High Country’s hottest new stays linked by tasty cycling trail
My plan is foolproof: eat myself a second backside, then try to cycle it off on a day’s ride between two historic hotels — both built in 1862 — along the Murray to Mountains rail trail.
Riding the trail beween Beechworth and Bright.
The Benev spa hotel in Beechworth and the cycling-themed Bright Velo in Bright are 73 kilometres apart on the trail. The calorie burn, however, may be negated, as I’m doing it on an ebike, and then you have to add stops to picnic, sip coffee and wine, and snap rustic photos of rural idylls for a day’s cycling.
All the same, I’m taking this late January summer ride seriously, with a pre-cycle massage and carb loading. Formerly the Murray Ovens Benevolent Asylum, The Benev’s spa treatment rooms and four guest rooms are built sympathetically — and beautifully — into the original building. Ensconced in history, the luxury day spa supplies possibly the most thorough massage I’ve ever had, all products handmade by owner Deb Donkers.
That night, my cycling companion and I carb up with a Victorian striploin and mustard mash mountain in one of Beechworth’s oldest hotels. Like the route, Tanswells’ drinks list is also exclusively drawn from the High Country, from Beechworth’s Willem Kurt and his vermentino to Bright’s Reed & Co’s gins.
The night ends as The Benev recommends: submerged in the vast, stone tub at the foot of my bed, with a brace of fragranced oils, milk powder, salts and herbs on a tray, waiting to be added for a luscious soak.
Luxe freestanding tubs in rooms at the Benev, Beechworth.
For a full (well perfumed) day in the saddle, no matter how assisted I may be by the bike’s motor, I don my cycling knicks and a pair of padded cycling gloves to absorb the vibration from our sealed and unsealed trail. But with my step-through Merida ebike forcing me into a cycling posture that’s less Lance Armstrong, more Mary Poppins, a cycling jersey is just too MAML (Middle-Aged Men in Lycra), right?
My rail trail map slips into the plastic envelope on the handlebars, with distances, water stations and bathrooms marked. The map is also marked with wineries, breweries and distilleries en route. How civilised.
Fuelled by tea from my room’s well-stocked kitchenette, then coffee and an egg roll of epic proportions at Project Forty-Nine on Beechworth’s main drag, the first leg of the ride is definitely the best, and a favourite with locals.
Dropping 300 metres in elevation (“Easy down – Challenging up” warn the notes), the 15-kilometre downhill run to Everton is covered quickly in the cool morning. I clock a respectable coasting speed of 33km/h – not too slow as to require help from the bike, not too fast to miss anything. Koalas, kangaroos and monitor lizards are regularly spotted here, and a flock of crimson rosellas swoops around me for an Australian Snow-White moment.
From Everton station, the land dries out into classic Australian bushland, and I’m grateful for the stands of eucalypts that throw dappled shade onto the trail, as the sun climbs into the sky.
At this junction, it’s a short detour to Everton village, where the general store’s large sign proclaims it “Home of the world famous Everton Milkshake”. Vanillery, rich, and so thick the straw stands to attention, my milkshake lives up to its reputation.
“What’s the secret?” I ask owner Estelle McCormack.
“It’s made with love,” she replies, with a sarcastic grin. “Or spit.”
Back on the trail and refuelled by love and spit, the route flattens as we pass a monument to the English explorers Hume and Hovell on their 1824 trek from Lake George in NSW to Geelong in Victoria.
It’s at Bowman Station that I hit my nadir as an insistent headwind tries to blow me backwards to the Hume Highway. Pushing 25-plus kilos of bike up the gentle, constant incline, I’m missing my flyweight road bike. The rosellas of my Snow-White phase have been replaced by blowflies; this ebike ride is no picnic.
On the trail.
“Aaah, you didn’t hit the sweet spot,” the Bike Hire Company’s owner Nigel Walker says later, explaining the balance between the gears and cadence, which (apparently) lets you cruise along at a stately 25km/hr. Ebikes make up about 60 per cent of his business, and he expects to follow European trends and reach 80 per cent, as casual riders want to hit the trails without too much puff: currently, I am not the poster child of the ebike movement.
