Musk - 5th July 2014

On the second day of our long weekend in Daylesford I decided to head out to the tiny town of Musk and do a short walk out there. The main reason for deciding on this walk was that it was quite short and the weather was quite bad, less time in the wind and rain would mean more time in the afternoon drinking coffee and checking out some galleries.

The start of the walk in Musk.

A short drive from Daylesford and I was parking on the grassy verge on the side of Rodonis Road in Musk. The walk was going to be entirely on country roads so I wasn't really concerned about any navigational issues in the misty conditions. Firstly I made my way down a quiet country lane, until I found a spot to cross over the tourist railway that runs from Daylesford, from the railway crossing I headed down to walk along Daylesford - Trentham. The 1.5 kilometres along the main road was the least enjoyable aspect of the walk, however it wasn't long and I was soon turning onto a quieter side road, Cantillons Road.

Making my way down a quiet lane in Musk.

Daylesford Trentham Road wasn't so quiet, but at least I wasn't on it for long.

Crossing over the Daylesford tourist railway line.

I followed Cantillons Road gently up hill in the rain for around 15 minutes, at one point passing a orchard with a carpet of rust coloured leaves on the ground. Turning right onto Barhams Road I climbed up over the shoulder of Dolpins Hill, we're not talking massive hills though, more like an easy ramble climbing around 50 metres. From the crest there are reputed to be great views out over the Wombat State Forest but all I could see was cloud and rain.

An orchard beside Cantillons Road.

My undulating journey along Barhams Road.

Eventually I turned right into Wheeler Hill Road and started heading back in the general direction of my car. Almost as soon as I started along Wheelers Hill Road I came to the memorial cairn for the Lost Children. The cairn is an historic monument to three small children that wandered away from Daylesford in June 1867 and perished very near this spot. A minute or so later I bumped into a lady looking after her stock in the rain, it turns out the this lady maintains the cairn, she has also contributed the story on the link. After a long chat with her I headed off into the deteriorating weather, I can only imagine what those poor kids went through 150 years ago, I certainly wouldn't want to be out here without the best gear.

The Lost Children monument.

The rain was now officially 'pissing down' as I trudged down the quite road, but at least I was relatively warm and dry. Coming to Coopers Lane I turned right again, heading back to Rodonis Road to complete the circuit. The weather now did what its infamous for in Victoria in that it change completely, I actually finished my walk under patches of blue sky.

It's now officially 'pissing down'.

Heading down Wheelers Hill Road, dreaming of a warm fire.

Heading back to pick up Sam, we spent an enjoyable afternoon in Daylesford checking out the Convent Gallery, and then enjoying a late lunch in town. Daylesford has certainly come along in leaps and bounds in the last twenty years, there's no shortage of places to help you spend your money.

Wheeler Hill.

Looks like its about to come down again.

The Dirt.
For the walk I used the notes out of 60 Walks in Central Victoria's Gold Fields and Spa Country (that really rolls of the tongue!) by Tyrone Thomas, I think the book has been out of print for a long time so good luck trying to find a copy. I walked around seven kilomteres and climbed around 200 metres on this walk. If, on the off chance my inspirational prose has tempted anyone to do this walk and they want a few more details feel free to email me and I'll help you out.
The Convent Gallery was $5 each to get in and I was fairly under-whelmed, there are a lot of small rooms but not a lot of art. But then again, as an art critic I make a great bushwalker! As for eating and drinking in Daylesford you can't really go wrong, there's plenty of variety so there's something for everyone.
We stayed at a place called Red Earth Clay and we were a bit disappointed, for a price north of $300 per night I expect better than broken Spotlight blinds, leaking shower, 1 fire lighter for 3 nights, and a broken remote ( yeah I know, first world problems, buts its my blog ).

Red Earth Clay Cottage, Daylesford.