Getting Out and About

Your out and about discovery of our region might just start right here, perusing the websites of our many sponsoring businesses. From there see what strikes your fancy and go exploring on any weekend or midweek experience you happen to be here in Daylesford.

Everyone knows the rainbow community are discerning customers, so there’s plenty of tasteful, stylish and occasionally quirky shopping to be had. The region teems with places to buy antiques and collectables and fashion items and where better to start than the Mill Markets, Portal 108 and Store 105, where there’s a huge range of pieces that will enhance your interior…and your exterior!

If your trips to Bangkok have fostered a love of Asian style, then check out the Moongate Oriental Antiques and Gallery. For the more avant-garde look, contemporary Australian art in of all kinds, including glass, ceramics, sculpture and more can be found at The Pantechnicon Gallery - and many of the artists are local.

If you prefer arts you can eat, stop by Country Cuisine to pick up some gourmet treats, or take your sweet tooth to Widow Twankeys Confectionery Emporium in Clunes - just look at that lollipop tree! For scrummy handmade chocolates to devour along with your loved one, you can’t go past Sweet Decadence at Locantro.

Men will appreciate the stylish goods and personal masculine items at Store 105, including sexy VIP Underwear, while Portal 108 has an artful range of clothes, jewellery and homewares you won’t find in many other places.

Buff up your environmental credentials and placate your green fingers with a visit to the Secret Garden where you’ll learn how to drought proof your patch and pick up a plant or two. If you’re of a more mystical bent, The Readers, a team of clairvoyants, palm and tarot readers are on hand to look into your future. Another kind of reader will be right at home at Paradise Books. Acres of new and second-hand books make this place a true paradise for the avid bibliophile.

Then before you head back to your cosy cottage, pick up everything you need for that private picnic or intimate candlelit dinner from the Hepburn General Store, or Daylesford IGA and Liquor. There’s always something special to buy when you shop here.

But why stay indoors when there’s such beautiful country all around you? Dig out your stout boots, sunscreen and mozzie repellent and get out into nature. With loads of fine foods and wines readily available, pack a picnic and head for one of dozens of perfectly private places. Here are a few ideas.

In Creswick try out the new 18-hole, Robert Allenby designed golf course at Novotel Forest Resort or if putting alongside a dozing kangaroo is more your style then test the course at Hepburn Springs Golf Club.

In Daylesford you must visit Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens. The nine-hectare gardens, among the best in the state, date from 1861. From March to May there’s also a stunning begonia exhibition. You don’t have to leave town to enjoy this intriguing collaboration between man and nature.

Head downhill to beautiful Lake Daylesford surrounded with walking tracks and plenty of places to stop and admire the views. The lake is man-made. Originally gold diggings, later it became a Chinese Market Garden and village, with it’s own Joss House and store.

If you enjoy bushwalking, try the Tipperary Walking Track from Lake Daylesford to the Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve, following Sailors Creek and Spring Creek through foothill forest for most of the way. The 16 km walk takes five to six hours, and is quite easy walking. Or you could just do part of it.

Discover the mineral springs that make the area famous, and sample the waters right at the source. Take a water-tasting walk through Mineral Springs Reserve and discover the different flavours – you’ll be amazed at the variety. Some springs have hand pumps whilst others flow constantly - fill a bottle or two and carry a taste of ChillOut country home.

There are more springs at Central Springs Reserve, and at Sailors Falls, south of Daylesford on the Ballan Road, and further afield yet more at Blackwood Mineral Springs and Kyneton Mineral Springs.

Love trees? At Trentham Falls in the Wombat Forest you’ll find stands of trees looking much as they must have in colonial times. Or if extinct volcanoes are more your style, 8 km north of Daylesford, 2 km off the Daylesford-Castlemaine Road, you’ll find Mount Franklin. The sheltered crater is ideal for a picnic, with panoramic views and a scenic walking track along the crater rim. There’s heaps more to explore, once you take that first step off the highway and into the natural wonders of ChillOut country.

Sponsors & Supporters

Begin your journey here and be sure to sample our sponsoring businesses first.

	Mercedes-Benz Melbourne Information: 03 9690 8833 or online
	Novotel Forest Resort Creswick Bookings and Enquiries: 1300 780 411 or online
	Mill Markets Daylesford Information and Contact: 03 5348 4332 or online
	Portal 108 Information and Contact: 03 5348 4853 or online
	Store 105 Information and Contact: 03 5348 1105 or online
	VIP Underwear Information and Contact: online

Remember, ChillOut is only possible with the strong support of our business community and the businesses listed here generously help make ChillOut happen.

Our Supporters