OH! Magazine - Australian Version November 2015 | Page 28

( Where, Oh Where? )

EAT, STAY & RELAX
IN DUNKELD

Veronica Stanley discovers a rural delight in Dunkeld,
a tiny town situated at the southern end of the Grampions in Victoria.
’ve visited my fair share of
Australia, but when I got the call
to go to ‘Dunkeld’ I had to refer to my
atlas to clarify exactly where to set my
GPS.

I

It turns out that Dunkeld is located some
260km west of Melbourne (three hours
drive) and 90km (75 minutes drive) north
of the Great Ocean Road, at the southern
tip of the spectacular Grampians National
Park. For me in Adelaide, it’s a longer
hike (at around 520km), but the call of
an eight-course meal and an opportunity
for some serious time out is all the
convincing I needed to fill up the VW and
head for the hills!
The history of the Dunkeld township
began in the 1840s at Mt Sturgeon
Station. It was this site that was first
recognised as suitable grazing land and a
run of 112,000 acres was soon
established. It was then that the township
of Mt Sturgeon (later to be renamed
‘Dunkeld’ after the Scottish town of the
same name) was born.
In 1997, the Dunkeld Pastoral Co Pty Ltd
purchased Mt Sturgeon Station, including
the original homestead block. They
undertook extensive renovations of the
original homestead, shearers’ and
workers’ quarters and woolshed, and in
2005 the property was opened to guests
as part of the accommodation offerings
from the ‘Royal Mail Hotel’.
The original structure of the Mt Sturgeon
Homestead was built from local sandstone
and bluestone in the 1840s by the first
owner of the property, Dr Robert Martin.
Successive owners then added to the
homestead, first in the 1860s and again
in the 1880s. The homestead was

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NOVEMBER 2015 ( OH! MAGAZINE )

returned to its original grandeur in 1997
after an extensive renovation. The
Homestead also boasts manicured lawns
and gardens and guests are invited to
pick fruit from the orchard, which houses
some of the property’s original trees.
An alternative accommodation option is
the Mt Sturgeon Cottages. It was cool to
see these bluestone cottages, which were
originally the property’s original shearers’
quarters, cook house and single men’s
housing. They’ve now been fully restored,
as has the Mt Sturgeon Woolshed, which
is used nowadays for concerts and
weddings, as well as for its original
shearing purpose.
In the wee town of Dunkeld itself, you’ll
find just two cafés, a bakery, a gift shop,
a hardware store, bank, hotel with take
away food, an information centre, petrol
station and, of course, my home for the
next two nights: The Royal Mail Hotel.
The Royal Mail Hotel is located just three
kilometres from the base of Mt Sturgeon
and the Mt Sturgeon Station and is one of
Victoria’s premier regional escapes,
offering accommodation, wedding and
conferencing facilities.
Originally, the Royal Mail Hotel was
established in 1855 as a bluestone inn,
offering accommodation, stabling, a
reception room for concerts and meetings,
and at one time a farm supplies store. At
the time Dunkeld was a vital link to the
Western District for the Cobb & Co Royal
Mail Service – hence the name ‘Royal
Mail Hotel’.
In the 1990s, operational management
of the Royal Mail Hotel was taken over by
Dunkeld Pastoral Company Pty Ltd, who