An Aussie Pub Crawl

Australians have, in my view, mastered the art of the corner pub.

In virtually every town across the country, you'll find corners punctuated with a grand architectural statement.

Some towns are blessed with multiple pubs and almost to the last, they're grand and ornate.

The Provincial Hotel above, is a beauty I photographed in the old old gold mining town of Ballarat - a city blessed with superb architecture - much of it built during the wealthy gold mining era.

In Kyneton, a small town about 90 minutes north of Melbourne just off the Calder Highway, I spotted these two beauties from a later period. Top is the Newmarket Hotel and the bottom image is the Shamrock Hotel, both in the main street of town, a few steps apart.

Back in Ballarat, I stepped inside The Grand Hotel, lured in my its etched glass windows that reflect back the other side of the historic street.

And also in Ballarat, The George Hotel, a stately beauty with elaborate verandahs.

Bendigo, another city with a wealth of hefty and ornate architecture from the gold mining era, delivered this corner beauty near the Arts Quarter.

And this old treasure clings to a backstreet corner in Kyneton.

Little Trentham - half way between Woodend and Daylesford, about an hour north of Melbourne, is home to the old Cosmopolitan (above), which still operates a popular restaurant and beer garden; and the sturdy bulk of an old main street hotel (upper image), which has long-since ceased operation as a pub and is now an antique shop filled with terrific furniture and a quirky selection of taxidermy animals and an old ride-on Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.

I've written about Australian pubs on this blog before. Just click on The Australian Crawl and Aussie Pubs in the label line below if you'd like to see more.

When Coffee is Your Life

I enjoyed these coffee graphics at Twigs Cafe in Trentham, Victoria (Australia) recently. They come courtesy of Grinders Giancarlo Coffee - a company established in Lygon Street, Melbourne in 1962, by two Italian coffee roasters, Giancarlo Giusti and Rino Benassi. They now operate out of a modern factory in Fairfield, Melbourne. Their beans are served in top cafes throughout Australia and they also back up their bean business with the supply of coffee-making equipment. www.grinderscoffee.com.au

Small Cafe Big on Style - Rural Victoria

Every year when I return to Melbourne and the many rural Victorian towns and cities that surround it, I like to return to my favourite cafe haunts. I also love to discover something new. As I passed through the little historic town of Trentham on my way to Daylesford, I noticed a new fashion/design store/cafe combo - TWIGS - had opened its doors on the main street. I felt bound to investigate.

Inside, the little slither of a store bulges with goodies - homemade produce from the Hepburn Spa and the Macedon Ranges regions, beautiful woollen garments, accessories, superb food and cookbooks and much more.

Everything about the place - right down to its very attractive website - oozes terrific presentation, so they won me over instantly. I like a business that goes that extra mile to create something original, attractive, creative and different; and nowhere is that more important than in the highly competitive cafe/restaurant trade, where (for this reviewer) 'average' is often generous terminology. Too many businesses seem to equate creativity with expense but in this case, what could be simple and less costly than playing around with twigs? It's a winner in my view and I'm very pleased I stopped long enough to indulge in their superb lemon tart. www.twigsonline.com.au