The lastminute lovelies in VIC

Tell fellow Sydneysiders you’re off to Melbourne and talk quickly turns to the amazing shopping, world-class restaurants and fashionable peeps.

Mention that you’re also heading to Bendigo and you can see the same people glaze over with images of some country town they’ve once visited. Well, we’re here to set the record straight!

Armed with our woollen knits and leather boots (heeled of course), the lastminute lovelies head south to discover cultural Victoria.

Day 1: We arrive in Melbourne after a quick flight from Sydney and make our way to our super luxe hotel, the Sofitel Melbourne on Collins. Having inspected our pillow menu and eyed up the Roget & Gallet toiletries, we hot-foot it to Melbourne Museum to begin our cultural adventure.

Never to start on an empty stomach, we munch down a very yummy lunch of lamb and date tagine and almond cous cous plus a glass of local Sauv Blanc (midday is acceptable right?) at the Tcheft restaurant, conveniently located within the museum – yuuuum.

Appetite well and truly whetted, we head across to the Tutankhamun and the Golden Ages of the Pharaohs exhibition and spend the next hour marvelling at the cool archaeological discoveries. Reading about the mummification process, including brains being pulled out of peoples noses, we’re not only pleased we had lunch first, we’re also rather happy we don’t live in the time of King Tut! Man they did have some good jewellery in those days though (ahem).

Having expanded our minds enough for one day, we head back to the hotel. We doll ourselves up and head to the Regent Theatre where we’re seeing Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom of the Opera –eeeek we’re excited. It’s a dazzling performance filled with passion, stirring songs and one hot Phantom. Andrew Lloyd Webber himself was even in the audience, got to love a touch of star spotting.

Day 2: After a ginormous buffet breakfast (we seriously recommend trying the lot!), we make the two hour road trip north to Bendigo to escape the city and immerse ourselves in a rural cultural retreat. And oh how good it is to breathe in the country air!

Bendigo is probably best known as one of Australia’s biggest gold rush towns but did you know it was also the original home of Myer, Fernwood gyms and even the iconic Chiko Roll!

First stop – a spot of retail therapy on View Street to browse the antique and vintage stores. Not only are the wares very appealing but they’re VERY affordable (which is of course welcome news, albeit a little dangerous for our credit cards!) We end up chin wagging with some local artists and even go up to a working studio –tres cool.

Strolling across the road, we stop off at the Bendigo Art Gallery, an ultra modern gallery renowned for some serious pulling power in the art world. We chat to the curator about the upcoming exhibitions they’ve scored from the V&A London including The White Wedding Dress, which kicks off in August 2011.

Exploring 200 years of wedding fashion (what’s not to love), it will feature 60 famous dresses including Gwen Stefani’s and Lacroix creations (sigh!). It’s a massive coup for Bendigo as this will be the world premiere! Get booking those tickets ladies –they are timing the sessions it’s going to be so hot.

All the talk of fashion gets us in the mood for some pampering (it’s what us girls do best on weekends away right?) so we head to SpaEleven for a relaxing facial for two. The magazines and detox tea afterwards are almost as enjoyable as the facial itself.

We’re basically floating as we walk out the door and head over to check in at the gorgeous Hotel Shamrock. Established in 1854, it’s a bit of an icon in the area and even had a visit from Princess Di and Prince Charles back in the 1980’s so we think it’s just about good enough for us. They’ve recently opened a bar downstairs, appropriately called the Gold Dust Bar. As the story goes, back in the good ol’ gold rush days, at the bar at the end of the night, there was enough gold dust left on the floor to generate a nice little income! We had a scan but don’t think we’ll be running to the bank with any leftovers.

That night we’re treated to pre-dinner drinks at the Wine Bank on View, a really snug spot complete with log fires, private dining rooms and the most enormous collection of Victoria wines –HELLO- we could settle here for the night!

With dinner reservations booked for Bunja Thai, we reluctantly leave but the piping hot red curry makes up for it. It’s not too often you eat a Thai meal in an old bank building but a touch of history with a modern twist sums up exactly what Bendigo does best. Full (again!), a warm bed back at the Shamrock Hotel awaits.

Day 3: our last VIC moments, sob! We awake very reluctantly on our final day and head for breakfast at the Old Green Bean. A cool joint run by a super friendly crowd who make the yummiest sweetcorn fritters with avocado salsa. It’s a big call, we know, but we reckon this place is up there with one of the best brekkie joints we’ve seen and it wouldn’t be out of place in Sydney or Melbourne’s funkiest suburbs. Even better a cheeky vintage shop is attached to the café – woops may have bought a handbag at 9am. But $12!! It would be sinful not to.

We complete the morning browsing more shops but this time we’re focusing more on the food side of things. We pick up some local jam at Bendigo Wholefoods, inspect what’s on offer at The Epicurean Delicatessen (which runs pasta making cooking classes – gnocchi anyone?) and wander up the very cool (and dare we say, Melbourne like) Chancery Lane.

When we next return to Bendigo (and yes there will definitely be a next time) we plan to hit up the wineries. There’s 30 cellar doors in the region and from the standard of the local drops we’ve tasted during our stay, we’re definitely keen for more.

Maybe time for one last coffee before we hit the road –we are on country time? The barista man at the appropriately named Wholesome Bean, paints a beautiful lady in my skinny latte. Wow even the café dudes are super creative here.

Victoria sure knows how to show a girl a good time, combining Australia’s hottest exhibitions and world theatre productions with country retreats complete with crackling log fires and yummy local shiraz. Cue updating our Facebook status to tell everyone Victoria is officially where it’s at and there is more to it than just the wonders of Melbourne.

The lastminute lovelies Bendigo hot list:

Best brekkie – The Old Green Bean.It’s almost like you’re eating in the cosy lounge room of a good friend and it’s also a micro roaster so you can be assured the coffee is top notch.

Best drinking spot – The Wine Bank On View. Amazing array of wines (available at close to cellar door prices) plus tempting tapas menu.

Best shopping – The boutiques on View Street should definitely be on your hot list.

The lastminute lovelies xox