My sister, Colleen, her husband, David, Mark and myself spent a week in April 2019 traveling from Canberra to Melbourne to take in some wine tasting, AFL, live theater and sight seeing. It was a great week with three main stops, Rutherglen, Port Melbourne and Bright, and I’d highly recommend the stops we made as they all had something to offer.
Rutherglen
Accommodation: Rutherglen Motor Inn
Thurs 4th April:
We departed Canberra at around 8.45 am and stopped at The Long Track Pantry in Jugiong for coffee where there was some nice Magpie memorabilia for David. Rutherglen was the next stop and we made it our Motel there by 1 pm and headed off to lunch at The Victoria Hotel. We strolled the main street after lunch for a bit before heading to our first wine tasting, James and Co run by Georgie and Ricky, which was located in the main street. After this we then went to Chambers then Scion ( Sally and Rolly) with a final stop at Campbell’s.
The wine tasting and early start had left us a bit tired so we headed back to the motel for a rest before dinner. The boys headed Rutherglen Brewery for a bit before dinner but Coll and I missed this and headed straight to Tuileries for our 7 pm dinner booking. The dining experience at Tuileries was great and the meals were delicious so I would highly recommend this venue and would definitely head back here if ever we return to Rutherglen.
Friday 5th April:
Coll and I took and early walk and the boys had a ride before our 10 am checkout. We had breakfast at a great little cafe, called the Pickers Cafe, before setting off for Melbourne.
Port Melbourne
Accommodation: Port Melbourne AirBnB
Fri 5th April (cont’d):
The drive to Melbourne was easy and we made to out Airbnb by about 3 pm. After dropping our bags we set out to explore the Port area and had a late lunch at Mr Hobson’s. After lunch we went for a walk along the harbor promenade and then turned off this to find The Cricketers Arms. This was a bustling place that stood in stark contrast to the deserted street outside! The beer garden was at the rear of the building and was a lovely courtyard dedicated to Gin! We had a couple of drinks there and soaked up the atmosphere but eventually ambled back to our apartment, picking up some supplies on the way, as Dr Fleming was paying us a visit. We were all rather tired so we had an early night.
Sat 6th April:
It was a beautiful crisp Melbourne morning and the boys rode and us girls walked. It was to be a full day for us and we set off at 10.30 am to catch the 109 tram The Woolshed where we were meeting some Rowe family and friends for lunch. Coll and I then went off to a 2 pm show of Muriel’s Wedding and the boys went to watch the Swans vs Carlton and were pleased to see a Swans victory. Colleen and I caught up with the boys at 5.30 pm at Collins Quarter for a drink before we headed home by the 109 tram and they headed off for their second game of Collingwood vs West Coast. Sadly, the Pies lost.
Sunday 7th April:
Day light savings ended overnight so we got an extra hour this morning. The boys rode and us girls walked. It was a spectacular morning with clear skies and no wind and we saw lots of hot air balloons enjoying the conditions.
We checked out at 10 am for our trip up to Bright. There was one stop along the way for lunch at the Seven Creeks Hotel in Euroa. This was empty on our arrival but was filled within 30 minutes! It was a great spot to visit with great food and a large lovely beer garden. The beer garden was soon filled with a HOG group. We chatted with one HOG owner after lunch who had a $50K bike that two years old and it was beautiful! The main surprise in this sleepy country town though was the Tesla charging station with 6 ports!
After lunch had a 100 min drive on to Bright.
Bright
Accommodation: Bright AirBnB
Sunday 7th April (cont’d):
We made it to the apartment by about 3 pm and access was via a lock box which made it easy. After settling in we then walked the 5 min path into Bright and checked out the village. The first and only stop was at the Bright Brewery which was rather busy. We were all a bit tired and so decided to dine at home so Coll and I went to woollies and bought a BBQ chicken for dinner.
Monday 8th April:
It was another magnificent morning for the boys doing there long ride to Mt Buffalo. Coll and I walked and then went at 10 am open to check out all the gift shops in Bright. Boys got home around noon and caught up with us for a coffee at ??? Coll and I then did more strolling of shops and boys went to have lunch at the Brewery. We picked up some lamb to BBQ for another night of dining in.
The boys were too weary to do any walking so we opted for an afternoon drive to Mount Beauty with a later short stroll to find the Chinese Bridge.
Dinner was a BBQ dinner at home.
Tuesday 8th April:
This was the first overcast morning and we opted for a quick coffee visit and stroll through Bright before out check out. It was almost a 5 hour drive back to Canberra so we were keen to set off early. The trip home was punctuated with two stops; first for coffee at the Beechworth Bakery in Beechworth and second for lunch at the Sir George at Jugiong.
We arrived back in Canberra by 3.30 pm and had a nice dinner at The Gan Geez.
McNamara Travel Blog 