Farewell to Spa Country

G’day everyone! Jo and Peter here.

Well, our month-long house-sit in Mount Franklin and the surrounding Daylesford area has officially come to an end, and what a chapter it’s been!

When people hear you’re spending a month in Victoria’s famous “Spa Country,” they picture day spas, aromatherapy massages, sipping Pinot Noir at fancy wineries, doing the rounds of boutique distilleries, or queuing up for a brunch at Cliffy’s.

Did we do any of that? Absolutely not!

As we mentioned in out blog post “all cooped up” our main duties were keeping a dutiful eye on some chickens and enjoying/ maintaining the heated outdoor spa bath at our house sit. We skipped the other pampering activities entirely. As for “taking the waters” at the local mineral springs—well, one sip of that fizzy, metallic brew was more than enough to convince us that plain tap water is vastly underrated!

Instead, we discovered that behind the luxury tourist facade lies a world of rugged goldfields history, old and almost forgotten towns and buildings, incredible bushwalks, eccentric local heros stories and beautiful old gardens. A whole month wasn’t too long at all; in fact, we barely scratched the surface! Here is our wrap-up of what we actually got up to in Spa Country.

Hit the Trail: Bushwalks & Goldfields History

Forget manicured day spa lawns—we spent our weeks pulling on the hiking boots!

The Goldfields Track: This legendary trail stretches over 210 kilometres all the way from Ballarat to Bendigo. With the track literally passing right by our front door we walked various stretches of it throughout the month. The tracks were filled with old gold mines and tailings as well as beautiful creeks and the waterfalls we mentioned in other posts.
Domino Rail Trail: We also took a crisp, peaceful stroll along the Domino Rail Trail through the towering Wombat Forest near Trentham hunting for the powerful owl as we walked. We did not find it but we did add the Gang Gang Cockatoos to Jo’s “lifer” bird list.

Exploring Historic Gold Towns & Grand Buildings

A few standout building tours included:

Clunes old schoolhouse (and now Bottle Museum). Clunes also had a really special historical museum. If you can, get the walking guide first (we didn’t and we regretted it).
Buda Historic House (Castlemaine): Stepping back in time to explore the grand 19th-century villa and its sprawling heritage gardens.
Creswick Woollen Mill: Founded by a visionary Jewish immigrant, this historic mill is the last of its kind in Australia. Learning about their eco-friendly manufacturing process recycling wool clothing, using possum fur, etc was fascinating.
The Old Creswick Hospital: Where the head of the Lindsay family worked. Later converted into the Victoria Forresty Department.
We explored Anderson’s Flour Mill in Smeaton that still has a massive working water wheel.

Colorful Historical Characters & Community Stories

This region has produced some amazing stories about some wonderful, forward thinking and eccentric characters in Australian history. For us the special stories included:

The Tree-Planting Legend (Le Gurche): We learned all about the inspiring story of Le Gurche, an early forest bailiff who, after working in a sawmill, took one look at the barren, gold-dug wasteland of the area and spent decades painstakingly planting thousands of trees—single-handedly transforming a scarred landscape into the gorgeous, towering forest trails we loved wandering through! He experimented with many trees from around the world and his trees are now the basis for the Australian forresty business.
The Tardy Trentham Doctor (Dr Wisewould): Trentham’s town clock is a strange, comet-like structure dedicated to the town’s beloved first female doctor (Dr Wisewould). It was built in her memory because she was notoriously late for everything! It was also built because she was beloved by the local community for the fact that she always cared for them without charging. She didn’t charge them because she came from the upper classes and she appreciated a community that appreciated her: an openly lesbian woman! Trentham also had historical figues of note who created horse-troughs and tree-grubbing machines that were sold around the world!
Aboriginal Astronomy & The Church: In Daylesford, we learned about William Edward Stanbridge (1816–1894) who was a highly influential English-born pastoralist, politician, philanthropist, and ethnographer who not only funded the Anglican church but studied Aboriginal sky stories. He also invited the Aboriginal Anglican preacher David Unaipon (who is on the Australian $50 note) to come and talk about the need to include Aboriginal people in the constitution before federation.
Sinner to Saint: We loved the story of a formidable local woman Jessie Leggatt who ran a thriving pub (and brothel) during the height of the gold rush, made a fortune, and then turned around and paid for a church to be built!
The Rex & Phoenix Cinema: In Daylesford, we caught a few films at the community-run Phoenix Cinema (who received a major renovation boost from reality-TV show The Block during a special community challenge featured in September 2025). Jo loved meeting with the chairperson of the committee (a social worker of course) and heard the back story about the incredible, passionate local campaign to save the historic Rex building for future generations despite ongoing challenges with the local council!
Artistic Dynasties and Historic Families: We enjoyed learning about the two local families in the region who shaped Australian art. They Lindsay and Leviny families. The Lindsay family included 10 children who shaped Australian art in so many ways (think of “The Magic Pudding”, “Picnic at Hanging Rock”, the film “sirens” and the National Gallery of Victoria to name but a few exmples of what this family is famous for). Another family, The Leviny family, of Buda house, included a father who was a silversmith and another group of 10 children, mostly daughters, who went on to inherit the house and influenced many aspects of the Arts and Crafts movement in Australia. In addition we enjoyed the historic family farms of Lavendula and the Anderson’s family story at the Anderson’s Mill.

Art Galleries & Chocolate Discipline

In addition to our aforementioned experiences with the Convent Gallery and our neighbour at Wildwood Gallery (turning broken stringed instruments into bizarre, beautiful sculptures,) we also spent time admiring the incredible work of local artists, including Michael Parker at Stone Creek Gully .
Although we did not go to fancy restaurants, we did also enjoy great food. There were a number of local shops that sold wonderful food and, as if it was not enough to have a handmade Belgian chocolate factory just down the road, we also discovered Sisko Chocolate over in Trentham! Sisko is set inside some spectacular architecture. Eventually we instituted a strict “one hot chocolate and one piece of chocolate per visit” discipline rule to keep healthy with so much tasty food around us!

Final Reflection

If you’re ever planning a trip to Daylesford and Mount Franklin, don’t feel like you have to spend a fortune on day spas or fancy wine tours to enjoy it. Put on a warm coat, grab a walking stick, dive into the history, and explore the bush.

A full month passed in the blink of an eye, and we wouldn’t trade our boots, mud, and farm chores for all the spas in the world.

The Kokoda is hitched, the chooks are tucked away, and we’re ready to roll on to our next Aussie house-sitting adventure!

Catch you down the road,

Jo & Peter