Goldsmiths Retreat, VICTORIA
Airing Date: Nov 18th, 2002
Lakes Entrance is a well known boating playground, but its what lies behind the surrounding gum trees that provides holidaymakers with a new reason to visit. The local secret is Goldsmiths in the Forest, a cosy four bedroom bed and breakfast for friends and couples.
Guests can relax and read a book amongst the luscious fernery or join in a two hour food foraging trek. There are 25 hectares of land to explore, and the onsite dam provides some of the fresh dinner ingredients.
Goldsmiths hosts, Les and Darilyn, are a dynamic duo. While Les helps guests find food, Darilyn teaches them how to cook it. Both the gathering and the cooking of the food are part of the two day weekend cooking class.
Snapper is the specialty of the house in Darilyns cooking classes, where guests learn how to turn their catch into a delicious meal.
The first step is to stuff the fish with lemon myrtle leaves and then wrap it in paperbark to trap the flavour while steaming. Add some garlic roasted mushrooms to dress the snapper. With the main course under control, the next thing to prepare is the entre of yabbies found at the dam. The dessert menu features wattle seed ice-cream with wattle seed sugar bark and wild raspberries.
After dinner is the best time to head into the forest. After dark Les offers spotlighting tours to get up close to some of the local wildlife, like the brush tailed possums.
Another popular activity at Goldsmiths is cycling. Dotted around the area are left over tram lines from the days when this was big timber country. These make great cycling tracks to explore the beautiful bush surrounding the retreat.
The facts:
Weekends at Goldsmiths in the Forest cost $280 per person. This includes all meals and the cooking class. Bed and breakfast rates start from $140 per couple per night. Goldsmiths can also arrange bike hire from Riviera Cycles for $22 a day.
Goldsmiths in the Forest
Tel: 03 5155 2518
