It’s early morning and my husband is all smiles when he asks, will I go to Bendigo with him….he had a lunch meeting and said he thinks it would be a great opportunity for us to get some alone time …so sweet you say? What he actually meant was he didn’t want to drive alone for 4 hours in case he dozed off:)
Even though I knew this meant listening to his work calls for a total of 3.6 hours and another 20 minutes of silence while he pondered the problems that had arisen from the work calls, leaving us with 20 minutes of catch up, I said ‘Yes, I would love to play the supportive wife today’…in the meantime calculating just how far I would be behind in my own list of things after 6 hours off
So off we go, only after I status update my Facebook with my plans for the day. Within a minute my friend Himanshi from messages me…’You must see Debbie she is an amazing cook! I’ll get her to message you:)’ I have met with many of Himanshi’s friends, generally when they are presenting in places like Good Food and Wine and Taste Melbourne.
Yayy The day is going to work for me too after all xx
After passing by the gorgeous Macedon Ranges National Park and other scenic views we get to Bendigo, my husband jumps out and I am on a mission to find Debbie. A little out of town, by about 4 minutes drive, I find . I walk in to the simple deli and notice the food a vast contrast to what you would expect to be served in a deli just out of town. The food is very vibrant and looks very fresh and healthy.
Lasagne and Tart
Me and the Cook!
Debbies Deli
Debbie’s Mars Creation
Lasagne and Tart
I was greeted by the lovely Debbie and then popped over to the counter to order once she had returned to the kitchen. I ordered a vegetarian lasagne, purely because I had never seen lasagne this colourful, and a ricotta tart with caramelised onion (my pick of the day, sooo delicious), a coffee and 2 Mars Bar creations, which were almost like chocolate crackles with an entire Mars Bar melted into them, I couldn’t eat a whole one but my husband basically inhaled his on the trip home! Total $30.20 (enough for 2) A special note to the super friendly staff who were all lovely xx
Gorgeous Views Bridge Street
Bookstore on Bridge
Bookstore on Bridge
Bookstore on Bridge
Buildings in CBD
Builings in CBD
Soldiers Memorial
After this I went for a walk to explore Bendigo and what treasures it held. I found it was not what I had thought, a quiet, sleepy, way out of metro, town. I walked down Bridge Street first, it has an amazing bookshop you want to dive in to and a beautiful greenhouse opposite and then the main street was surrounded by large old heritage buildings and the gorgeous Rosalind Park. Walking further led me to a very tall Marilyn Monroe statue in honour of the (5th Mar-10th July). I turned up View Street and passed some amazing plates being served from places like Rocks restaurant and Basement Cafe, quite literally the cutest art gallery cafe I have ever seen.
Near Memorial
Marilyn Statue
Marilyn Statue
Laneway magic
Bendigo Art gallery
Basement Cafe at Gallery
Basement cafe at Gallery
Bendigo is now on my list for mini family holidays. After my Thursday in Bendigo I can’t wait to explore it further….
Enjoy xx
