The Local Tourist Guide

The visitors guide to the Central Highlands Autumn 2024

Travel back in time with our heritage railway between Castlemaine and Maldon, Central Victoria’s most notable historic gold mining towns. Choose between Excursion or First Class 1920’s carriages and enjoy the scenery of the Goldfields. We operate every Wednesday and Sunday, plus some Saturdays and holidays, with special events like Ales on Rails and Murder on the Orient Express to immerse in.

Daylesford is fourth in the top 10 Most Welcoming Cities

on Earth.

Booking.com has revealed this year’s Most Welcoming Destinations and the Traveller Review Awards 2024 recipients. The Most Welcoming Cities on Earth are 1. Arraial d’Ajuda, Brazil; 2. Ermoupoli, Greece; 3. Viana do Castelo, Portugal; 4. Daylesford, Australia; 5. Grindelwald, Switzerland; 6. Moab, United States; 7. Uzès, France; 8. Mazatlán, Mexico; 9. Jaisalmer, India; and 10. Fujikawaguchiko, Japan. As well, more than 22,000 Australian travel partners were recognised for their hospitality with a Traveller Review Award. The awards are based on more than 309 million verified customer reviews with 1.48 million accommodations, 449 rental car companies and 129 taxi providers receiving an award, including 22,000 in Australia. Hepburn Shire Mayor Brian Hood said Daylesford had a “distinct village feel” with visitors spoilt for choice with retail outlets, galleries and markets to explore. Read the full story at www.tlnews.com.au - Edition 299

Going summer berry picking makes for an idyllic holiday activity whether you’ve got kids along for the fun or not.

At Eganstown, Claire Gunner and Peter Monea, with help from daughter Amelia, operate Morningswood Farm growing strawberries galore and plenty of different types of cane berries including raspberries, boysenberries, youngberries, loganberries and blackberries. At any one time, they’ve got 20,000 strawberry plants growing on the property which, although not certified, is run as a spray-free organic operation. Berry-growing season runs through to March and there is plenty of demand from locals and visitors to get out and pick the ripe fruit, or snap some up pre-picked. “We do everything sustainably so we don’t use single-use plastics.” Several years back, with a little creative input from a neighbour, the couple devised their own compostable punnets for people who go fruit picking on their farm.

Read the full story at www.tlnews.com.au - Edition 297

Using a motorbike to “paint” with doesn’t just produce a unique work of art in the landscape.

It also produces a pretty decent physical workout. Just ask local artist Tony Sawrey, right. Tony is among a group of several artists currently planning or creating work as part of the six-month-long arts project that is Radical Fieldz - the brainchild of Glenlyon artist Ryan Kennedy, left. The project started in October and involves a series of arts events taking place every month at Glenlyon through to March 16 when they culminate in a day-long outdoor event. Tony’s motorbike “painting” will be among them and he was happily working on his creation when we caught up with him on site recently. “I do a lot of artwork, painting and installations in outdoor environments but it’s the first time I’ve used a motorbike. In this case we’ve laid out a roughly 90- by 80-metre wide design. We’re thinking come April we might put in rye grass (in the soil cut up by the bike’s tyre tread) which will strike pretty quick.”

Read the full story at www.tlnews.com.au - Edition 295

Our artists

From his childhood in rural America, Ryan Kennedy (aka RFK) moved to New York City and worked in the fashion industry including textile design and runway installation.

From there he pursued his own creative studio practice in Brooklyn and in 2009 hosted a tour group of Australian art educators, curators and collectors which led to him accepting an Artist in Residency at Melbourne Girls Grammar and a solo show at fortyfivedownstairs.

