Bendigo is bringing the groove to their historic tramway.
If there’s one thing I’ve always said, it’s that trams should be 70 per cent groovier. Thankfully, Bendigo has taken me seriously and will be sending off a Groove Tram over twice a month.
The small Victorian town of Bendigo, just two hours by train from Melbourne, has already made a name for itself by combining its historic beauty (the town was established in 1851) with modern gastronomic delights, thanks to an incredible restaurant scene and delicious wineries to boot. But nothing exemplifies the old and new more than Bendigo’s historic tramway.
Get your groove thang on Ballarat’s iconic trams.
Stretching the full length of the town, the trams first started operating in 1890, in an on-again, off-again fashion. That old-world charm is maintained even today, thanks to Bendigo being the only place in Australia that left track, trams and a depot behind after closing its tramway system. Today, the tram system in Bendigo is not only a fun way to get around town (even though it’s a very walkable destination), but it’s Australasia’s largest tourist tramway, with over 40,000 visitors flocking to ride it annually.
So, all pretty cool, as is. But like I said – pump up the groove.
On select nights, tram punters can book one of two, adults-only, Groove Tram rides, which Bendigo Tramways itself describes as a way to “be transported to a world of pure entertainment, where live music, local brews and fine wine are all enjoyed against the picturesque backdrop of Bendigo’s rolling vistas". Heavenly.
Each night will have its very own groovy flavour, thanks to a rotating headline of Bendigo’s best musicians. Upcoming performers include David Turpie , Slide , Ally G and Caitie & Co .
Boogie on down.
The details
Price: $25 per person. Drinks and nibbles at bar prices. No BYO.
Duration: 1.5 hours
Times: The first Groove Tram pulls out from 5:30pm to 7:00pm, the second of the night from 8:00pm to 9:30pm.
Kassia Byrnes is the Native Content Editor for Australian Traveller and International Traveller. She's come a long way since writing in her diary about family trips to Grandma's. After graduating a BA of Communication from University of Technology Sydney, she has been writing about her travels (and more) professionally for over 10 years for titles like AWOL, News.com.au, Pedestrian.TV, Body + Soul and Punkee. She's addicted to travel but has a terrible sense of direction, so you can usually find her getting lost somewhere new around the world. Luckily, she loves to explore and have new adventures – whether that’s exploring the backstreets, bungee jumping off a bridge or hiking for days. You can follow her adventures on Instagram @probably_kassia.
Victoria’s ‘mussel capital’ is the source of exceptional shellfish used by top chefs far and wide. Step aboard a beautifully refurbished trawler to see how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.
A curtain is slowly winched from the placid, teal waters just off Portarlington , like a floating garland beside our boat. The ropes heave with blue mussels, the star attraction of our tour. But as we reach to pluck our own, it’s quickly clear they’re not alone; a mass of weird and wonderful creatures has colonised the ropes, turning them into a living tapestry. ‘Fairy’ oysters, jelly-like sea squirts, and tiny, wriggling skeleton shrimp all inhabit this underwater ecosystem.
We prize our bivalve bounty from the ropes, and minutes later the mussels arrive split on a platter. The plump orange morsels are served raw, ready to be spritzed with wedges of lemon and a lick of chilli as we gaze out over the bay. They’re briny, tender and faintly sweet. “This wasn’t originally part of the tour,” explains Connie Trathen, who doubles as the boat’s cook, deckhand and guide. “But a chef [who came onboard] wanted to taste the mussels raw first, and it’s now become one of the key features.”
A humble trawler turned Hamptons-style dreamboat
Inspecting the bounty. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)
It’s a crisp, calm winter’s day, and the sun is pouring down upon Valerie, a restored Huon pine workhorse that was first launched in January 1980. In a previous life she trawled the turbulent Bass Strait. These days she takes jaunts into Port Phillip Bay under the helm of Lance Wiffen, a fourth-generation Bellarine farmer, and the owner of Portarlington Mussel Tours . While Lance has been involved in the fishing industry for 30-plus years, the company’s tour boat only debuted in 2023.
See how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.
It took more than three years to transform the former shark trawler into a dreamy, Hamptons-esque vessel, with little expense spared. Think muted green suede banquettes, white-washed walls, Breton-striped bench cushions, hardwood tables, bouquets of homegrown dahlias, and woollen blankets sourced from Waverley Mills, Australia’s oldest working textile mill. It’s intimate, too, welcoming 12 guests at most. And yet there’s nothing pretentious about the experience – just warm, down-to-earth Aussie hospitality.
As we cruise out, we crack open a bottle of local bubbles and nibble on the most beautifully curated cheese platter, adorned with seashells and grey saltbush picked from the water’s edge that very morning. Australasian gannets soar overhead, and I’m told it’s not uncommon for guests to spot the odd seal, pod of dolphins, or even the occasional little penguin.
The sustainable secret behind Victoria’s best mussels
Blue mussels sourced just off Portarlington.
Connie and Lance both extol the virtues of mussels. They’re delicious. A lean source of protein and packed with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, iron, selenium, and zinc. They’re cooked in a flash (Connie steams our fresh harvest with cider and onion jam). And they’re also widely regarded as one of the most sustainable foods in the world.
Mussels served with lemon and chilli.
“Aquaculture is [often] seen as destructive, so a lot of our guests are really surprised about how environmentally friendly and sustainable our industry is,” Lance says. “[Our mussels] would filter 1.4 billion litres of water a day,” he adds, explaining how mussels remove excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the water. “And through biomineralisation, we lock carbon into mussel shells.”
Mussels are a sustainable food.
Despite their glowing list of accolades, these molluscs have long been seen as the oysters’ poorer cousins. “It was a really slow start,” explains Lance, who says that in the early days of his career, “you could not sell mussels in Victoria”.
But word has slowly caught on. Chefs as globally acclaimed as Attica’s Ben Shewry and even René Redzepi of Noma, Denmark, have travelled to these very waters just to try the shellfish at the source, sharing only the highest praise, and using Lance’s mussels in their restaurants.
Sampling the goods onboard. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)
According to Lance there’s one obvious reason why the cool depths of Portarlington outshine other locations for mussel farming. “The water quality is second to none,” he says, noting how other regions are frequently rocked by harvest closures due to poor water quality. “We grow, without a doubt, some of the best shellfish in the world.” And with Lance’s bold claims backed up by some of the industry’s greatest names, perhaps it won’t be much longer until more Aussies uncover the appeal of Portarlington’s mussels.
