our travels: DAYLESFORD

It was a lovely sunny day today so we decided to go for a drive to Daylesford, and what a stunning part of Victoria this drive turned out to be.

On the way to Daylesford our first stop was Sailors Falls. This was our first encounter with the mineral springs that are dotted around this region.

We had a few stairs to descend into this very pretty gully where the falls and natural springs were.

You can pump the water from the natural spring and fill your own bottles. It’s safe to drink as they test it regularly...apparently it’s the bees knees for longevity....we drank gallons....only joking :)

So we had the stairs to climb back up to the top....all 140 of them!

No wonder they tell you to drink the water!

Off to Daylesford which is a gorgeous town in the foothills of The Great Dividing Range.

The town itself is very popular with the ‘weekend crowd’ as is evident with the older buildings transformed into very modern eateries and wine bars, while still keeping their old charm on the outside. (Unfortunately I didn’t take photos of these beautiful buildings as it was quite crowded and I feel uncomfortable taking photos of people eating or enjoying their latte...bit intrusive)

Anyway we found a lovely lake in the middle of town so a walk around there was more our style.

And further along we found this lovely 19th century mansion which is home to the Convent Gallery & Cafe. The grounds were so pretty.

From Daylesford we drove about 10 minutes to Hepburn Springs...another pretty town...again famous for its mineral springs.

We parked the car, and followed a walking track through the hills.

Over the “Springs” and found a very pretty...( sorry..lots of pretties in this story..but it really was....pretty) park with a Pavilion cafe.

Being that these lovely towns are at the foot of the mountains, they are all very hilly.....so by the time we got back to the car with our tongues dragging on the ground from all the very steep walks and stairs...it was time to head home.

We took a different road back by following a map that we had picked up from the info centre and were so pleased we did as it was a lovely drive.

We stopped at a little village called Trentham.

The houses were just gorgeous and their gardens beautiful. That’s something I really miss is a garden and all the flowering trees and bulbs....but I get to see them on our travels.