Saturday in Daylesford

Our little holiday is properly over now and we’re back into the swing of regular life. I didn’t think a week was very long but actually it is a decent amount of time to be away from home and living somewhere else. Sometime I’d like to try longer to see how we adjust, being such homebodies.

I’ve gathered together just a few photos and stories to show. This series is all from the Saturday which was my favourite day. Daylesford was at its autumnal best. Clear and bright, not overly hot and we indulged in a nearly three hour lunch at the town’s signature restaurant, the Lake House. We ate there six years ago, remembered it as a true high point and so scheduled that for our holiday indulgence. At three hours and nearly $200 each, it was about as indulgent a lunch as you can get.

We walked into town from our cottage, and settled in for an eight course degustation lunch that will remain unbeaten for some time, I’m sure. Each delicious, tiny course seemed more amazing than the last. They really were miniature courses. The details were spectacular. The tiniest mint leaves adorned the speck of jelly in our dessert.

It’s a Raspberry and white chocolate parfait and I adored the detail!

Over the course of three hours, you can imagine that even with all that good food and wine, even I’d have been twitchy to knit. We decided that no matter how fancy a place is they could cope with a bit of surreptitious sock knitting.

Proof. Note the text on the glass, although the glass does obscure the sock a little. But it’s there. Don’t my hands look mid-stitch?

The dessert course we took out onto the deck, dining under dappled sunlight, the lake just a few short steps away. The light falling on the dessert wine and sugar bowl made me happy.

After lunch, as is now our custom (if doing something twice can be called a custom!) we walked around Lake Daylesford in the late afternoon sunlight. Locals and holidaymakers were out in full force and there was a great sense of life and activity all around. Although not in this photo.

I had an Enid Blyton moment when we stumbled up on a few fairy tale mushrooms! Alas they weren’t in a fairy ring, but to find them at all was thrilling!

Sean filled me in on the pretty things, telling me they are the poisonous Amanita Muscaria or Fly Agaric and that they are also used for hallucinogenic purposes. I thought they were only found in the Northern Hemisphere but apparently they were introduced here with pine trees and are now considered locals. Poisonous they might be, but oh so pretty!

What a day. The walk really did help. I think we walked around the lake for an hour then walked all the way back to the cottage and I’m sure that had an impact on how well we were able to recover from such a rich and indulgent meal, wine with every course.

We loved our visit to Daylesford and there were many, many things we loved (including the natural springs I’ll save for another post) but I think one of the reasons we’ll continue to go back there is the lunches at The Lake House. Amazing service, which was both posh and friendly all at once in perfect balance, and delicate, exquisite food that left a vivid impression. If, two weeks after a meal, you can still remember elements of the various courses, they’ve done their job well.

Bells