Since his 2014 immigration to Australia RFK’s work in performance, installation and sculpture have won accolades including the 2018 Lorne Sculpture Biennale Land Art Sculpture-scape Award. Currently RFK is deeply ensconced in the Glenlyon landscape, where he resides and where his creativity continues to enrich the wider community and to inspire communal thought ‘outside the square’. Read the full

A

TREAT YOURSELF THIS AUTUMN, WITH A WEEKEND OF WORLD CLASS MUSIC, GREAT FOOD, FASCINATING TALKS, ENERGISING WALKS, KIDS SHOWS, DANCING AND STREET ENTERTAINMENT!

EXPERIENCE A SPECIAL LITTLE TOWN WHERE THE COMMUNITY OPENS ITS ARMS TO VISITORS. JUST 20 MINUTES FROM DAYLESFORD.

WEEKEND AND DAY TICKETS ON SALE NOW WITH SENIORS DISCOUNTS AND KIDS UNDER 12 FREE!

FULL ARTIST LIST AT: CRESFEST.COM.AU/PROGRAM

If you haven’t yet done the Lalgambook (Mount Franklin) crater rim walk, now’s a great time to get cracking, says journalist and avid bushwalker Eve Lamb.

I first sampled this little must-do hike several years ago as part of a longer guided walk led by Professor Barry Goanna Golding AM. The guided trek had focused on the significant Dja Dja Wurrung Aboriginal history of the wider landscape here, particularly including the Franklinford area, known to the Dja Dja Wurrung people as Larnene-barramul. Ever since, I’ve wanted to return to take a little longer to focus on the ancient extinct volcanic feature itself. This prominent local landmark, Lalgambook (648-metre elevation) is part of the Hepburn State Regional Park and jointly managed by Djaara (Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation) and Parks Victoria. The crater circuit stroll is just 1.7km but to properly appreciate it, it’s best to understand something of the geomorphology and the Aboriginal mythology. Read the full story at www.tlnews.com.au - Edition 296

The artistic oeuvre of Newstead-based Carol de Graauw is impressively diverse. Jeweller, silversmith, ceramicist, sculptor, this multi-talented local designs and creates jewellery using gold, silver, bronze, cloisonné enamelling and resin.

She is just as at home, however, working with clay to create functional and decorative pieces. Carol has described creativity as “an escape pad” that “engages the heart, mind, soul and body in the act of making unique pieces”. “My main love is silversmithing but I also do painting and ceramics. I also do enamel work and I work in resin as well - the colours are just gorgeous. Enamelling is such an intricate artwork and requires more patience than usual. I (also) love making wearable art. That’s how I see the jewellery that I make. Oftentimes people will have it as a sentimental keepsake. I was always fascinated by the 3D aspect of it. I really like working with stone too. I think gemstones are so beautiful.”

Read the full story at www.tlnews.com.au - Edition 297

Long-time Daylesford resident Megan Jones whoops for joy as she tells of at last becoming a poster girl. At 70.

She’s on the poster for a new play by Hepburn’s Adam Fawcett. Called Every Lovely Terrible Thing, he says it is two acts of family mayhemfunny, chaotic, surprising, with ghosts and magic realism. A prodigal daughter returns to the family home after 10 years with a secret that threatens to blow everyone up. It even has Megan bursting out of a coffin to sing Don’t Rain on My Parade. Four years in the writing, the play is co-commissioned by Lab Kelpie, the biggest and first for the 12-year-old company since being based here. Says Adam, “This shows the strength of independent artists and companies working in regional Victoria who can take a high-quality work like this and stand next to our metropolitan contemporaries.” Every LovelyTerrible Thing is on at Theatre Works, St Kilda until March 16. Link: www.theatreworks.com.au

Read the full story at www.tlnews.com.au - Edition 297

10 Stony Creek Road, Daylesford VIC 3460

P: (03) 5348 1884

E: info@stonycreekgallery.com.au

Trading Hours:

Open: Thurs - Mon 10:30 am - 5:00 pm

Closed: Tues - Wed

Michael Parker welcomes his Galleries and Sculpture Daylesford. Featuring original paintings sculptures, including mediums by regional

.Paintings .Sculptures

.Jewellery .Ceramics

welcomes you to Sculpture Garden in Featuring Michael Parker paintings and garden including a variety of regional artists; Sculptures .Blown Glass Ceramics .Furniture

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We’re tackling a short, sharp, little gem of a walk known as the Cork Oaks Track.

