Milawa and Beechworth

Today we visited Milawa and Beechworth. I wrote about the Milawa Cheese Factory and Milawa Mustards in February 2005.

Not much has changed. They are still wonderful places to visit.

This time we also went to Walkabout Apiaries, where they offer honey tasting and sales.

Unfortunately we followed a bus load of elderly tourists into the cheese factory and mustard store, so it was nice to find ourselves alone at the honey farm.

The owner gave us a description and tasting of about six different honey varieties.

It was a revelation to me, having only eaten mass-produced supermarket honey before today.

It makes sense that honey will taste different depending on the pollen of the tree.

We bought 2.5kg of honey! The varieties are River Redgum, Orange Blossom and Chestnut.

The chestnut honey isn’t sweet.

We also bought some honeycomb. It’s claimed to be beneficial as an anti allergen.

I read a scientific report at work before going on holiday that honey has been proved as good for the digestive system. It produces “good” bacteria, apparently.

First stop in Beechworth was the Murray Breweries cordial factory.

The brewery (pictured) was built in 1865 at the height of the gold rush. The original owner was George Billson, hence the name on the building Billsons Brewery, however over the next 50 years it underwent a number of name changes until 1916 when the current name of Murray Breweries was established.

The site was chosen because a natural spring occurred there.

Beer production ceased during the 1920s due to the intervention of a temperance group, although stout continued to be made for another 30 years. It was at this time a soft drink and cordial factory was opened.

Today the “brewery” specialises in 19th century cordial mixers of long-forgotten flavors made to traditional recipes and methods.

The flavors we bought were Sarsaparilla, Portello, Lime and Coconut, and Lemon Lime and Bitter.

The site also includes a carriage museum. The 19th century hearse is worth a look.

Next stop was Beechworth Gold, which my wallet would like me to forget.

The Beechworth Sweet Company is a huge lolly shop and it was absolute mayhem inside with kids everywhere.

Maggie said afterwards she nearly got “trapped”. That must be every child’s nightmare, being locked in a lolly shop.

Beechworth is one of the few country towns to retain its historic facades. So many other places knocked them down as part of an ugly modernisation from the 1950s onwards.

The Beechworth Courthouse

Beechworth Post Office