Though you could take the Western Freeway or the train directly to Ballarat, the route towards Bendigo , 150km northwest of Melbourne along the Calder Highway, is much more interesting. The railway to Bendigo, which continues to Swan Hill, follows the same route, calling at the main towns. At Diggers Rest, 22km from Melbourne, a short detour to the east will take you to tiny Organ Pipes National Park , so designated for its outstanding geological interest. The rock formations here are a series of basalt columns, formed by lava cooling in an ancient riverbed, and rising up to 20m above Jacksons Creek. The park (daily: April-Sept 8.30am-4.30pm; Oct-March 8.30am-6pm) can be explored along walking tracks and has picnic areas with tables. Back on the highway you'll come to Gisborne , 50km from Melbourne, developed as a coaching town for travellers on their way to the Bendigo and Castlemaine goldfields; it's dominated by Mount Macedon , an extinct thousand-metre volcano.

 

Fifteen kilometres or so from Gisborn, WOODEND is the jumping-off point for Hanging Rock , in a reserve 6km northeast (daily dawn-dusk; $7 per car). The rock became famous because of the eerie film Picnic at Hanging Rock , about a group of schoolgirls who mysteriously go missing here after a picnic - a story which many people falsely believed to be true, though the rock itself is not at all spooky. You can walk around the base or climb to the summit with its massive boulders and crags in around an hour. Encounters of a more freaky kind can be had at the Insectarium of Victoria (daily 10am-4pm; $8), a gruesome collection of oversized cockroaches, spiders, giant snails and other scuttly beasts situated on the Calder Highway at the southern end of town.

Fifteen kilometres from Woodend, KYNETON seems like just another boring country town as you pass through on the highway, where the tourist information office (daily 9am-5pm; tel 03/5422 6110) is located. The town is notable, however, for Piper Street , a picturesque historic strip lined with several fine bluestone buildings, including the Kyneton Museum , a two-storey 1855 bank full of local artefacts, and several period outbuildings (call 03/5422 1228 for hours, which vary: usually Wed, Sat, Sun & public holidays; $3). There's also a winery on Piper Street (Sat & Sun 10am-6pm; tel 03/5422 7444, www.vincorp.com.au ), two old flour mills at either end of town and the expansive Botanic Gardens above the Campaspe River. For accommodation , the Kyneton Country House , at 66 Jennings St (tel 03/5422 3556; B&B $115 and upwards), is a wonderful weekend hideaway in a restored National Trust mansion surrounded by a beautiful cottage garden; it has a good reputation for its traditional cooking. Some other fine restaurants are located on Piper Street, the best of which is probably Gonellas (lunch Fri-Sun, dinner Wed-Sun; tel 03/5422 2022), an Italian-owned eaterie serving Sunday breakfasts and great Tuscan cuisine from 6.30pm. Kyneton Provender at no. 30 is a lovely old bookshop with a café that serves cakes and coffee.