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Last day: 23 Mar 2024

It was a cute motel but I could’ve done without the huntsman spider under my bag in the morning that scurried towards me when I lifted my bag off the floor.

Alex was shooting a wedding today in Kiama so she was staying at Holbrook about an hour south of Gundagai and then driving to Kiama to be there just after lunch. So we met for coffee in Gundagai! We met at the Coffee Pedeler which has a reputation of having the best coffee in between Sydney and Melbourne. Big call! The queue outside suggested it was right. We lined up and even got a table for 3. The service was quick and the coffee and fruit toast were great.

It was nice to catch up with Al again even though it was brief and it was nice to stay and eat in the places she enjoys when doing her Melb/Syd trips.

She left to head to Kiama and we had a quick stroll along the main street including a chat with a local who had lived there all his life. We got most of his life story. ☺️

Then a drive up to the lookout that has a 360 degree view of the area!

Next stop Berrima for a light lunch. We left and were on the old Hume Highway but when we took the turn to get back on the M31 we were heading in the wrong direction. 😳😂

So another 9kms before being able to do a U turn and head towards home.

A stop at Forest Fresh for a few groceries for dinner tonight.

Home now. Unpacked the car. Holiday over. It was great to spend some time together with Paul and Sharon and it was great seeing Mornington Peninsula.

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Shared a delicious lamington at a Berrima coffee stop.

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Driving home towards Sydney. Big clouds.

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The Coffee Pedeler in Gundagai and the Garden Motel on top of the hill.

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22 Mar 2024

We woke up to a very chilly 7 degrees in Ballarat. Quite a difference!

Jen, the wife of Phil’s friend Alan who we had dinner with last night, told us that the conservatory in the botanical garden had a begonia exhibition so that’s where we headed this morning before leaving.

Breakfast first. In our room we toasted some bread which set the fire alarm off and also had some muesli in a coffee cup. 😂

Then begonias. Gorgeous. See the photos.

Our next stop was Daylesford. It’s not far from Ballarat (45kms) so coffee would be there. The last time I was there was for a work meeting and I didn’t really have a good look around. Wow! Such a lovely place! Ross Balharrie grew up here so we contacted him for cafe suggestions as he still visits often as his parents are still here. Larder was the go for coffee and it was perfect. Then we walked around the shops. Very nice.

Next was a visit to Ross’s block of land, a walk to the lake, and then back in the car to drive to Bendigo. However it was now lunchtime and … well we didn’t want to leave so we stayed for lunch. 😂

Went to another of Ross’s suggestions for lunch which was also wonderful - Cliffy’s Emporium.

Then finally we left and given the time we decided to skip Bendigo (we’ll come back another time) and head straight to Gundagai for tonight’s accommodation.

We didn’t get to Gundagai until 7:30pm so straight to our motel, dropped our bags and then went to the Criterion Hotel for dinner.

Tomorrow is our last day as we’re driving home.

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Gundagai Pub (The Criterion) for dinner.

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Nice back country roads after Daylesford towards Castlemaine/Bendigo.

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Cliffy’s Emporium for a light lunch at Daylesford.

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Beautiful Lake Daylesford.

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Lake Daylesford.

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Coffee at Larder cafe (recommended by Ross B) at Daylesford.

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Begonias! At the Conservatory in Ballarat’s botanical gardens.

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A snoozing swan not worried about us at all while walking around the lake in Ballarat.

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Our classic 70’s motel in Ballarat. The Bakery Hill Hotel.

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21 Mar 2024

We packed up and said our goodbyes by checkout time today. Paul and Sharon were setting off to find a coffee and then to visit a school friend of Sharon’s before returning their hire car and catching their flight at about 6pm.

We stopped off at Harris Scarf (I didn’t know it still existed) at Mornington to buy a wok on sale! Ours at home has gone to rubbish and this one is exactly what we’re after and I have no idea where Harris Scarf is in Sydney.

Then we drove to Al’s place at Princes Hill which is right next door to Carlton. Lovely suburb! I can see why she loves living there. We are taking a few boxes home for her as she’s moving out of this house (they are selling). The three of us went to one of Al’s favourite cafes in Carlton called Florian. It was great!

Then we said goodbye and we were on our way to Ballarat. Just as we were leaving Phil noticed Al’s car had a flat tyre! Poor Al! She’s driving tomorrow to Mt Macedon to shoot a wedding so she needs to get it replaced before then! We weren’t able to help as our tyre jack didn’t fit.

The drive to Ballarat is about 1.5 hrs so we continued listening to our audio book. We got to our motel ($117) at about 3:30pm and have planned to meet an old work colleague of Phil’s at 6pm and his wife, Jen. As we hadn’t done any exercise today we very decided to put on our walking shoes and walk around the lake which is 6kms. It was beautiful! Lots of ducks and swans and just stunning weather. Half way round we heard a car horn beep and it was the guy we were meeting for dinner and his son.

We stopped for a brief chat before finishing our loop at a hurried pace so we could get back in time to shower, dress, and drive back to the pub for dinner.

Great pub, nice food, and a good catch up.

Gundagai tomorrow.

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Walk from Shoreham to Point Leo. The seaweed on this beach was very different. It was fine like paper and looked like it had been put through a paper shredder. The last video you can hear the wind but we thought it was odd to see ducks in the ocean. They were enjoy their feed on the seaweed close to the shore.

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Flinders Hotel.