Alpacas, steam trains, a lake and a chocolate shop: two days that work for the whole family
Ninety minutes from Melbourne and small enough that nothing is far from anything else, Hepburn Springs and Daylesford are easier with children than the day-spa reputation suggests. Our Family Rooms sleep five, cots are free for under-twos, and every room has a fridge, microwave and toaster for the breakfast negotiations. Here is a weekend that keeps everyone busy without anyone spending the day in the car.
Saturday Morning: Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm
Ten minutes north at Shepherds Flat, Lavandula is a lavender farm built around an 1850s stone farmhouse, and the animals are what children remember. Highland cattle, Swiss Brown cows, alpacas, emus, geese, pheasants, guinea fowl and bantam chooks live around the gardens. You can pat the chooks; the farm asks that nobody feeds anything. The lavender is in full bloom through January and February, the farmhouse runs tours through the day, and Maria’s Trattoria does a set lunch if you book. Entry is a few dollars a head. Closed Wednesdays and Thursdays and for the month of July, so check before you drive out.
- Lavandula - 350 Hepburn-Newstead Road, Shepherds Flat (website)
Saturday Afternoon: The Lake, The Tower, The Chocolate
- Lake Daylesford - The Peace Mile is a flat 2.8km gravel loop with a boardwalk, fine for prams and scooters, with a small playground beside the Boathouse. Paddle boats and paddleboards are for hire in the warmer months when the hire shed is open.
- Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens - Free, on the hill above town, with the Pioneers Memorial Tower to climb: a narrow spiral staircase to a 360 degree view. Wombat Hill House does the coffee and pastries, Friday to Tuesday.
- Sweet Decadence at Locantro - Handmade chocolates and a serious hot chocolate at 87 Vincent Street, open daily. This is the bribe for the tower.
Saturday Night
Hepburn Pizza is across the road from us, wood-fired and quick, which is all anyone wants by 6pm. Rubens, a short walk down Main Road, does generous Italian if you would rather sit down. Then back for a bath and an early night, because Sunday starts with a train.
Sunday Morning: The Market, Then The Train
The Daylesford Sunday Market runs in the grounds of the old railway station from 8am, with the good stuff gone by early afternoon. It shares the site with the Daylesford Spa Country Railway, which runs every Sunday except Christmas Day, plus Wednesdays and selected Saturdays in the Victorian school holidays. The first train leaves at 10.30am in 1950s diesel railmotors, and the round trip to Bullarto through the Wombat Forest takes about an hour. Book online or buy tickets at the station on the day.
- Daylesford Spa Country Railway - Daylesford Station, Raglan Street (timetable)
Sunday Afternoon: Pick One
- The Mineral Springs Reserve - A short walk from the motel. Hand pumps where children can fill a bottle with fizzy mineral water straight out of the ground (Locarno is the bubbly one), a playground, barbecues and a creek to poke about in. The Hepburn Bathhouse next door has no minimum age for its main pools; under-16s just need an adult in the water with them. Sessions are 90 minutes and booked ahead.
- Victorian Goldfields Railway - The other heritage line, 45 minutes away, and the one with steam. It runs Castlemaine to Maldon on Sundays, Wednesdays and public holidays, usually behind a steam locomotive, about 45 minutes each way. Catch the 10.30am from Castlemaine, have lunch in Maldon’s gold-rush main street and come back on the afternoon train. (website)
If You Have More Time
- Tuki Trout Farm, Smeaton - Catch your own trout in the dams (rods for hire, fish charged by weight) and have it cooked at the restaurant. Fishing daily from 11am, about 25 minutes away.
- Daylesford Cider, Musk - Lawns to run on, a kids’ play area and a cellar door open daily; the kitchen runs Friday to Monday.
- Daylesford Swimming Pool - A free outdoor 50 metre pool with a toddler pool, open through the summer season only, roughly December to March.
- Jubilee Lake and Daylesford Community Park - A flying fox at Jubilee Lake; a playground and skate park at the community park on Stanbridge Street.
- Ballarat, 45 minutes - Sovereign Hill for a full day of gold-rush role play, Ballarat Wildlife Park to hand-feed the kangaroos (open daily), and Kryal Castle on weekends and school holidays.
Before You Book
- Family Rooms sleep five. Cots are free for children under two; an extra bed for anyone older is $40 a night.
- Everything above is a short drive except Lavandula (10 minutes), the Goldfields Railway (45) and Ballarat (45).
- Book the Bathhouse, the trattoria and Sunday lunch anywhere in Daylesford ahead on long weekends and in school holidays.
Two days, one tank of petrol, and nobody asked for a screen. Well, not much.
