BendiGO! Day 1 + Beechworth Bakery

The challenges of providing health care in rural areas is always emphasised in my studies in Australia. This semester, my curriculum at Monash had brought me to a rural region in Victoria for two weeks. A road-trip with friends and Monash-sponsored accommodation? It’s going to take a major health crisis to keep me from the trip!

Our enthusiasm started early from Day 1, when we woke up bright and early to travel out of Melbourne to Bendigo. I have to admit though, some people (read: everybody else) woke up feeling fresher than others (ie: me). Unless I get a good night’s rest, I am a terrible substitute for a human being for the rest of the day.

Have you seen a two-lane road with a posted speed limit of 110km/h before? Me neither:/

Because brunch is the in thing in coffee-centred Melbourne and because we’re such hip and on-the-trend people, I had my first brunch and coffee in a long time 176km away from Melbourne. We made a pit stop on the outskirts of Bendigo, at a charming little place called Beechworth Bakery. 

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A Beesting from the bakery. 

 One of the pastries that Beechworth Bakery offers is their signature Beesting, made from pâte à choux pastry dough and filled with vanilla pastry cream. They come in two sizes, an individual size, and a party size meant for up to 10 people. Naturally, I found 3 other like-minded friends and we were ready to power through one party size. Like how Shaun T always encourages us to power through...

Although I don't think he means it in quite the same way.  

Unluckily for us, or (in hindsight) perhaps luckily, they were out of the party size, and we had to settle for the individual size. Grrrrrr... It tastes reminiscent of Beard Papa's, a Japanese cream puff brand. (Move over, Beard Papa. Unless you come up with a party size too. Then we'll talk.) An elderly couple who were on their way out spotted our Beesting and stopped at our table just to tell us we made a good choice.

Their mocha (right). 

Beef Ranger sandwich. 

Like most coffee places in Australia, they serve decent coffee. This made me a less terrible person for the rest of the day. Probably. 

If you happen to be in the area, Beechworth Bakery is a good place to start your day. 

Post-brunch, we headed off to the Monash campus in Bendigo, and received directions to our accommodation. And boy, did I feel instantly quite at home. We lucked out and were assigned to the Tea House, which is the much more luxurious option as compared to Lister House. Because I am luckier than most, mine also came fully furnished, with everything from an oven to washing powder. It even came with a great view of the lake just across the road. I may never leave. 

Lake Weerona in spring during sunrise, taken just outside my apartment.

The only thing it lacks is wi-fi access, being slightly off the main accommodation site. But we managed to overcome that with a little Singaporean ingenuity: we found a wi-fi hotspot by sitting around the BBQ pits over at the main Tea House Accommodation.

It was still in the tail-end of Australian winter though; my Singaporean ingenuity only brings us so far in a temperate country. Live and learn...

Check out some of my Bendigo curriculum (Part 2) here!
Check out Part 3 about our trips to Old Green Bean here
Check out Part 4 about our food trail here
Check out Part 5 of our trip to the Farmers' Market in Bendigo

Check out Part 6 about our trip to Mandurang Valley Winery
Check out the last part, Part 7 about Bendigo's other attractions