Blessed Gapsted! The vineyards of the family-owned winery finally appear after 36 kilometres, and we pull off the trail with glee. Inside, non-sweaty people are tasting wines at the bar or ordering lunch on the lawn. While my face fades from Barnaby Joyce to glowy pink, winemaker Toni Pla Bou shows off Gapsted’s exciting, unusual varietals, including a 2021 saparavi. It’s a rare surprise; I’d last tasted this deep, voluptuous red wine when hitchhiking through Georgian vineyards, just south of the Russian border.
My memories make the 8 kilometres into Myrtleford fly, and suddenly we’re in traffic on the main street. On the 30 kilometre leg from Myrtleford to Bright, our welcome companion is the Ovens River, running fast with snowmelt, which we’ll criss-cross over a series of little bridges.
Rusted-red tobacco kilns appear alongside the trail, while the granite faces of Mt Buffalo watch our toil as we pass the old Ovens and Eurobin stations, closed in 1983 after 107 years on the Bright railway line.
Ten kilometres from Bright, I can hear Feathertop Winery’s voice on the breeze. “Your cheese platter is waiting,” it whispers.
Legs and motor respond for one last push up Feathertop’s near vertiginous driveway, et voila! Cheese and winemaker Grace Douglas — brandishing a bottle of handpicked, hand-pressed 2022 prosecco — are waiting at the top of the hill. Chilled, with crisp apple notes, the prosecco is worth the ride and the perfect pick-me-up for the 10 kilometres roll through pretty Porepunkah and straight to Bright Velo.
Siamo arrivati! (We have arrived!) And Bright Velo co-owner Francisco Valles rewards we hardworking cyclists with aperol spritz, which appears in a snap of his fingers.
The cycling-themed Bright Velo hotel.Credit: Peter Bennetts
The beautifully renovated hotel has a chic cycling theme recalling the great moments of the European Grand Tours, a far cry from its days as the Empire Hotel, a drinking den of the gold-rush era. Leather sofas, vintage furniture and cycling posters in the five Heritage rooms throw back to the 1930s, but the double shower and Melbourne-made Hunter toiletries are pure modern luxuries for the stiffening cyclist.
Instead of eating at the hotel’s popular Empire Dining room below, we’re putting Brendon Chadwick, the new chef nearby of Elm Dining, through his paces. After a day in the saddle, it’s a relief to hand over all decision-making to the maitre d’, who offers the chef’s selection of nine small courses — so we can relax and revel in the perfect oyster with coconut lime and turmeric, the baby carrots served in a coffee “soil” and the vivid salmon roe with peas and mirin.
Our charming waiter also offers to do the drinks pairing: “We start with Taittinger.” Whoever said no? The next couple of hours are a delighted exploration of mostly local wines — champagne aside — and magnificent dishes in a restaurant that genuinely deserves to be hatted.
I’m not really a dessert fan, but I follow Feathertop winemaker Grace’s recommendation to hit the finishing line with Bright Velo’s amaretto sour. It is the perfect end to one of Victoria’s great day cycling routes.
You’d think, after a day spent eating, I’d skip breakfast, but at friendly Ginger Baker the next morning, I refuel with a classic breakfast of eggs, avocado and locally made sourdough, which is so good, I call for seconds — carbs be damned — and watch the dog walkers, cyclists, skateboarders and runners at this junction of rail trail routes.
The pelotons have already run their races, leaving the trails clear for the rest of us, whatever method of motion we choose.
THE DETAILS
Stay
The Benev, 9 Warner Street, Beechworth, from $480 per night. The Slow Down massage costs $260/90 mins. See thebenev.com.au
Bright Velo, 2 Ireland Street, Bright, from $250 a night (room only). See brightvelo.com.au
Eat
Tanswells Hotel, 50 Ford Street Beechworth. See tanswellshotel.com.au
Project Forty Nine, 46-48 Ford Street, Beechworth. See projectfortynine.com.au
Everton General Store, Everton
Gapstead Wines. See gapstedwines.com.au
Feathertop Winery. See instagram.com/feathertop_wine
Elm Dining, 98 Gavan Street, Bright. See elmdining.com.au
Ginger Baker, 127 Gavan Street, Bright. See gingerbakercafe.com.au
Drive
Beechworth is three hour’s drive from Melbourne, and four hours from Canberra.
Cycle
Ebikes cost $85/full-day hire. One-way collection costs from $40. 52 Ford St, Beechworth. See thebikehirecompany.com.au
Belinda Jackson travelled as a guest of Ride High Country. See ridehighcountry.com.au
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