Sovereign Hill Ballarat. This is a pioneer village showing how the gold rush affected Australia/Victoria in the 1850's. Everyone was dressed up in the outfits of the day and the shops are all set up similary. The 5 year old is at the perfect age where he just wanted to learn everything he could. It was excellent for him to try and pan for gold then see how they get gold out of quartz and then a gold pour. I was very pleased as i'm sure i learnt that sort of stuff at primary school but actually witnessing it really put that info into the Midgets head.
To finish off the trip we went to into Melbourne city as the boys HAD to go to an AFL Game. The little man is playing 'auskick' this year and is VERY excited about football. So although he has been to the 'g' before this was the first time it all really sunk in. He wore
Hepburn Springs
Is it still treking if youre carrying someone? his Richmond guernsey and we went to the Sports Museum under the stadium which he absolutly loved. Again it was better this time as info was sticking in and the Midgit learnt heaps about Australian sport, and the Olympics. We stayed at the Mantra Jolimont which is really the closest hotel to the MCG and it has 2 bedroom apartments that are clean and spacious. It was Richmond home game and since the boys both barrack for them, it was a perfect ending and also great for the Midgit to see 50,000 people singing the club song and cheering. It was a great atmosphere 😊
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RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew
Winter escape!
Sounds like you had a lovely Victorian Holiday Tam. I think Daylesford is one of the best weekend escapes from Melbourne (even when it's freezing in winter!) :)