On the road - vintage goodies in regional Victoria

It has been nearly two months since we went to Daylesford and there has simply been no time to blog about it at all. In fact there is a major backlog of posts swirling around in my head that hopefully will flood out when I have some more time. Life has been full, too full in fact for my liking, so it is nice to slow down and reminisce over those Daylesford days.

One of the things I like most about exploring a new place is sniffing out all the op shops and second hand stores. To find something to add to the collection back home and also give fond memories of the places we went to. While we didn't have any luck in the oppies around Daylesford, it didn't matter because just around the corner was the biggest collection of vintage ephemera I have ever seen.

Would you believe that when we planned to go to Daylesford I had no idea that on the edge of town was one of the largest collections of vintage and second hand goods in the southern hemisphere? I'm talking about the Mill Markets of which there are three locations - Daylesford, Ballarat and Geelong.

If you can picture a warehouse the size of a football field and then some,  you get the rough idea. It was so big we had to take a pause half way around and have lunch in the cafe! Trying to choose goodies from this kind of smorgasbord was a little challenging, but knowing I had to squeeze any purchases into a suitcase did help.

When overwhelmed with options only the most special items would be coming home but I was more than happy to swoon over all that retro colour.

So how about the goodies?

A lovely child sized apron for my girl,

An amazing retro pvc lined bag that  knew I have a true passion for pvc lined bags (this is my third),

an amazing hat the exact size for my girl ( this was the one item I chose from the Ballarat store),

a lovely old print,

and a roll of wallpaper that was sealed up and I chose for the colours ( presuming it was florals) but opened to discover it was in fact a bunch of crazy disco floral animals. Check out the 'fro on that lion/poodle creature!

As if the Mill Markets were not enough, there was also the Daylesford Bazaar in the main street but thankfully nothing was calling  my name there.

On the way to Ballarat we stopped at a tiny town called Talbot, population 258. Incredibly there was not one, but two antique shops in this tiny town. It turns out they were owned by a husband and wife, and they each had their own shop. His was enormous and chock full of more traditional crockery and furniture. Hers was more my style with vintage kitchenalia and early Australiana items. Their shops were on either side of their house, where they could pop back for lunch and to see the pets. To me it seemed a wholly ideal scenario for two collectors with different tastes. I not only found the little green egg cup but also this lovely pastel set of bowls.

The unexpected highlight was the drive back to Melbourne on our last day and all those outer suburban op shops. These three pieces of milk glass set me back $5 for the lot.

I was however very restrained and left this lovely collection for someone else.

And then at the final hour I stumbled over a wonderful pink sewing case for $5 shortly before getting on the plane - a perfect carry on bag.

In our last few hours we also made a flying visit to Gleaners Inc in Brunswick, what a lovely, lovely shop ( I may or may not have bought a dress (or two) in here).

A brief visit to the site of  "The Block",

and that was Melbourne and Daylesford and all the goodness in between.

Daylesford delight

I have wanted to go to Daylesford for the longest time. I have been to Melbourne many, many times since I was a girl, visiting my dad on school holidays. I also know the Gippsland region east of Melbourne well too from countless visits to Dad's farm. But other than a visit to Hanging Rock as a teenager I have never been  into the Macedon ranges area.

For many years I was longing to visit the Lark shop in central Daylesford ( how devastating to have the shop close 18 months before I made it there and her pop up Melbourne store close up just weeks before we arrived) and then there is the matter of that gorgeous inspirational Kate from the Foxs Lane  blog who lives somewhere near Daylesford. There just seemed to be some magic to be found in that  little town. So, we scootled out of the big city, into a land of clear blue skies, parched yellow fields, gum trees and sheep.

We found a beautiful little studio on Air Bnb, walking distance from the centre of town with a view across a paddock and a hedge of lavender. While the flowers were finished, there was still just a hint of lavender in the air.

Our first morning we awoke to kangaroos grazing near the bedroom window.

We explored the towns around Daylesford by car, venturing into Kyneton, Malmsbury, Hepburn Springs and Ballarat. Sometimes we just turned off onto little dirt roads, just to see where we would end up. This is the view from the top of Mount Franklin.

