Postcards Summer Series: 14 February

Lorne
If you're looking for French Bed and Breakfast experience then Lorne's 'La Perouse' is a place to go. The property offers four suites in the main house or a separate cottage for complete privacy. Some of the rooms, which have period features, look out to the ocean. Imported French toiletries add a nice touch and theres also a café to stop enjoy a coffee. For another European experience head downtown and visit the hip and happening Spanish influenced restaurant Ba Ba Lu Bar where Suzie cooks up fabulous looking paella with restaurant owner Sasha. Ba Ba Lu Bar is open 7 days a week all year round for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a Paella and live music night on Sundays.

Ba Ba Lu Bar
6a Mountjoy Parade, Lorne
Ph 03 5289 1808
www.babalubar.com.au

La Perouse B&B
26A William Street, Lorne
Ph 0418 534 422
www.laperouselorne.com.au

Second hand shops
When looking for vintage furniture you want to find a piece thats unique. A favourite haunt for serious collectors is Retro Active in High Street Northcote. Stocking antique pieces from the fifties to the seventies theres plenty here for the astute buyer. The store has been around since most of us were kids and stocks an ever changing assortment of vintage collectibles. And when it comes to Melbourne its the fashionable suburb of Prahan, it is the grand daddy of all second hand shops. Chapel Street Bazaar is exactly that, a shop filled with bizarre bits and bobs that will evoke many childhood memories. From front to back, floor to ceiling it is choc full with weird and wonderful collector pieces.

Retro Active
307 High Street, Northcote
Ph 03 9489 4566
www.retroactive.net.au

Chapel Street Bazaar
217 Chapel Street, Prahran
Ph 03 9529 1727
www.chapelstreet.com.au

Tarra Bulga National Park
If there's one place that screams out quality camping and caravanning it's the beautiful Tarra Valley Tourist Park in Central Gippsland. One of its biggest attractions is the luscious bushland which completely surrounds the park. Also in the area is one of the state's national treasures: Victoria's fifth oldest National Park, Tarra Bulga, which recently celebrated its 100th birthday. At over 2000 hectares, the park is one of the last remnants of the great forests that once covered all of South Gippsland. There are five short walks you can choose from, ranging from 400 meters to 3 kilometres, all of which take in the spectacular mountain ash trees.

Tarra Bulga National Park
Parks Victoria
Ph 13 19 63
www.parkweb.vic.gov.au

Tarra Valley Tourist Park
1906 Tarra Valley Road, Tarra Valley
Ph 03 5186 1283
www.tarra-valley.com

Tilwinda Homestead
Tilwinda Homestead is an 1870s marvel that is sure to put a spring into your step. Nestled in the heart of the Goldfields country, on the edge of Kyneton, it is the perfect place to take a week-end jaunt. The homestead was once the hub of a sheep property for more than 120 years. You can choose to stay in one of the two spacious bedrooms in the house where you also get free range of the guest lounge, or if its total privacy youre after you can bunk down in the barn. The sounds of clicking shears are long gone and the damper and tea has been replaced with a hearty basket of country goodies. When it comes to morning tea time you can duck into Kyneton which is just minutes down the road and if you ask the locals where to find the best coffee in town youll probably end up at Café 101, a hidden gem off the tourist strip in Mollison Street. The coffee is the talk of the town and the yummy menu is well worth a look.

Tilwinda B&B
1793 Kyneton-Trentham Road, Kyneton
Ph 03 5422 2772
www.tilwinda.com

Café 101
101 Mollison Street, Kyneton
Ph 03 5422 1355

Allanvale Homestead B&B and Shearers Quarters Farmstay

Allanvale Homestead
Built back in 1921 by the Kilpatrick family, Allanvale Homestead was designed by legendary architect Harold Desbrowe Annear. It sits on a 5000 acre working sheep station and the first thing you notice when you step inside is that it has still retained much of its original charm. From the orchestral loft in the ball room to the classic carved wood panelling that lines the grand walls youll run into some history at every corner. With a kitchen, two bathrooms and four bedrooms to choose from within the homestead theres enough room for up to four couples. But if there are a few more of you and youre looking for something a little different, you can stay in the old shearers quarters which sleep up to 20 guests.

Corner Allanvale Road and Western Highway, Great Western
Ph 03 5356 2201