The tourism slogan of our home state is "Wander Victoria". This inspired may journey's beyond the city borders to the 'country-side'. Itchy feet to explore, we needed a new car as Mei's faithful Honda Accord soon burnt out after 2 decades of faithful service. Our replacement wheels - also Honda and in the same burgundy palette; was bought and loaded with supplies for a series of road trips. The Victorian High Country and the Mornington Peninsula were ticked off and this post includes photos of our hikes and our signature photos of food. Why not swap a weekend in the suburbs for a wander around Victoria?
Dinner Plain, Victorian Alpine Region
What is Dinner Plain? It is a town in the Victorian High Country, about 13km from the popular Mount Hotham ski resort. Travelling in March meant that we were able to enjoy the normally pricey ski-season lodges at off-peak rates, perfect for day hikes and enjoying the country air.
What is Dinner Plain? It is a town in the Victorian High Country, about 13km from the popular Mount Hotham ski resort. Travelling in March meant that we were able to enjoy the normally pricey ski-season lodges at off-peak rates, perfect for day hikes and enjoying the country air.
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| The cosy wood fire cabins were still great in Autumn |
As Easter came early in 2016, the deciduous trees of oak and elm had not yet turned to their pretty autumn colours. The township of Bright, on the foot of the Victorian Mountains is famous for being a place to visit in autumn. However when we passed through the trees were still all shades of green.
The drive from Melbourne to Dinner Plain was scheduled to take about under 5 hours if we had headed up the Hume Freeway and followed the directions to the Great Alpine Road. But a wrong turn detoured us through some small towns and we did not reach Dinner Plain until the late afternoon.
Peppers Rundells Alpine Lodge
We booked two nights at the Peppers Rundells Alpine Lodge with dinner at the on-site restaurant.
Dinner was served using local produce - washed down with glasses of white and red wine. Memory has faded in terms of remembering all the dishes, however photos tell the story well,
We booked two nights at the Peppers Rundells Alpine Lodge with dinner at the on-site restaurant.
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| Enjoying a romantic dinner |
Dinner was served using local produce - washed down with glasses of white and red wine. Memory has faded in terms of remembering all the dishes, however photos tell the story well,
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| Wine time |
The next morning, we were greeted by a beautiful sunny day. Filling ourselves up with coffee and cake for breakfast, we loaded up our day packs and headed out to the tracks (doubling as ski runs) near our resort.
The receptionist had provided us with a map listing the different hikes and an indication of difficulty. We chose a 16km round trip but in hindsight did not take sufficient water or supplies in case something went wrong. Luckily nothing did, but it was a point that we pondered on as we embarked on a near vertical uphill climb on our way back.
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| Putting our hiking gear back to use |
The track passed by camping grounds and then an open field where we had to dodge some large cow pats. No other wildlife (and thankfully no snakes) were seen on the route but if we had been walking during the hot summer months it might be a different story.
The scenery was amazing, eucalyptus forests and craggy granite rocks that are covered in snow during the winter months.
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| Relaxing on top of Victoria |
Dinner on Day two was at a nearby restaurant. Grilled local trout and a tasty slap of beef was a hearty end to a weekend walk in the mountains.
Wedding anniversary celebrations are a great excuse to leave the city for a trip to a country hotel. Lindenderry is a vineyard, restaurant and plush bed for the night. Our trip coincided with perfect skies in May and the couple of hours drive to the Mornington Peninsula were scenic and smooth along the Eastlink.
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| Hello from Lindenderry |
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| Pizza and wine, great combination |
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| Beautiful view of Lindenderry |
Lindenderry is a popular venue for weddings. On the night we arrived, a few group parties were staying the night and had booked out some of the side rooms for cocktail functions.
Dinner that night was at the on-site Max's restaurant. The menu was filled with local produce options and wine from the cellar - whole heartedly recommend either getting a taxi or staying at the hotel, as the wines made it impossible to drive home that night.
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| View of the balcony rooms at the hotel |
Cape Schanck National Park
On the way back to Melbourne, we detoured through Cape Schanck National Park to walk a circuit along the coast.
On a separate date in 2016, we returned to the coast and walked to Bushrangers Bay. A narrow track led to the beach and we saw our first tiger snake in the wild.
Next blog post:
Blue Mountains, NSW
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