We stopped often, to soak in a view, ferret in a second hand store or photograph a hedge with a hole for a gate ( I have a weakness for these).

Even the letterboxes were inspired. (I wonder if all these neighbours pop down at 4pm for a beer and a chat while they collect their mail).

We paused for long, slow meals at Cafe Koukla at dusk. Sitting under the grape vines with the golden light all around, dipping Churros in chocolate sauce is a memory that will not fade quickly.

It wasn't until the last day that my back had improved enough that I was able to walk the ten minutes to the centre of town. So many gorgeous details to notice in a place were the climate and seasonal change are so different from home. From the rambling rose gardens,

the hedges,

the murals on garage doors,

the wall of the community garden,

the yards full of feasting sulphur crested cockatoos,

the street art,

the architecture,

and the quaint little shops.

Goodies were found in shops and fossicked from the nearby paddocks.

And quite a few hours were spent with a cup of tea and a book gazing out at this view.

And did you know that Daylesford has one of the largest warehouses of vintage and secondhand eclectic ever seen? Nope, neither did I and goodness what a treat that was to stumble onto, but that is a whole other post. Back soon with the rest of the goodies.

Summer holidays

Sometimes, the pictures all fall into place, but the words do not. Our summer holidays were hot, slow, long, fun, full and at times very, very challenging. In our house the wonderful lack of routine that would generally create a relaxed holiday instead creates all sorts of trouble.

However, as I look at this bundle of pictures that have captured the last six weeks, it is a stark reminder that no matter how grey the day, there is always colour to be found. Above would be Roboboy's lego mini figure avatar that seems to end up in all sorts of odd places, including this bowl of florist beads the kids chose from the markets, just add water and they grow.

The stack of books my boy read this last few weeks. The only problem now is where on earth do you go from Harry Potter? (tips welcome).

The simple things are the best -  birthday parties with hills and large pieces of cardboard.

Floral arranging sessions. We walked the streets sampling all the blooms on the footpath.

We spent our usual amount of time under the hose on the trampoline.

We played jewellery shop cafe's,

Hot chocolate with marshmallows anyone ?

and built extravagant paediatric hospitals,

created storyboards for the three little pigs,

organised rooms and shuffled furniture to give my boy a desk of his own,

spent hours and hours in construction at the Ipswich Art Gallery

And after more than a year away, we finally made it back to our favourite beach.

As the years pass and we come back here time and time again, the memories just build and pile up atop each other. This is three years ago,

And the exact same spot now.

We made mermaids,

and just like previous times we have come to Moffat beach, there have been some milestones passed.
Like the catching of her very first wave,

first sand dune slide,

and most excitingly, the first bike ride without training wheels. Just like that she was off, haring down those paths to the sea that she knows so well.

We rode all the way to the Mr McGee tree (it was perhaps a little too far in hindsight) and we climbed to the very top ( well not me, I was down the bottom taking photos). The view was amazing.

There was also the usual rock hopping,

tidal creek paddling,

After a swim in the ocean pool at Kings beach, we stumbled across a man snorkelling in one of the tidal pools. As is our way, we of course had to find out what he was up to. He was catching some rare fish and when he left he gave us his leftover bait so we too could hand feed the fish.

So late that afternoon we trotted back with our buckets and nets and hand fed the fish with our raw prawns. We even managed to catch a few for our collection. Then of course we tipped them all back in, squealed at the sight of an eel where our toes had just been and rode our bikes home. I love that we now have another new favourite spot to go back to next time.

It always astounds me how much my children remember from all the other visits to this very beach. This time when we got to a particular spot, Liongirl asked me to play the rock stacking game we played there once, more than a year ago. This time we made beach houses for the crabs, with stones for the windows and doors, a path up to the front door and a seaweed mat.  I wonder if next year we will come back to this spot and do it all again.

She and I spent an afternoon together exploring. We found six sea cucumbers and a nudibranch. Not a spectacular colourful one, but amazing just the same.

We were either at the beach, riding our bikes, eating calamari and chips or in here for the entire seven days.

Summer holidays, we think we did you justice. Now it's time for the relief of that old familiar routine of school.