An introduction to Daylesford

You’d think there’d be little that could turn the head of a hard-scrabbling immigrant to Australia in the 1860s from the promise of instant riches. Yet for many of those who arrived in north-western Victoria in the gold rush years, it wasn’t so much the precious yellow metal that fired the imagination as the natural mineral springs that were, and remain today, the lifeblood of Daylesford.

Perhaps it was a kind of homesickness, particularly for those who came to Daylesford from the mountainous regions of northern Italy and the Italian-speaking Swiss canton of Ticino. This was the age when ‘taking the waters’ – bathing in it, drinking it – was triggering a revival of fountains, pools and public bathhouses across Europe. Whatever their inspiration, in Daylesford’s picturesque landscape, through which flow some 80 percent of Australia’s natural mineral springs, they recognised the potential for spas and wellbeing.
 
Today, the alluvial deposits of gold may have disappeared but the spas have endured, ranging from the huge and spectacular Hepburn Springs Bathhouse & Spa, occupying its own private grounds, to small but state-of-the-art day spas. More than 90 spa treatments are available throughout the region and, uniquely in Australia, a substantial proportion utilise the natural mineral waters. Daylesford, just a 90-minute drive north-west of Melbourne, is the country’s spa capital – the place to come whether you want to be massaged within an inch of your life, be treated to a moisturising mineral facial or simply soak in the natural mineral waters at your leisure.

The European spa tradition meant more than just taking the waters, however. Fine food and wine were as much a part of the experience as anything else, and in this Daylesford has been doubly blessed. Chinese gold miners were among the first to exploit the area’s fecundity by planting market gardens in the late 1850s. These days, the damp climate and rich, volcanic soils produce some of the country’s best regional produce, served in groundbreaking restaurants such as local doyenne Alla Wolf-Tasker’s Lake House.

Then there are the wines. Travellers to Daylesford from Melbourne pass through the historic Sunbury region, which has been producing wine since the 1860s and which today is highly regarded for its shiraz. Meanwhile, on the cool-climate, elevated landscape of the neighbouring Macedon Ranges, boutique wineries such as Hanging Rock are turning out pinots and sparkling wines that are consistently ranked among Australia’s finest.

The Daylesford region has long had a tendency to look beyond its boundaries so it’s no surprise that among the farmer’s markets, cosy cafes and heritage pubs, there’s an international flavour. At the renowned Shizuka Ryokan, for instance, bounded by native bush, you’ll find an authentic Japanese-style retreat, a theme continued with the fusion cooking offered by Kazuki Tsuya’s at his new venture, Kazuki’s at the Raglan.

The region is proud of its Italian pedigree, too, and it crops up in many places, from the recently restored heritage-listed Villa Parma – a gorgeous slice of Tuscany available to rent in the grounds of Peppers Mineral Springs Retreat – to the wood-fired pizza they pull from the oven at Frangos & Frangos cafe on Daylesford’s atmospheric Vincent Street. The oldest Italian-themed building is the Old Macaroni Factory, dating from 1859 and today something of a tourist drawcard. As is the Lavandula Swiss Italian farm, which produces olives, grapes and lavender and hosts harvest festivals and other events associated with la dolce vita throughout the year.

The pretty mauve stands of flowers are just one reason to visit Lavandula, but the whole region, forged out of 450-million-year-old rocks, boasts a particular beauty. It has proved a source of inspiration not just for pioneers and providores but for creative types too, from painters and sculptors to designers and musicians, as the surprising quantity of studios and galleries attest.

Daylesford has come a long way since Captain John Hepburn first stumbled upon its natural mineral springs in 1836, but possibly the people who that would surprise least would be those who first came to settle the region, more than 150 years ago.