For Christmas my parents gave me and my siblings vouchers to stay a night at the Royal Mail hotel in Dunkeld and have dinner at Wickens, the main restaurant there. In the middle of the year I contacted my siblings and partners to see if we could organise to go together and we were able to sort out a weekend to go (apart from my brother and his wife who were away). We all decided to add a night on and make it a long weekend.

G and I left Melbourne on Friday morning and arrived at the Mount Abrupt carpark at about 1 pm, to start our first hike of the weekend. The weather was a bit drizzly, but we hoped the cloud would part before we reached the top so we would have a view. The hike is 6.5K with 453m of elevation. It begins in the bush before cutting across a gully, before turning back towards the summit. There were numerous smaller peaks along the way. We kept thinking we were almost there and then would go over the crest and see the path winding up to the next high point that had been hidden away. The vegetation was quite throughout this walk, with wildflowers, many magnificent grass trees and a variety of gum trees. some areas were drier and others quite damps, with the vegetation towards the top, quite stunted, but very green due to the wind and the frequent cloud cover. The cloud did break up a little while we walked, but the summit remained cloaked in cloud, so our best views were just under the summit. Standing on the top we just looked down off the cliff into fluffy white cloud.

While on the hike we got a text from my sister that they had checked in and were doing a cellar tour. Meanwhile my other sister had gone straight to Halls Gap and done the 2K Venus baths loop walk. We all checked in had showers and met in the bar to catch up before dinner, partaking in a few signature cocktails and some wine. We were on a weekend package which included two nights accommodation with a dinner in each restaurants, so, at about 6:20pm we wandered into the Parker St Bistro for dinner. Dinner included in the package is a set, sharing menu. The food was fantastic. We all had a great time, although we did get shushed by a grumpy man at a neighbouring table.

Saturday morning G and I met one of my sisters and her hubbie for dinner at The Old Bakery. I had smashed avo which was great. Then we walked to one of the hotel’s kitchen garden for a tour. The main restaurant at the hotel sources all their produce, except for some stock veggies from their own gardens which are dotted around Dunkeld. The Bistro gets about 80% of their produce from the gardens too. The head chef Robin Wickens took us on the tour. I got some good tips for pest control and growing, plus we sampled some unusual herbs that they grow in the garden, and would feature in our meal later that evening.

We walked back to our hotel, picked up the car and some take away lunch from a cafe in town and drove to the Wonderland Carpark in Halls Gap for our afternoon hike. The Pinnacles is one of the most popular hikes in the Grampians. There are several routes but the best is the one we did, that includes the Grand Canyon and Silent Street. It is a 4km return hike with 282m of elevation. With plenty of photo stops and a lunch break it took 2 hrs.

We finished our hike just after 3 pm and drove back to Dunkeld for showers and a little lie down before heading to the bar for a pre-dinner drink in the garden. My youngest sister and her hubbie came and joined in. Just before 6 pm we headed over to the main restaurant, Wickens, for our 10-course dinner. The food was wonderful, but I was so full by the end. We rolled out of there just after 10 pm straight to our rooms, ready for bed after our strenuous day.

On Sunday G and I had planned to hike Mt Sturgeon, but the wind picked up overnight so we decided not to do the hike as it would possibly be a bit dangerous in the wind and pretty unpleasant up the top. G and I had a short walk around town, before meeting the others for breakfast. I had a big greens and mushrooms bowl which really hit the spot. Then we were on the road and back home to Melbourne.

I used to get shushed all the time when I was at uni. When was the last time you were shushed. When was your last fancy meal?