Mark took me to Mildura for my birthday this year which was lovely. Neither of us had been there. For those of you unsure, it's in the far north-western part of Victoria on the Murray River, nearly 600 kms from Melbourne and usually very hot (in comparison to Melbourne). Whilst September 2008 has been the driest (read that virtually no rain) since records commenced over 150 yrs ago, we haven't necessarily had much warm / mild weather. It's been a nice month but cool & clear typically (hovering around 18 degrees).
So we weren't sure how to deal with 30 and 34 degrees weather when we arrived on Friday. We flew up in a propeller engined plane (Qantas Link) and yes we made it safely there and back. Obviously Mildura is quite popular as both flights were full. The service was amazing, about 30-mins out from arrival the flight attendant asked if anyone wanted a taxi to be ordered, to let them know and they'd book it to be there when we arrived! Brilliant!
After putting our bags away at The Grand Hotel http://www.qualityhotelmilduragrand.com.au/
we had a late lunch in town and walked around exploring the water, the town and found the local historical museum at Rio Vista which also featured a very interesting photgraphic exhibition about the culture of Aussie Rules Football across the last 40yrs.
That night we went to Stefano's for dinner (http://www.stefano.com.au/) and had a spectacular 5-course tasting menu designed by the chef (not sure that Stefano de Pieri was working that night unfortunately), allowing for my difficult food likes & dislikes. We got some wine suggestions that were lovely and felt very satisfied when we left 3 hours later!
Saturday was all about the Grand Final - Hawthorn beat Geelong in a surprise upset for Geelong, as they'd won all bar 2 matches in the 2007 and 2008 footy season. We went to the local pub and had sausage in bread with sauce for $1.50 (bargain) whilst Mark got a $2 half-time pot of the local brew!
Saturday itself was extremely hot, at least a dry heat and windy so we did go for a few walks, we didn't stray far. That night we went to The Spanish Bar & Grill, another in Stefano's food empire and had steak for dinner. Maybe we were spoilt by the night previous, but it wasn't a memorable food experience.
Sunday was our final day in Mildura and after packing up the bags we took a paddlesteamer along the Murray and had a great captain who gave all sorts of great information about the area. Mildura itself is famous for citrus fruit (especially oranges), stone fruit, grapes and asparagus.
Had we had more time, we would have explored a bit wider. There seems to be a lot to do in the nearby area as well with Wentworth (NSW town across the water), Trentham Estate Winery ( and several others), citrus farms and many other close regional attractions, it would help to have a car.
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