In praise of the holiday side-quest: Clare Rigden is off to picturesque Kyneton in Victoria's Macedon Ranges
Holiday side quests — there's nothing like them. They're the holiday-within-a-holiday people (me) like to book as a change of pace from their 'main event' vacation destination. Off to Barcelona? Why not hire a car and motor up to the sunny shores of the nearby Costa Brava! London trip planned? Jump on that train to Brighton for a weekend away! Coming to Perth? A weeknight stay on Rottnest's a-calling — you get the drift.
On a recent trip to Melbourne, our planned trip to nearby Kyneton, situated in the Macedon Ranges region of central Victoria , proved JUST the detour we'd been looking for.
This year, Melbourne has experienced an unseasonably hot autumn, their warm spell coinciding with our planned two-week trip to Victoria's capital over Easter. So off in search of some cooler weather and pretty autumnal colour we went.
Our side quest destination of choice was the Goldfields town of Kyneton. Though just over an hour from Melbourne, this pretty and historic village felt a million miles from the bright lights and bustle we had come from — it didn't take long to relax into the change of pace. By night it was also a few degrees cooler, giving us the snuggly autumn atmosphere we'd been craving.
Coincidentally — and conveniently — we timed our long weekend to coincide with the
Macedon Ranges Autumn Festival
, an event that runs the entire month of April every year. As the website explains, this is a great time to experience the 'autumn-inspired food and drink adventures' the region has to offer — yes, please.
There are nine villages that take part in this calendar of events, which offers everything from tours of gorgeous destination gardens, to artisanal workshops, farmer's markets, gallery exhibitions and a range of curated 'trails'. There's the Veggie Trail (eat your way around the area's fresh produce), the Pie and Tart Trail (sample the region's best pies — you don't have to ask me twice to pop into Kyneton's famed
Country Cob Bakery
, or the nearby
Piper Street Food Co
, who do a mean pork pie), and our personal favourite: the Tipple Trail, designed to encourage visitors to neck as many fancy cocktails as possible. That bit wasn't in the official tourist information, but we improvised — rude not to.
Though this festival has now concluded, if you're headed to Victoria in the next few weeks, you'll have jagged the ultimate autumnal experience as the trees are only
just
starting to turn — expect fluttering yellows, golds and auburns — snow angels in the fallen foliage anyone?
We arrived for the weekend just in time for a late lunch at
Prato
, a gorgeous, recently opened restaurant on historic Piper Street, the town's hub for trendy food and drink destinations. They specialise in Mediterranean and Greek fare, and our meal did not disappoint — the succulent lamb cutlets, prawn pizza and ooey-gooey saganaki were to die for. We washed it down with a beautiful bottle of
Harbinger Fiano
— a perfect pairing.
At 3pm we checked into our accommodation, situated a street back from Piper Street, booked for its proximity to the restaurants we'd planned to visit. Originally we'd thought a stay at the retro
Kyneton Springs Motel
would be fun (it's got distinct Palm Springs vibes), but with six of us, we opted for something a little roomier. Within strolling distance, the delightful, newly-renovated
Josephine's House
ticked all the boxes, and by night we enjoyed sitting beneath a canopy of autumnal trees while we enjoyed a cheeky red beside the fire pit with the resident possums watching on.
We started our evening with a cocktail at the town's famous cocktail bar and bottle shop,
Botanik
, dedicated to rare and exotic liquor — its moody surrounds provided the perfect backdrop to our Pretty in Pink negroni.
Dinner was spent at Piper Street's famed South East Asian restaurant
Fook Shing
, named for a Chinese detective who worked in the region during the 1850s. Situated in the historic old temperance hotel, it boasts cuisine from executive chef Danielle Rensonnet — begin with a dainty Chinese egg custard with crab and a prawn and pomelo betel leaf starter and work your way through the menu.
Most of our two days in the region were taken up exploring the stunning historical towns situated near Kyneton, perusing antique shops, bric-a-brac stalls and galleries. We started on Saturday with a quick trip to historic Malmsbury, which boasts a gorgeous
Botanic Garden
, a flock of resident geese and a beautiful historic railway bridge — the perfect backdrop for those Instagram posts.
Next stop was the quaint Goldfields town of
Maldon
. We stopped for a lunchtime pie at the famous
Maldon Bakery
. Established in 1854, it's said to be the oldest continuously running bakery in Australia — we opted for two peppered steak pies and a sausage roll, our best of the trip.
Maldon boasts some delightful gift shops and antique stores, including the divine
Acorn Wood
which sells colonial-era furniture and objects, and has a stunning selection of old kitchenware and Goldfields-era pottery and glassware.
Maldon proved the perfect pit stop before our arrival in Bendigo, the historic regional centre that plays host to our main reason for visiting: the excellent Bendigo Art Gallery. We were there to peep the
Frida Kahlo: In Her Own Image
exhibition, which runs until July 13. The exhibition is an intimate look at one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, and features an array of the artist's personal belongings, including clothing (her dresses!), make-up, accessories, photographs — you name it — all on loan from the prestigious Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico. All of these items were sealed in a bathroom for 50 years after Kahlo's death, but are now on display in Australia for the first time — it's a fascinating exhibition.
Exhausted from our adventures, we opted for a simple pub meal at
The Kyneton Hotel
on the way back home. This is a great art deco spot beloved by locals which serves an incredible roast, big enough to be shared (comfortably) by three people — bargain.
As our side quest adventure was predominantly to facilitate the perusal of antique shops, Sunday meant a choc-a-block day exploring several iconic markets, including
Castlemaine's Vintage Bazaar
. Any trip shouldn't be complete without a side side-quest to
Boomtown Wine
and
Oakwood Smallgoods
, both housed within the same complex, The Mill.
If you have time on your way back through to Kyneton, take a detour to the picturesque Kyneton Ridge winery.
Later, we travelled to Daylesford, only 15 minutes by car from Kyneton, to pop in to another antiques hub,
The Mill Markets
, which houses Australia's largest collection of collectables — it never disappoints. We stopped for lunch at the always fabulous
Farmers Arms Hotel
, long the pub of choice for foodie-loving locals. Our quick lunch — a warm mushroom salad for me, the hefty and extremely filling duck sausage for my other half plus a cheap kids' meal for the tween — was followed by a stroll directly across the road, for a peep behind the hoardings at the houses taking shape for this year's season of The Block, which is being filmed in Daylesford. I scored a tour, but the rest of you will have to wait until later this year when the show is on air for a look at how it's taking shape.
A quick side-side-side quest to select a nice bottle of wine for dinner from the extensive local selection from W
inespeake Cellar + Deli
, (
Latta Rouge Deluxe 2022 Syrah Grenache
was the order of the day) and it was back to our Kyneton Airbnb for a cheese platter — served on the stunning Danish-inspired wooden lazy Susan dish we purchased from the markets.
Heaven!
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