I had nearly forgotten that thrill of exploring somewhere completely new until last weekend when I visited regional Victoria. I had been selected as a Finalist in the Maldon Photography Portrait Prize (see last photo below) so I thought that was as good excuse to hop a flight down south. We hired a car and the first stop was Trentham. I have only ever heard of this place from following @lynda.gardener beautiful Instagram account. The minute we drove into town, and I saw the once a month farmer’s market was on, I squealed with delight. Firstly, because I knew that bacon & egg roll on the BBQ was going to be just what I needed after a 7am flight (it didn’t disappoint). But also because I always love to see what is grown locally and what is in season. We then moved on to the Trentham General Store for our caffeine fix, followed by a wonder round town. Next stop was Castlemaine for lunch with friends at Wild which is located in a converted fire station. We ate so much we had to have a good walk around town afterwards and checked out some of the vintage shops. Then it was a quick check-in at our Airbnb in Hepburn Springs before we had to be in Maldon for the opening of the exhibition at the Edge Galleries. For a small town, Maldon is big into its art and clearly there is a thriving community of local artists. I love travelling to take photos but sometimes it is nice to visit somewhere to see your work hanging. The next day was spent relaxing and enjoying a very long lunch at Lake House restaurant in Daylesford. This is an experienced not to be missed. There are four courses, each with 3 choices. Knowing that Creative Director, Alla Wolf-Tasker is passionate about growing much of the produce at Dairy Flat Farm I could not resist the vegetable option for the first two courses and they were sublime.

So in 48 hours it is amazing where you can go and what you can experience. Below is just a snap shot of the weekend.