We drove the car from the caravan park into town and parked it not far from where the Chillout Parade was going to be. The big wide road was already blocked off and getting ready for action.
Breakfast at Larder Daylesford on the day of the Chillout Parade
The Larder in Daylesford was busy with people coming and going and had great reviews. Going out for breakfast is not something we would normally do however we thought it was a great idea on the morning of the Chillout Pararade as parking around Daylesford was going to be tricky. We could park and fill in time having breakfast and then watch the Chillout Parade. Managing to get a table we ordered coffee.
Looking at the Larder Daylesford menu Dave picked the baked spanish eggs, and I ordered the sultana and orange bread with honey and butter. The coffee was excellent and so was the food. The service were also excellent – all of the staff were working at great speed while keeping up polite conversation.
The Chillout Parade, Daylesford
After breakfast at the Larder Daylesford we wandered out to the street and stood on the side of the road with the growing crowd. Each side of the road slowly filled up and then people started gathering in the centre of the road. There were little kids dressed up in rainbow colors full of excitement and everyone was in a happy mood.
Ultimately it didn’t matter where you stood there was plenty of time to see all the colorful groups of people go past.
The whole parade went past us twice. Plenty of time to get video and photos of the Chillout Parade!
Daylesford Visitor Centre
On the way back to the car we went past the visitor centre to see what else we could do. Some of the suggestions were to first go to the Daylesford Sunday Market, The Convent, Wombat Gardens Tower and Mill Markets. The visitor centre is always a great resource to find out what the best things to do in a town on the day you are there.
Daylesford Sunday Market
This is a huge country market to visit. We found a park easily and then wandered through out the variety of stalls.
A wide variety of stalls selling everything from books to spare parts for the car, fresh local produce, clothing and collectables are located at the market. The Daylesford Sunday Market operates every Sunday from 8.00 am to 3.00 or 4.00pm.).The Daylesford Sunday Market is located at 18 Raglan Street (Midland Highway).
The Convent Gallery
It was around midday when we got to The Convent. There was a queue out the front for the cafe however we just wanted to check out the gallery. We walked up the steps past the queue of people and wandered through the many rooms and levels. The Convent Gallery has a wide range of artwork from local, national and international artists working in a variety of media and styles.
There were some narrow stairs with a hand carved wooden rail leading down to a basement level. The steps were not only narrow but were short as well ( makes it harder to navigate when you have big feet). The ceiling was also very low in the stairwell and in the basement. No windows and a very small room with old historical pieces made it feel uncomfortable. In contrast once we were up on the higher levels of the building there were some magnificent views through little windows down onto pretty gardens below.
Scenic Drive around the edge of Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens
The Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens are built on top of an extinct volcano known as Wombat Hill. Wombat hill can be seen from most locations in Daylesford.
The views when you drive up to the car park are very pretty. The Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens would be a great place to have a picnic.
Mill Markets
We were starting to get a bit tired by the time we got to Mill Markets. It was hot too. We had a general look around and probably would have spent a lot longer looking at all the stuff if were were not so tired, hot, and getting a little hungry.
Heaps of antique stalls with a variety of goods including vintage clothes, vintage furniture, collectables, antiques, memorabilia, home decor, fine china, art, glass, coins, jewelry, and books.
Lunch at Daylesford Bakery
We drove back to the main street in Daylesford and parked the car and ended up at the Daylesford Bakery for lunch. We shared a pie and a pasty for lunch and a chocolate milkshake. The chocolate milkshake was fantastic and a nice big generous serve.
Walking back to the car we dropped into the Chocolate shop and bought a little chocolate each. Dave tried a Chilli chocolate and I had a Pitachio nut chocolate. Expensive but very yummy!
One last stop was to checkout Lake Daylesford on the way home. Very pretty spot with lots of people walking and having picnics.
There is a restaurant on the lake called the boathouse. Open for breakfast and lunch. We will have to try it out on another visit to Daylesford.
Chillout Festival Music to our ears
Back at the campsite we collapsed into our camp chairs. We were exhausted!. The Chillout Festival was located in the park next to the caravan park. We could hear the music pumping loudly with all our favorite ABBA and Queen songs. We had a few hours just sitting in the shade, relaxing and singing along to the music.
Dinner at Daylesford hotel
We caught the Chillout bus into town from the caravan park. Sitting outside of the Hotel adjacent to the Daylesford Hotel we had an apple cider. As we sat there a lady came up to us and asked if we minded if she sat with us to have a smoke. It was fine with us to have someone new to talk to. Turned out to be a great person with an interesting life (transgender) story. After about 20 minutes of chatting she joined her friend and disappeared back into the pub.
A car not far from us stopped in the street and a gorgeous colorful creature hopped out. It was the queen of the parade we had seen earlier in the day. Her friend was taking photos of her. She disappeared into the Daylesford Hotel.
We shared a bottle of Hanging Rock wine at the Daylesford Hotel and a Chicken Schnitzel for dinner. We wandered out the back to the outdoor beer garden and dance floor and joined in conversation to anyone that wanted to talk to us. ( we were a bit out of place!) We met and chatted to the lovely Queen of Chillout ( not sure of her name) and managed to get a photo with her.
It was a really busy night and it was packed. We stayed long enough for both of us to be unsuccessfully picked up by party goers and decided we probably should move on….
We caught the bus back and had an early night.