Traversing the northern east-west flank of Mount Beckworth Scenic Reserve, just out of Clunes, this under-acknowledged little beauty is noteworthy for several reasons, the most obvious being its namesake –the cork oaks (quercus suber). As mentioned, this is a short walk, only 6.5km for the round trip, but don’t be fooled. By the time you’re finished with it you’ll feel like you’ve had a decent little workout as it does pack a couple of pulse-raising small punches of elevation. The first challenge is getting to the starting point. We enter the Mount Beckworth Scenic Reserve at its north-eastern end, by vehicle, having driven from Clunes and taken the Maryborough Road, followed by Cemetery, Golf Course, Pickford’s and Kierces roads to reach the dam in the reserve. - Eve Lamb

Free places!

Creswick’s parkrun

Jubilee Lake

Mt Franklin Reserve

Thomas’ Lookout/Cornish Hill

Glenlyon Reserve

Daylesford Mill Market

Lake Daylesford

Wombat Hill Botanic Garden

Trentham Rail Trail

Trentham Falls

Myriad mineral springs

Bush walks

Lerderderg Gorge

Glenlyon Falls

Sailors Falls waterfall/lookout

Markets...

Clunes Farmers Market (pictured)

Castlemaine Artists Market

Kyneton Farmers Market

Ballan Farmers Market

Maldon Market

Trentham Farmers & Makers Markets

Glenlyon Farmers Market

Creswick Market

Leonards Hill Market

Talbot Farmers Market

Woodend Lions Market

Malmsbury Farmers Market

Daylesford Market

Trentham Station Market

Daylesford Railway Market

Just Google for more info!

In 1962 my husband Malcolm Bray went to Yirrkala Mission in Northern Territory to work as a mechanic. I (Ruth Bray) joined him three years later.

We learnt the local aboriginal language, and would often go to listen to the singing, the didgeridoo and the clapsticks in the evenings, and loved going out on Country with the Yolngu people. We were thrilled when we received an invitation to a Bungul, or ceremony celebrating the return of the Fourth Bark Petition to Yirrkala. As Malcolm was unable to travel, our grandson Keaton from Hepburn and I travelled to Yirrkala. Yirrkala Bark Petition was the first formal petition presented to the Australian Parliament on Aboriginal Land Rights, and is considered a significant turning point in the recognition of Indigenous Rights in Australian history. As a result a Select Committee on Grievances of the Yirrkala Aborigines, Arnhem Land Reserve, was established. This was followed by the 1976 Land Rights Act, and eventually the Mabo ruling. Read the full story at www.tlnews.com.au - Edition 296

The field full of sunflowers on the outskirts of Clunes has been attracting its fair share of attention.

Growing these golden glories is a bit different here but all going well with the crop that’s been planted by Miners Rest’s Andrew Fraser in a share arrangement with Clunes’ Malcolm Hull, they may just become a more common sight into the future. Long-time Clunes local Malcolm, who owns the paddock, says they’re growing the 12-hectare crop after Andrew approached him back in September with the slightly different farming proposal. “We own the land and he’s got the skills and machines,” says Malcolm. Andrew Fraser runs Frakel Farming Produce, a stock-feed business selling hay and a wide range of livestock-feed grains that he also grows. The anticipated sunflower seeds are destined for use as quality animal feed ranging from birdseed to a component in horse feed mixes, Andrew says.

Read the full story at www.tlnews.com.au -

It would probably be pretty hard to beat the creation of a sundial as a well-rounded learning experience.

