Outdoor Hepburn at Hepburn

After having our two-day wedding in October, we chose to hold off going on our honeymoon straight after the wedding. We chose to do this for a couple of reasons, one was that we decided it was better, financially to wait for the next year to go. The main one, however, was that during the wedding preparations we just could not decide where we wanted to go. January came and it had been three months after our wedding! When we still could not decide where to go for our honeymoon, we came up with the idea that we should take a mini-honeymoon. So we decided to go to Daylesford for an overnight trip on the 29th January 2011.

We stayed at Hepburn at Hepburn. It is a fantastic place albeit quite isolated. We definitely enjoyed the quiet though. We had a little trouble finding it at first. But once we were there, we knew we would love this place!

Outdoor Hepburn at Hepburn Road trip

Outdoor Hepburn at Hepburn

This accommodation is made up of 14 stand-alone villas each named with special names like Desire, Dreaming, Envy and so on. We stayed at Villa No. 9 which is also known as Mystery.

No. 9 - Mystery

These villas are conveniently located near several places of interests, one of which is the Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa which is situated just opposite the villas. Even though we decided not to visit on this trip it is so close that you could easily make this part of your stay if you wanted.

Signage

Within each villa itself, there is so much luxury to enjoy. The first thing I did when we arrived was start snapping pictures of the amazing decor. The villa is decorated with clean and minimalistic glass and mirrors that made the space look more luxurious. Yes, the bathroom is encased within glass walls, but there is the option of closing it off with curtains. The tub itself is to die for!

Kitchen

Bathroom

Bedroom

Who can resist complimentary hamper of local produce?

Complimentary local produce

Complimentary local produce

Having a kitchen within the villa meant that we could cook our own romantic dinner. We brought our wedding champagne with us that was given to us by our wedding venue and which we hadn’t opened yet. It took us three months to find time to have a mini-honeymoon, so it was only fitting that we popped open our wedding champagne at the same time. We cooked our own pasta for dinner and for breakfast we had pancakes.

Champagne

Home made pasta Strawberry

Breakfast

The next day, we reluctantly left our gorgeous accommodation and ventured out around Daylesford itself. We went to The Convent Gallery. The Convent Gallery was a convent which was converted into four levels of art gallery. The gallery included contemporary artwork as well as historical items from way back when. The place itself included a chapel and is apparently a wedding venue too.

The Convent - Daylesford

The Convent signage

The Convent The convent gallery

We then went to Wombat Hill Botanical Garden. We took the scenic drive all the way up where the lookout is located and then walked around the gardens. It was a 40 degree day, so unfortunately, we did not stay for very long.

Wombat's Hill Lookout Walking along Lake Daylesford

Walking at Wombat's Hill

Even though we have visited Daylesford before, we had never been to Lake Daylesford. So this time, we made sure we went. We took a walk along the ‘Peace Mile’ which is a walking path that encircles the lake.

Lake Daylesford

Lake Daylesford

Even though this is not our real honeymoon, our mini honeymoon was great. We enjoyed the scenery and it was a fantastic way to spend time together after the wedding and real life. Of course, we are still planning for our real honeymoon and have even decided where we want to go! Of course I’ll be writing a post about it so stay tuned!

Photos by Jen and Tony

Ms Gingham says: “This might become the new fashion … a honeymoon rehearsal! I like the sound of that! Looking forward to reading about the real honeymoon. Thanks to Jen and Tony for sharing their story.”

Click here to read all about Jen and Tony’s wedding story.