Spend a day and stay the night - a visit to the colonial township of Chiltern is a must. Step back in time to a town untouched by the fast pace of today's living, a town full of history, presenting itself as it was in the gold rush days. You can spend days visiting the three National Trust properties, museums, enticing antiques, art and craft or bric-a-brac shops, where you will find many bargains.
Although no longer licensed, the Star Hotel is still set up with the original bar and taps, an authentic background to a rather more ordinary souvenir and craft shop. For $2 you can gain access to the back (Fri–Wed) to look at a monster vine: planted in 1867 and reputedly Australia’s largest, it once produced a single yield of over 6kg of grapes.
The 1866 Athenaeum (Sat & public holidays 10am–3pm; $2) is now a local history museum that features a collection of paintings by the obsessive local artist Alfred Eustace, who would use any available medium to paint on: paper, cardboard, even large gum leaves. Dows Pharmacy Museum, also on Conness Street (daily 10am–5pm; $2), has an extensive collection of old pharmaceutical equipment.
Chiltern’s most interesting attraction, however, is Lake View (Sat, Sun & daily in school holidays 10am–noon & 1–4pm; $2), on the shores of Lake Anderson, near the train station. It was built in 1870 and was, for a short period, the home of the writer Ethel Florence Lindesay (1870–1946) who, under the pseudonym of Henry Handel Richardson, immortalized the house in the novel Ultima Thule, the last book in the trilogy The Fortunes of Richard Mahoney. For refreshment, stop in at the Mulberry Tree Restaurant and Tearooms on Conness Street.