Peter and Christine's Australian Road Trips

After final catchups with Jill and Neil, we left Gisborne and travelled northwards to Kyneton. It is a beautiful small country town, just how Shayna described it. We stumbled across the house she renovated, only recognisable behind the high fencing because of the bell tower.

We found a typical ‘caff’ for breakfast with great food and coffee. As we left the café we noticed a gallery across the road called The Old Auction House. It is, in their words, an independently run multi-use arts precinct. It literally was auction rooms for over 80 years but is now home to a retail outlet of quality handmade Australian items and also art and craft supplies. They also run classes and have space for working artisans as well. It was lovely place, and the owners were delightful. We spent a great hour there.

After some more exploration of Kyneton, especially its beautiful churches, we continued on our way. Our next stop was Daylesford. We decided, almost immediately that this was somewhere we needed to revisit. We always visit Info Centres in these small towns to get an overview of the place and what is there. One of the first things that caught my attention was an antique and collectables centre called The Amazing Mills Markets and it was. At least an hour later, and with great restraint, we left with just one purchase each! Mine was a gorgeous small wrought iron duck for the garden! Before leaving Daylesford we drove through the Wombat Hill Botanic Garden, a most interesting garden as it is perched right on the top of a hill. Not only are the gardens quite different, but the views from the top were spectacular. The wombat at the entrance was gorgeous.

From there we took a beautiful drive through central Victoria, via Castlemaine, where we tried to visit the old gaol but it is under renovations. We photographed some interesting sculptures outside – unreferenced anywhere as to what they were, or why they were there.

We then continued on to Maldon, a beautiful, small and old village, reaching Bendigo in the late afternoon. We stayed at a motel just on the edge of the CBD, opposite the park and the art gallery.