Mea culpa. I've had a couple of blog posts on local attractions in Victoria floating around my inbox for at least the last couple of months, and only got around to putting the finishing touches on them over the New Year's period. Writing is hard!, though having had a long break to get away from it all certainly helped recharged my batteries. Here's to 2018, and may it be as relaxing as 2017 ;)
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Staying overnight in the Australian countryside has its perks. Ever since a friend who lives in Goulburn Valley told me about what's available in the area, I've been revving up for a visit. TY's mom is in Melbourne for a visit, and we induced her into coming along with us for a tour of the region. Goulburn Valley produces up to 25% of Australia's agricultural products and is nicknamed Australia's Food Bowl, and I think she was as keen as I was to see what's available in the region.
I was ready to get onto a paddle boat at Nagambie Lake and spend the morning paddling idly around the lake, but the shop was closed that weekend and we instead consoled ourselves by going straight to Tallis Cellar Wine Door, which made the 2017 Gourmet Traveller List for Australia's Best Cellar Door. It's based in Dookie, a small town on the outskirts of Greater Shepparton. The streets were empty as we drove through the town, but as we rounded the corner into Tallis Wine, the carpark was packed! Everybody in town must have decided to come here for lunch too. And lest others get the mistaken idea that this town is smack-dab in the middle of rural Victoria, we spotted charging stations for Tesla vehicles in the car park.
Wine tasting is complimentary, and their tasting platters include local produces from surrounding farms (we love the feta!) and paired with freshly-baked loaves of bread. Locheilan, the cheese farm that made me a cheese convert way back in 2014, made an appearance with their Triple Cream.
The Rock Correa Walking Track offers light trekking for outdoor enthusiasts, and I'd imagine it'll be pleasant to walk around Dookie's hills in spring or in autumn.
Tallis Cellar Wine Door
Website
SPC is a major fruit packing and canning company based in Australia, and operates SPC Factory Sales in Shepparton. Described to us as a mini-Costco, it's also home to the Goulburn Valley Fruit Preserves, and people were buying them by the box. According to TY, some Melbournians make the three-hour drive just to stock up on those preserves. I didn't indulge - while in Australia's Food Bowl, shouldn't we strive for the freshest agricultural products and meat that one can get? I made a beeline instead for their Ben's and Jerry's, which was on sale: 2 whole pints for... wait for it... $5. Wow. Magnum too, was going for 60c a stick. I've never seen them sell for so low a price, although no one else batted an eye at ice cream except us. Oh well. That's more for us. (Although, when I recounted what we bought to our friend from Goulburn Valley the next day, I'm pretty sure her eyes filled with consternation. So perhaps next time I'm in the area, I should just load up on both to cover my bases?)
SPC Ardmona
197-205 Corio St, Shepparton VIC 3630
Opening hours: 9-6pm weekdays, 9-5pm weekends
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Staying overnight in the Australian countryside has its perks. Ever since a friend who lives in Goulburn Valley told me about what's available in the area, I've been revving up for a visit. TY's mom is in Melbourne for a visit, and we induced her into coming along with us for a tour of the region. Goulburn Valley produces up to 25% of Australia's agricultural products and is nicknamed Australia's Food Bowl, and I think she was as keen as I was to see what's available in the region.
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| Photo by J |
Website
SPC is a major fruit packing and canning company based in Australia, and operates SPC Factory Sales in Shepparton. Described to us as a mini-Costco, it's also home to the Goulburn Valley Fruit Preserves, and people were buying them by the box. According to TY, some Melbournians make the three-hour drive just to stock up on those preserves. I didn't indulge - while in Australia's Food Bowl, shouldn't we strive for the freshest agricultural products and meat that one can get? I made a beeline instead for their Ben's and Jerry's, which was on sale: 2 whole pints for... wait for it... $5. Wow. Magnum too, was going for 60c a stick. I've never seen them sell for so low a price, although no one else batted an eye at ice cream except us. Oh well. That's more for us. (Although, when I recounted what we bought to our friend from Goulburn Valley the next day, I'm pretty sure her eyes filled with consternation. So perhaps next time I'm in the area, I should just load up on both to cover my bases?)
SPC Ardmona
197-205 Corio St, Shepparton VIC 3630
Opening hours: 9-6pm weekdays, 9-5pm weekends
We chanced upon Fryers Food Festival while in Shepparton, an annual event that celebrates the food products in the region. What luck! Fryers Street was cordoned off for the festival, and food trucks by the dozens began to gather. Not all the food trucks were from professional eateries, a few of the nearby farms had also set up grills and started a lively business hawking their grilled meat and sausages.
Amongst the American BBQ stalls, a lone stall roasting cuts of meat over a roaring charcoal grill caught our attention. The singed pieces of juicy meats mingled with the unmistakable scent of charcoal, and we joined the queue immediately.
A meal of meat is incomplete without alcohol, and we were spoilt for choices. About 1/3 of the stalls were serving alcoholic beverages; I thought it was an alcohol festival! Prickly Moses had converted a double-storied bus into a mobile brewery, and the occupants were making good business selling a variety of beers and ciders.
With our appetites sated, we headed to our airbnb. Home for the night was a 2-bedroom loft above a horse farm overlooking 450 acres of farmland. The owner and his family lives on an adjourning property, and their gorgeous golden retriever bounded over to say hi when she heard our car engine. Within minutes I was throwing sticks out for her and giving her tummy rubs. She's got me well-trained.
Being a regional centre, Greater Shepparton has quite a number of markets on every weekend. There's always something happening, and we left for Mooroopna Farmers Market in the morning before the rest of the crowd. We lingered at the fruit stall and couldn't resist the hefty bags of pears and nectarines. Our friend also spotted her neighbour selling his honey over in the corner of the market and popped by with J, who picked up a bottle.
Mooroopna Lions Club Farmers' Market
Third Sunday, 8.00am – 1.00pm
Ferrari Park
Mooroopna Lions Club Farmers' Market
Third Sunday, 8.00am – 1.00pm
Ferrari Park
Hot food was available at the market, although we had lunch plans at Tatura Hot Bread. Despite being in a small town, it's been punching above its weight with their multi-award winning Vanilla Slices. Recently, they had made news again after their Chicken Cranberry and Brie Pie was the overall winner of Australia's Best Pie Competition 2017 - which of course, I just had to get. It was also fortuitous that we came by; pastries aside, J had been looking high and low for the elusive Goulburn Valley Juice since the start of the trip, which we finally found here.
Tatura Hot Bread
130 Hogan St, Tatura VIC 3616
130 Hogan St, Tatura VIC 3616
(not to be mistaken with Tatura Bakery and Lunches)
The last stop before heading back home to Melbourne was Belstack Strawberry Farm. It's a cozy, family-run farm with a 'Pick-Your-Own' program, similar to some of the other farms that we had been to. The afternoon sun was forceful, but the occasional passing cloud provided respite from the rays, and I was fueled with the drive of being able to pick own strawberries straight off the stems.
Entry is free, and each kilo of strawberry goes for $16. The price drops to $14/kg for 2 or more kilos.
Protip!: The farmer advised us to keep the stems on to ensure the strawberries stayed fresh as long as possible. We gathered three boxes in total: one with no leaves or stems (above, left), one with leaves but no stems (above, right) and one with stems. The former two started going soft within the first day, but the third box stayed fresh for a week and counting.
Tripadvisor
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