‘Daylesford is so achingly beautiful, and the vibrancy you get at each change of season is something miraculous.'

As the sun slowly sets, Alla Wolf-Tasker sits on her restaurant terrace overlooking Lake Daylesford with a glass of sparkling wine from the Macedon Ranges. This is her reward time, and a chance to ponder how everything went so right.

The restaurant and luxury hotel that Alla and husband Allan founded, Lake House, enjoys international acclaim. The town she loves, Daylesford, has grown from a relatively unknown small country village into a chic destination for wellbeing experiences, fine food and wine, and boutique retreats.

‘People often ask me, “Was this the dream?” but it far exceeds every dream I had,’ Alla says. ‘Not only have we grown and developed but the region has grown and developed around us.

I feel so proud and privileged to have been part of the process.’ Her original vision was to create the sort of quality rural restaurant that the Michelin Guides describe as ‘worthy of a journey’. Daylesford, the summer playground of her childhood, was chosen as the location. After 27 years of work, the reality now outstrips the dream and Lake House is a Victorian icon. That has to be worth a second glass of Macedon bubbles.

Favourite Day Trip
Spending a day doing 'cellar-door research' and visiting growers and suppliers in our region.

Favourite Object
A brass samovar from St Petersburg. It is the only family household thing my parents managed to bring from Russia.