A food stuff and consume tour of Mitchell Shire

The Goulburn Valley location a limited drive north of Melbourne is one of Victoria’s favorite meals baskets, giving develop to marketplaces, places to eat and kitchens throughout the point out. And one particular of the very best methods to working experience the historic smaller cities and lovely countryside of the Mitchell Shire is to jump in a auto and and go in lookup of bounty. It’s accurately what the pollies intended last calendar year when they were chatting about placing an esky in the back again of the auto. 

Here’s our suggested itinerary for shelling out a weekend in the Goulburn Valley – and coming again laden with meats, fruits, veges, fantastic wine, craft beer and far more.

Friday

Depart Melbourne bright and early and head up the M2 for an hour and five minutes until you get to the historic town of Kilmore, just as drovers and gold prospectors have done in times absent by. Time for a espresso! Get a fantastic 1 at the Rose Café Kilmore, a café in a quaint aged dwelling surrounded by rose bushes. Have some freshly baked scones in the yard or select from a day-to-day menu of fresh new cakes. Even though in Kilmore you really should halt at the Meat Space where you can get little-batch salami manufactured listed here in town and look through the on-premises deli for far more scarce finds. 

 

Photograph: Supplied

A leisurely fifty percent-hour push additional north together the Northern Freeway will get you to gorgeous Tooborac, with its backdrop of the McIvor Ranges. Head to the McIvor Estate cellar door, just one of the Heathcote region’s most effective, for wine and olive oil tasting. If you simply call in advance they can prepare lunch for little teams. Then it’s a short generate above to McIvor Farm Meals, a loved ones-operate pig farm marketing substantial good quality hams, roasts, cutlets, schnitzels, ribs, sausages – you identify it. Purchase in advance online and select them up listed here.

For supper, fall into the Tooborac Hotel and Brewery, the 1857 pub well-known for Tooborac Beers and Tooby pies, baked every day. You can get a person of individuals extraordinary pies served in the bistro, or a range of superior pub foods. Keep overnight at Mimosa Glen, a attractive 1880s property in which you can reserve a space, a cottage or an whole homestead and wake up in splendour. 

Saturday 

Get a hearty breakfast at Tooborac General Retail outlet, a charming, investing-write-up design blended small business with an adjoining café. If you are arranging on likely fishing in the Goulburn River you can get your deal with listed here. Oh, and right before leaving city you may well want to insert some of all those popular Tooby Pies from Tooborac Lodge and Brewery to the esky. 

A 50 % hour generate east on the Seymour-Tooborac Street can take you to a attractive, historic city hugging the financial institutions of the Goulburn River. Seymour’s promises to fame are armed forces record and meals and consume – appear in Oct and Seymour is the scene of the Preferences of the Goulburn Competition, a celebration of the meals and wine of the Goulburn River Valley. 

Head into city any time of calendar year for Wine X Sam, a boutique cellar door providing wine tasting and mild bites. Sam Plunkett has been creating award-successful wines for additional than 25 a long time – come across out what he’s acquired on a vineyard tour (there are 4 a day), like tastings, and pick up some award-successful drops. 

A further winery, Somerset Crossing, is your cease for lunch at the Vineyard Kitchen area, an Italian restaurant specialising in pizza and pasta. Walk it off together the Goulburn River, or on the Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk, a photographic timeline honouring those people who served that functions 106 photographic glass panels. It is the only walk of its type in Australia.

When you are performed checking out Seymour, it is time to head south for the shorter push to Trawool and the Trawool Estate. For the reason that did we neglect to point out you’re spoiling your self this weekend? This boutique luxurious resort has 27 not too long ago renovated rooms, various with uninterrupted views of the Trawool Valley. Just after you check in your dinner will be at the on-premises Wild H2o Cafe, serving up to date Australian delicacies with a concentrate on farm-to-plate that showcases the greatest domestically sourced make. End it up with a publish-prandial cocktail in the Granite Bar or the Herb Yard less than the big umbrellas, with all those incredible sights of the Trawool Valley.

Sunday 

Say a hesitant goodbye to Trawool Estate and venture 13 minutes west on the C383 to Tallarook – by the way the starting up level of the Terrific Victorian Rail Trail, a person of the good strolling and driving trails of Australia. Time your check out for the very first Sunday of the thirty day period and you will catch the Tallarook Farmers Sector, which is packed with contemporary generate from farmers who live in the Goulburn Valley. Seasonal produce incorporates fruit, greens, eggs, bread, mushrooms, cheese, pork, beef, lamb, wine, beer, cider, olives, olive oil, pasta, honey, jams, preserves, chocolate, pastries and cakes. 

The moment you are thoroughly stocked up, you have time to seize a espresso and a handmade bagel from a rustic spouse and children business enterprise – the Silver Princess café and artwork area. Continue to be to search the artworks, or strike the street and start off your generate back to Melbourne. It’s only an hour absent, so you can simply appear back and do it all all over again.