Trentham is a pretty town in the southern Australian state of Victoria. It is 97 kilometres north west of Melbourne. I visited on a cold, wet winter day.
There are some lovely old buildings in the town.
…and some interesting shops.
We had an excellent brunch at Red Beard.
We decided not to eat in the outdoor area, better left for a warmer day.
It was warm and cosy inside.
Red Beard has a Scotch oven that dates from around 1892. Scotch ovens are a traditional wood fired commercial baker’s oven. They were once the most common commercial ovens in Australia.
A Scotch oven has an arched ceiling, a fire box on one side of the main chamber and an oven on the opposite side. The oven’s shell comprises of layers of brick and sand. Red Beards’s oven weighs 75 tonnes and stores enough heat from one firing to bake 800 loaves.
The oven is a rare and remarkable remnant of baking history in Australia…and the bread is great.
We braved the cold and drizzle and visited nearby Trentham Falls, the highest single drop waterfall in Victoria. The falls on the Coliban River were created 5 million years ago when a nearby volcano erupted. The water falls over a columnar basalt cliff.
Even on a miserable day the Australian bush has its charms. I love the enormous eucalyptus trees.
The mossy branches reflect the winter season.
Wattle about to bloom heralds the coming spring.
The next day it snowed in Trentham.
Today in Brisbane we reached 30 degrees. Australia is a huge country with a vast range of temperatures…never boring.