Daylesford

We arrived in Daylesford on Tuesday afternoon and drove up and down the main area a few times looking for somewhere to stay. We decided on an unobtrusive little retro place that was filled with big studded leather chairs and couches and decorated with memorabilia from the 1950s. It was warm and welcoming and most importantly, our room was gently heated and there was a bed.

After a late start on Wednesday we took a walk up the main street where we ran into Meg's philosophy...

did a load of washing then walked to The Mill House Markets - an enormous old wool mill converted into - markets. Hundreds and hundreds of market stalls. A small area is rented to a stall holder and they fill their area with old and antique goods. Gibbo thought he was on Bargain Hunt. The stall holders weren't all there during the week but volunteers man the front desk area. On the weekends the place is packed. There was so much to look at - too much really. After walking through half the barn I'd had enough.

After a bit of investigation the previous night I had thought we'd go to the "smarter" end of town for the spa/massage experience but after some advice from our host we ended up at a place a short walk up the road. The spa was peaceful but 45 minutes was a bit long. I was looking for a book after 20 minutes and G suggested an iPad mounted on the wall would be a good idea. The aromatherapy massage was excellent; I think all my stress and worry sits in a little ball just above my left shoulder blade. The masseur did a lot of work in that area. Gibbo thought it was all pretty good too.

For dinner that night we went to The Farmers Arms where I had the best lamb shank I've ever eaten.