Spargo Creek Mineral Spring

On the way to Mount Franklin yesterday, we saw signs for the Spargo Creek mineral spring.  We were keen for our celebratory picnic, so didn't stop.

We went back today. It was novel to be able to drive right up to the spring!

As has become standard practice, we sampled the water.  Erin was the first taster and didn't screw up her face, as we half-expected.  We were pleased when she declared the taste "almost pleasant" - and we then shared the cup with more enthusiasm!

According to the information boards, the reserve had been popular for sporting events and picnics as early as the 1870s.  We tried to picture where the cricket ground had been, given all the current blackberry and other overgrowth.

Best yet!

While we were in Daylesford, Erin visited the tourist information centre and collected a map of the mineral springs in the area.

She directed us to the Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve.

Once there we set up for a BBQ lunch, where we very much enjoyed the spotless hotplates and super-clean tables (though we still used a table-cloth)!

We went for a walk after lunch, to try a few of the springs in the area.  Erin was still not overly keen but Nick and I felt the Hepburn spring water was definitely better than the many others we'd tasted!

There were several large rocks featured in the grounds.  We read each of them.

They had been cut to create a flat top, then polished and lastly engraved - with quotes about the area.  Interesting!

The public area was quiet but there were quite a few cars in the carpark for the kiosk/bath-house.

Take a gander at Wombat Flat!

From Sailors Falls we made our way to Daylesford.  We stopped at Wombat Flat for a second spring water taste test.  As you can see, it was on a par with our first sampling!

There were many birds.  Some geese had goslings. We also saw two fluffy moorhen chicks.

Fall down, spring up?!

There was no real plan for today's outing.  As we left home Nick checked the weather - and we did our best to head out of the rain.

We made a quick stop at Sailors Falls, lured by the camera icon on the tourist information sign.

Sadly the path to the falls was closed indefinitely, so we retrieved a cup from Elmer Fudd and sampled the mineral spring water instead.  It wasn't the worst we'd tried but it certainly wasn't the best either!  Onward!

Blackwood Mineral Springs

We were taking a roundabout route to Malmsbury when we spotted signage for Blackwood Mineral Springs, so we detoured.

Given our previous (and very recent) mineral spring water samplings, Nick wasn't overly keen for more taste-testing!

The three other mineral springs we've visited have all been free.   There is a small entry fee to the Blackwood Mineral Springs Reserve to fund the upkeep of the site.

As we were cashless, we called in at the caravan park kiosk and arranged to pay next time.  The reserve was lovely, so a return picnic is quite on the cards.

There are two springs at the reserve - one mineral and one soda.  We'd been told that the mineral spring was the better one, which was true.

Erin offered Bandit a bowl of the soda spring water.  Our smart dog walked away after two licks!

Ballan Mineral Spring

We were enjoying an afternoon drive when we spotted the sign for Ballan Mineral Spring and detoured to check it out. We were not expecting much given our previous experience of mineral springs!

It's good that we didn't have high expectations, though of the several sites sampled it's water was probably the least unpleasant!

Erin tasted some from the initial pumping, whereas Nick and I waiting till more water had cleared the pipe.  A wise decision!

As we were getting ready to leave a family rocked up with about 20 two-litre PET bottles and two large 15-litre containers.

They travel out from Melbourne to stock up for a couple of months!  At their last visit, the pump was dry and they thought they'd need to find a new spring to use, so were very happy to see this one back in action.  (Yes, we thought them very keen)!

Rad(ius) Birthday!

I do like a birthday outing - and I've had some wonderful excursions in the semi-recent past. Several were enjoyed at various lookouts in the Watagan Forest and in 2012 we ventured about 200km from home to Burning Mountain - with a stop-in at Paradise for afternoon tea!

Last year I was heavily lurgi-ed so the day was spent with a big box of tissues and a blanket.  It was memorable, though not in a good way!

I was a bit stumped for destinations this year.  Somewhere new has a lot of scope given we've only been Victorian residents for a little over 18 months. 

After a fair bit of pondering, I found this online gadget, which creates a circular area around a point on a map.

I used my age to give the radius from home and then selected a starting point more or less on the perimeter.

Some more research revealed a "Wombat Forest Drive" map document that took in my desired destination and a few others as well.  We didn't follow the route exactly. Our first stop was Trentham, to pick up beautiful sourdough bread from the RedBeard Bakery.  From there we back-tracked out of town to Trentham Falls for our picnic lunch and some geocaching.

It was considerably warmer as we wandered around the valley below the falls.  There were lots of huge gums, mossy logs and little birds flitting about the scrub.  Erin and Vaughan spotted a swamp wallaby too.

From the falls, we made our way over to Lyonville Mineral Springs to sample some birthday bubbles.  Hah!  Mineral water straight from the ground tastes nothing like the bottled stuff - sadly!

We didn't stay long at the springs, though noted the picnic area for a longer stop on another occasion.  It was quite pretty with a little creek flowing nearby.  The Garden of St Erth was our next destination.  We are not members of The Diggers Club so didn't tour the garden but rather enjoyed looking at all the many plants for sale.

Our last stop was the Nolan Creek picnic area for afternoon tea and birthday cake(s).  Such a beautiful little spot - we'll be back for sure to explore further and praps tackle the bushwalk in the link.

Although the picnic area was in the Wombat Forest, I didn't hold much hope of seeing any wombats and said as much to Nick when we were heading home - just as one jumped onto the road in front of us! I was too startled to take his/her photo but there was much excitement! I leapt out of the car to get a better look, closely followed by Vaughan. Not surprisingly, our running caused the wombat to run faster!

We headed home under an almost full moon, well pleased with all we had seen and done. The day ended with a fireside finale feast - three picnics in one day has to be a record!

Funny story: as we drove along one of the country roads I spotted a sign advertising Dutch Cream Poffertjes - and although it seemed unlikely, I kept a hopeful eye out for special birthday pancakes. On the return trip, Nick took great delight in reading the Dutch Cream Potatoes sign!

Kyneton Mineral Spring

When Erin was in primary school, it was a special treat to order lunch from the canteen. Her drink of choice was an Apple & Raspberry Kyneton Springs Mineral Water.

Given that history, we called into the Kyneton Mineral Spring when out and about sight-seeing with Kerry.  

Of course, we should have paid more attention to the bracketed Boggy Creek naming!

It's fair to say the water from the actual spring tastes absolutely nothing like the bottled variety - and we do wonder what magic processing occurs in the factory!