Goldfields Track walk
A guided pack free 3 day walk
The wonderful Goldfields Track, in Victoria, is a 210km walking trail linking the great goldfield towns of Ballarat and Bendigo. Originally known as the Great Dividing Trail, it follows pretty creeks, gullies and ridges of the Great Divide from the wet temperate forests at Daylesford to the dry northern plains. On this 3 day walking holiday we will explore the highlights of these trail crossing rivers lined with ferns and discovering deep gullies covered with mine shafts as well as stone ruins and the relics of the gold rush 150 years ago. Along the way encounter an array of nectar feeding honeyeaters as well as colourful parrots. Add to this our afternoons and evenings in the spa country towns of Daylesford and Hepburn Spa, local produce and wines and you have the perfect walking experience.
A Pack Free Walking Tour
Walk with as little as your water and lunch
Pack Free walk is our speciality. All across our Australia, our walking tours are specially designed so you can walk with as little as your water bottle, camera and lunch, whilst we take care of your clothes and overnight luggage. Gone is the burden of struggling with a heavy pack so you can truly appreciate the beauty of the landscapes you are walking through.
Peppers Mineral Springs Hotel
2 nights of luxury
Our guests will indulge in two nights at the elegant 5 star Peppers Mineral Springs Hotel, this grand 1930’s retreat blends heritage architecture with stylish and contemporary interiors. Located in Hepburn Springs, outside Daylesford this grand residence features award-winning Mineral Spa plunge pools. Guest will relax in elegant hotel rooms decorated in rich, warm tones with king or twin beds and ensuite.
Flexible Stay
Downgrade your hotel and save $
For those who aren’t concerned about staying in luxury accommodation and would rather save money, we offer the choice to downgrade to a standard motel room nearby. Rooms are based on twin share with Queen or twin beds and ensuite (or solo travellers can pay a single supplement). You will still enjoy all meals with the rest of the guests for breakfasts and dinners but stay each night at your alternative accommodation.
Indulge in local produce and wines
of the region
On one night we dine in the stylish and award-winning Chefs Hatted Argus Dining Room. The cuisine is based on innovative modern Australian dishes with an emphasis on regional produce with an Italian inspired theme. The ingredients used are grown in the Argus Kitchen Garden and a nearby farm ‘Vale Hill’. Whilst the wines are sourced from local boutique wineries. Whilst on night two we dine at a local restaurant in nearby Daylesford.
Personalised Tours
A maximum of 12 guests
Our tours are designed to be personal and intimate with a maximum group size of 12 people.
Our CEO guides
Chief Experience Officers 100% Victorians
Our guides are proudly 100% Victorian. We call them our CEOs – Chief Experience Officers and it’s their job to ensure your tour exceeds your expectations. Our guides have grown up walking the trails of Victoria. Their wealth of knowledge and expertise ensure your tour is relaxing, fun and informative.
21 Tourism Awards of Excellence
including Australia's best Adventure Tourism Company
Life’s an Adventure have won 21 Tourism Awards of Excellence including the Qantas Australian Tourism Award for Australia’s Best Adventure Company. Awards are great, but our biggest accolade which we value even more, is that our clients come back and travel with us time and time again.
Genuinely all-inclusive
Nothing more to pay
You can have peace of mind that our walking tours are genuinely all-inclusive. Evening meals which are accompanied by boutique wines, 5-star accommodation is all included in your tour price. Everything down to the smallest detail has been taken care of, we won’t even ask you to pay additional credit card fees when you book.
