Melbourne Day 6: A lovely and relaxing town, Daylesford

5 June 2014

We had a night stay in a family cabin at Daylesford Central Motor Inn. It has 1 queen size bed + 1 single bed in one room, two single rooms in the other room, with a tiny kitchen and washroom connecting the two bedrooms. The furnitures are good and new but I have to say $245 for one night is a little bit too expensive, especially with very simple and basic kitchen.

Today was a free and easy day around Daylesford before we headed back to Melbourne. We first went to Jubilee Lake, Daylesford Lake and then Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens. 

Lake Jubilee was quiet and we were glad to see nice reflection of the trees on the lake. The lake is not big and there were not many visitors around.

Lake Daylesford is however much bigger and cleaner. It shall take you some time to stroll around the lake. We had wonderful time feeding the ducks and swans at the lake side. We were surprised to know that Lake Daylesford was actually built, thanks to the idea of creating a lake closed to Daylesford and near the mineral springs.

Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens are built on top of an extinct volcano knows as Wombat Hill which can be seen from most locations in Daylesford. There is a scenic drive around the edge of the garden. As you drive around, you will see stunning tall tress and amazing views over Daylesford.

Most buildings in Daylesford are of various European architectural styles which was influenced by the architect and the owner's heritage as many immigrants settles in the area in those early years.

We also went to mineral spring and refilled our bottles with the natural mineral spring water. It was  salty, gassy and tasted like soda water.

On our way back to Melbourne, we stopped by at Redbeard Historic Bakery for our lunch. They make sourdough with traditional sourdough baking techniques in their huge, 19th century Scotch oven using woodfire. Scotch ovens were once the most common commercial ovens in Australia however only a few of them remain because in the 1950s and '60s, most we bought and destroyed by the large flour millers to eliminate competition for their new supermarket breads. 

I have been saying sourdough, so what is it? Sourdough is bread made with a traditional wild yeast leaven. It is delicious and easy to digest. Redbeard's authentic sourdough contains no baker's yeast, added gluten, preservatives or dough improvers. They also sell award-winning range of certified organic sourdoughs. 

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