Country report

            I went to the country on a lovely sunny weekend where there was no rain whatsoever and some really lovely sunset. I visited Kilmore and Wallan. Kilmore is about 50 mins from Melbourne by train. You can also drive there from Melbourne using the Hume Highway.  The station is Kilmore East (Vline trains). You would need a car to get from the station to the town. There are no rental places in Kilmore; the nearest one is in Seymour. But you can rent cars online here Here you just need to select your car and your pick up location and pay by credit card. Taxis are not cheap out here and they are very few in between.  There is one bus, but that too doesn’t run often. I went there by train and stayed at a friend’s place. My friend owns a car. The ticket costed me around $11.60 (includes zone 1 and 2 and the return trip to Melbourne). You can either book online or you can pay at Southern Cross station. I booked a few days ahead, because it can get very busy during Easter. I stayed in Kilmore for one night in my friend’s place.

The nights in autumn and in winter are colder than in Melbourne. The night that I was there it was only 9C. In winter though, it can get down to about -5C at night and about 10C-15C.  During the day it was warmer: 21C-23C. Like Melbourne, it too can be very hot in summer. One year, they had a few bushfires happening.

It is very orderly here in Kilmore. The people here are generally pretty friendly, just don’t get into any trouble and people will be willing to help you out. It has a community vibe in the town. People love walking their dogs here in town. People also love to keep a garden at their houses and houses are generally a bit old fashioned. At night there are no hoon drivers and it is generally safe at night. Most shops in Kilmore open at 9am and finish at 5:30pm (Monday to Friday). They don’t open on Sunday and on Saturday they open from 9am-1pm.

I got to experience the Irish pub in Kilmore and really loved it. Apparently I heard that they do really good Guinness but I don’t drink so I just had water and a Mediterranean pizza infused with lots of cheese ($12.50). I could have gone for a main ($17), but I wasn’t particularly hungry. However we did share garlic bread ($4.50). The nightlife here is great; there are a few restaurants around here. There is an Indian, Chinese, European, hotels and another pub here. There are two bakeries in Kilmore.

            There is also a park in Kilmore and not many shops in Kilmore. The park here is quite lovely and child friendly. There were heaps of old ladies and families at the park, some were walking their dogs. They however do have a Coles, butchers, newsagent, cafes, nursery, video hire and computer shop. There are no cinemas here; the closest one is in Epping. The closest bowling place and games arcade is in Melbourne. There are quite a few shops in Wallan and Seymour though. If you need to post something the closest place is in Wallan. The petrol station is on the Hume Highway between Wandong and Wallan. There is a McDonalds in the same place. There are a few schools in Kilmore.

There are a lot of houses here and land for sale here in Kilmore and Wallan.

There is only one motel in Kilmore that you can rent a room for $70 per night.

Outside of Kilmore near Wallan, there is a tram museum and a Pure Indulgence place, but we didn’t have time to check those out.

For the weekend you need to budget around $150 cash (without a car or $250 with a rented car for fuel and rent costs) for meals, travel, entertainment and attractions (if staying with friends and family) or $350 if staying in a motel, caravan park etc. There are a limited number of banks and atms in Wallan and Kilmore, so it does help to bring lots of cash. Also some of the places don’t accept  ATM cards.

Apart from clothes and shoes (and maybe toys for the kids), you don’t need to bring much else. You only just need small samples of bath and body stuff and some food stuffs, the rest you can buy here in Kilmore.