NEW Flexiwalk Add-On
Cancel for any reason option
FlexiWalk is a new optional Add-On that allows passengers to cancel their tour last minute and not be penalised. Exclusively designed by Life’s An Adventure, this product gives our guests certainty in a time of uncertainty. Click here to find out more details
To find out more click on any of the below links:
Why Choose Us
Tour Itinerary
Your 3 day walking holiday includes:
- A Pack Free fully supported walk – with no overnight packs to carry
- 2 nights at the Peppers Mineral Spa Hotel with a touch of luxury
- 3 delicious lunches to enjoy whilst walking
- Superb a la carte dining at the award-winning Argus Restaurant
- Boutique local wines served with all dinners
- 2 x Hot and Cold breakfasts
- Fresh fruit and trail mix to enjoy while walking
- Professionally guided by local guides – Our guides are locals who are passionate, well trained and enthusiastic with the ability to bring to life a depth of information
- Transfers to and from Melbourne CBD
- NO Credit Card Fees
SUGGESTED PRE NIGHT ACCOMMODATION: Grand Chancellor Melbourne
DEPARTURE TIME: 7.30am
TRAIL NOTES: 13km. 6 hours with breaks. Easy/Medium grade.
TERRAIN: A combination of formal path, roads, compacted gravel and narrow walking trails which can be rocky underfoot. Some stairs. The trail is undulating. There is a creek crossing that uses large, flat blocks.
WALK ITINERARY: Meet your guide at 7.30am at The Grand Chancellor Hotel Melbourne for transfers to Daylesford. Entering the elegant heritage of Daylesfords Main Street gives a taste of what is to come on this fabulous journey through the heart of the Victorian Goldfields. During today’s walk, we meander past Lake Daylesford before stumbling upon the first of many mineral springs dotted along the Goldfields Track. We wander along with the quiet beauty of Sailors Creek for most of the day, utilizing old water races. At the end of today’s walk, we will adjourn to the impressive Peppers Mineral Springs Hotel at Hepburn. Tonight enjoy a superb dinner in the award-winning Argus Restaurant featuring local boutique wines.
TRAIL NOTES: 16.9kms. 6 hours. Grade: Easy- Medium.
TERRAIN: Mostly gentle undulations with some short, steep sections; compact surfaces shifting between uneven/rocky to gravel back-roads/4WD tracks.
WALK ITINERARY: After a hearty breakfast, we depart our hotel for a walk through well-worked gold country, looking out from Jackson’s Lookout and taking in the canyon-like landscape of Beehive Gully. The harsh conditions for pioneering miners seeking their fortune become apparent. But then suddenly we emerge to find the modern brilliance of The Chocolate Mill founded in a straw bale complex that allows us time to sample fine Belgian chocolate and their very special hot chocolate drinks. We break the journey here to head into the forest further along pock-marked stream sides where diggings and shafts collide and the intensity of effort is demonstrated. Finally, we gain a well-deserved break at the heritage picnic ground of Vaughan Springs where the old weir across the Loddon River invites a swim. Tonight enjoy a superb dinner in a local restaurant in Daylesford featuring local wines.
TRAIL NOTES: 12kms 5 hours walking with breaks. Grade: Easy to Medium.
TERRAIN: Varying from flat to mostly gentle undulations on compact surfaces shifting between narrow walking tracks to gravel back-roads/4WD tracks.
WALK ITINERARY: Enjoy breakfast in the restaurant before farewelling our hotel. On our final day, we commence from the once vibrant gold settlement of Fryerstown. Many fine old buildings remain in the gold rush town that once populated 15,000 residents. Soon we pass the tailings and workings of the massive Spring Gully Mines which continued to operate through to the 1930s. As you walk through the gullies and landscapes it will feel like you are wandering through an open-air museum of old mining relics in an abandoned landscape fading back into the bush. It’s not long now before we saunter into Chewton before the short drive to Castlemaine to complete our walk of the highlights of gold country in Victoria. Afterwards, we transfer head back to Melbourne at the end of a wonderful journey.
FINISH TIME: 5.30pm in the Melbourne CBD.
Tour Availability
We run this tour a few times per year during the months September to April. Dates are listed below however availability changes by the hour – to see real-time availability click on the monthly calendar at the bottom of the page and select the month you require. We will also consider opening up a new departure date if we have enough demand. Email us at walks@lifesanadventure.com.au
SPECIALS
Check below to see if your preferred departure has a special saving. Conditions apply see pricing page.
