The plan for today is a morning wine tour and
we’ve been advised by Clay to “have a big brekkie”,
so it’s down to the local café for coffee and a toastie to start today. Clay
and his wife run Daylesford Wine Tours and today Clay picks us up and while
driving us round gives us information about the Daylesford area, its people and
their attitudes to life in general. He’s a good story teller, which fits in
with his other profession as an actor. Clay takes us to the first winery,
Fontanella, which is really laid back and personal as we’re the only people on
the tour and he has the keys to the tasting room. It feels like we’ve broken
in! We’re guided through 7 wines, starting with prosecco, white and finally
red, it’s hard to decide which is the best. The next stop is at Passing Cloud,
a much bigger wine producer, I didn’t realise that the producers here take the
grapes and process them for the small vineyards keeping each of their batches
separate. The pressing room resembles a clinical laboratory with numerous
labelled barrels all racked up at one end of the shed. Again, we’re given a
selection of 5 wines, mainly reds this time and much heavier than those at
Fontanella. The final stop is at a distillery that produces, gin, vodka, port
and herbal liquors. I opt for gin and Dave for port. I come to the conclusion
that I really prefer the London dry taste, I’m obviously a traditional gin and
tonic girl.
More than a bit merry, Clay drops us back
in Daylesford and we stagger to the bakery to pick up lunch. A walk in the
fresh air may help clear our heads. Daylesford Lake is a beautiful area with
several good picnicking spots. There are just a few people walking round the
lake but lots of geese, brown ducks, cockatoos, to name a few. All round the
lake there are the most beautiful houses and apartments ranging from the
traditional outback style tin roofed house, to an old restored heritage house
to an ultra-modern steel and glass house. It’s a great place to dream where you
might like to live.
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Daylesford Lake |
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Royal Daylesford Hotel veranda |
Still in dreaming mood, the veranda
outside our room is a good place to sit with a drink and watch the people and
traffic passing by, old cars, new cars, huge trucks and tractors. We go out to
eat slightly earlier tonight, arriving at Frango’s just after 7.30pm and just
as well, the kitchen is getting ready to shut for the night! A quick decision
is required, slow braised lamb with tzatziki and Greek salad for Dave, spicy
Thai beef salad for me and oh boy was it spicy!!
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