The analemmatic sundial which was progressively created by students at Daylesford’s Dharma School over much of the 2023 school year provides a perfect example. The idea came about when students were attending “bush school” and developed from there, leading to a pretty interesting learning experience for staff as well as students, says grade five-six teacher Rachel Taylor. Students become totally engrossed in the creation of the ancient practical means of telling the time of day by virtue of the angle of shadows cast by the changing position of the sun relative to directional compass bearings in the landscape. The resulting sundial is not just a useful tool for telling the time of day, it also became an investigation into the ancient Egyptian origins of sundials, the precursors to analogue watches of today. Andrea says anyone who is interested in the project is now welcome to go check it out.

Read the full story at www.tlnews.com.au - Edition 295

Numbers you might need

Emergency – Fire, Police, Ambulance - 000

Daylesford Taxis – 5348 1111

Springs Medical Centre, Daylesford – 5348 2227

Daylesford Hospital – 5321 6500

Daylesford Police – 5348 2342

SES – 132 500

Daylesford Regional Visitor Information Centre – 5321 6123

Places you might need

Daylesford Post Office – 86 Vincent Street

ATMs in Daylesford:

Bendigo – 97 Vincent Street

Westpac – 45 Vincent Street

Commonwealth – 36-40 Vincent Street

ANZ - 52 Vincent Street

A secret you might like!

It’s not really a secret but many people are yet to see the latest sculpture funded by Hepburn Shire Council. It’s in one of the shire’s reserves but if you blink, you will miss it. Maybe you can tell where it is from the images on its mirrored sides. Maybe not. Ask a local - they are bound to have an idea. Its name starts with a D.

A significant number of secret lives have been uncovered in Clunes.

There was once a man, let’s call him Toddy, and he stumbled quite unawares into one of them. It all happened one Saturday when Toddy, visiting Clunes, sauntered into Boom Clunes, the community retail hub. Inside the 1800s building, Toddy had wandered past a diverse array of handmade products and took himself straight to the pre-loved books room. He selected a biography and took it to the counter, pleased to see that all of the pre-loved books cost only $5 each. The friendly woman at the desk flipped the book over and told Toddy “Ah! That book has a secret life”. “Sorry?” replied Toddy, unclear as to what she meant. “Yes,” said the woman. “It has a secret life which means it comes with this…” She reached beneath the counter, pulled out a box and extracted a white envelope which she handed to Toddy. “That’s yours to keep,” she told him. Toddy had just discovered the Secret Lives of Books project. Read the full story at www.tlnews.com.au - Edition 296

A300 to Mt Franklin 4km to Castlemaine 30km to Bendigo 68km

A300

Jacksons

Lookout Tower

HEPBURN REGIONAL PARK

HEPBURN REGIONAL PARK

C316 to Glenlyon 9km to Malmsbury 27km to Kyneton 31km

to Malmsbury 27km to Kyneton 31km

View Hill Rd

C138

to Newstead 24km

to

C138 to Shepherds Flat 4 km

C138 to Flat km

h

C138

C138

Daylesford

Daylesford

Malmsbury

C316

Rosella Smith

Barkas

Barkas

Parker Jamieson Trewhella

Little

Vincent Nth

Vincent Nth

Langdon West ern Av WesternAv

Indigo Ln

Rd

Rosella Ln

C317

Little

Barkas

Parker

Trewhella

Victoria

A300

Harts Ln

Langdon Crt

C317 to Trentham 25km to Woodend 45km to Melbourne 113km via Calder Fwy

Frazer

Grenville

Stanhope

Stanley

Queensberry

Orford Daly

Camp

Duke

Vincent

Bridport

Millar

West

Perrins Fulcher Tierneys Ln

Grenville

Duke Duke Duke

Hoaths Rd

A300

A300 to Blampied 8km to Newlyn 15km to Creswick 24km to Clunes 41km to Ballarat 39km

C141

to Sailors Falls 3km to Ballan 30km to Melbourne 109km via Western Fwy

Jubilee Lake Road

LAKE DAYLESFORD

MIDLAND HWY

C141