PRIVATE GROUPS:
Date of your choice is available for groups of 10 -12 people. Subject to availability.
Please contact us for more details on (02) 9975 4553 or email: walks@lifesanadventure.com.au
| Departure Dates | Availability | Specials / Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 5 March 2021 | Available | Super Earlybirds Savings |
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Tour Prices
|
FIRST TIME TRAVELLER SUPER EARLYBIRD
$
1599
/p
or $1399 staying at Hepburn Springs Motel |
|
DEPARTURES TOUR STAYING AT PEPPERS MINERAL SPA HOTEL Super Earlybird Price*……… $1599 _______________________ TOUR STAYING AT HEPBURN SPRINGS MOTEL Super Earlybird Price*………. $1399 Super Earlybird savings available on all departures only when you pay in full by 20 December 2020. Normal Price requires deposit then final payment due 8 weeks prior to departure. |
|
PAST PASSENGER SUPER EARLYBIRD
$
1499
/p
or $1299 staying at Hepburn Springs Motel |
|
DEPARTURES TOUR STAYING AT PEPPERS MINERAL SPA HOTEL __________________ TOUR STAYING AT HEPBURN SPRINGS MOTEL Super Earlybird Price*………. $1299 These prices are for clients that have travelled with us before. To book these prices online please emails us for your special code. Super Earlybird savings available on all departures only when you pay in full by 20 December 2020. Normal Price requires deposit then final payment due 8 weeks prior to departure. |
|
Private Group
$
1499
/p
Your own Private Group of 10-12 guests |
|
PRIVATE GROUPS DEPARTURES TOUR STAYING AT PEPPERS MINERAL SPA HOTEL TOUR STAYING AT HEPBURN SPRINGS MOTEL _______________________________ Additional Past Passenger discount not available for groups. Super Earlybird savings available on all departures only when you pay in full by 20 December 2020. Normal Price requires deposit then final payment due 8 weeks prior to departure. |
|
OPTIONAL
$
Xtras
/p
|
|
The following extras can be purchased with your tour: SOLO TRAVELLERS
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COVID Booking Guarantee
For terms and conditions on our special COVID-19 Booking Guarantee click here.
Discount Information
PAST PASSENGER DISCOUNT: Those who have travelled with Life’s An Adventure previously, receive a past passenger discount of $100. In order to receive this discount please email us for your special “promo code” to use when booking. In your email, you should outline what Life’s An Adventure tour you have done with us in the past so we can cross-check.
EARLYBIRD & SPOT SPECIALS CANCELLATIONS: Refunds and cancellations are not permitted for Earlybird Deals or Spot Specials, however, transfers to another date are permitted 8 weeks or more prior to departure. We advise taking out travel insurance, in case unexpected circumstances prior to the trip, prevent you from joining this tour. Early bird or Spot Special discounts cannot be used in conjunction with another offer. To receive these special discounts, full payment must be made at the time of initial booking.
Additional Information
- Prices are per person in Australian dollars and include GST
- A deposit of $300 per person is required to secure your booking. (unless taking advantage of Earlybird or Spot Specials in which full payment is required at time of booking).
- Note: If you are booking within 90 days of your departure date – we will require full payment at the time of booking
- Prices are based on twin share of rooms. If you are travelling solo you may be required to share with someone of the same gender. If this is not suitable you can request to pay a single supplement, however, limited single rooms are available per trip so are on a request basis.
- Payments must be made online via our NAB (National Australia Bank) secure payment page via credit card (Visa or Mastercard) or over the phone.
- NO Credit Card fee applies.
- We advise taking our Travel Insurance to cover items such as cancellation of tour due to minimum numbers not met, or adverse weather conditions, injury, evacuation, delayed flights, illness, etc.
Booking Terms and Conditions
Before you book please read our Booking Terms and Conditions. Click here.
To find out more click on any of the below links:
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