From the Bay to the Ranges: The Lancefield Market Cruise

TOCA members who came on the Silo Art cruise earlier this year were blown away by the fare at one of our all too brief stops at the Lancefield Market, about 70 minutes from the Melbourne CBD. This time, our cruise will end at the market so you can spend as much time as you like exploring all it has to offer. This includes fresh produce, regen farmed meats, award winning cheeses & other dairy items such as butter, cream & yoghurt, truly free-range eggs, breads, pasta, cakes & pastries, preserves, beverages including Macedon & Bendigo region wines, Lancefield beers, cordials & mocktails.

There's also an excellent selection of plants, live poultry & stockfeed are also on offer. The market is host to 85 producers & has seated areas at each end of the market for lunching on some of the delicious market fare featuring the food of many cultures; Sri Lankan, Turkish, Greek, Spanish & Italian. Eat at the marquees at the east end or a picnic rug at the west end. Locally roasted coffee, tea blends, mocktails, gelati & more. Music from locals, and Dogs are welcome and there's free face-painting for the kids.

1. We'll start our day out west at the Altona Meadows shopping centre (leave M1 at Newland Street) where Tesla has just installed and commissioned six V4 Superchargers. Breakfast will start at 8am at the Jolly Miller cafe, one of about 12 in a successful chain offering inside and outside eating, include vegan options.

2. LEG 1: After a short pre-briefing at the new Superchargers, we'll start our cruise around 9am, kicking off via Point Cook Road, then gliding through the Werribee South farming belt, where fertile plains irrigated by the Werribee River supply over half of Melbourne’s leafy vegetables.

We'll pass signs to the RAAF Museum, Werribee Mansion, and Point Cook Coastal Park, reminding us how tightly entwined this landscape is with Victoria’s aviation and agricultural heritage. 

¿ Stop: Wyndham Cache Café

Located on K Road, this rustic-meets-modern café and produce store offers fresh local fare, clean toilets, plenty of parking, and a fenced dog area. A great place to fuel up—both humans and EVs!

LEG 2: Wyndham Vale to Eynesbury – A New Township with Deep Roots

From suburban traffic lights to rural serenity, this leg meanders through Manor Lakes and Wyndham Vale, reassembling at Eynesbury Homestead—a township with heritage charm and modern ambition.

Nestled beside a world-class golf course and surrounded by a grey box forest, Eynesbury’s 19th-century homestead stands as a link to the area’s pastoral past. Today, the town combines master-planned housing, lifestyle café culture, and tranquil bushland. But the area is not without its controversies either!

Stop: Eynesbury Homestead (parking at north end of golf course car park)

This is a good spot for photos, coffee, and a peek into the region’s colonial-era history.

LEG 3: The Houdini Trail – Australia’s First Powered Flight

As we track north on quiet rural roads, we’ll follow the path of history toward Diggers Rest.

It was here, in 1910, that Harry Houdini, world-famous illusionist and escapologist, performed what’s officially recognised as Australia’s first controlled powered flight in a Voisin biplane, although some claim others were first!

Stop: Houdini Cairn Memorial (Holden Road)

A brief pause near the cairn commemorates this milestone in Australian aviation. The open paddocks are almost unchanged from Houdini’s flight over a century ago.

Stop: Diggers Rest Station Sculpture Park

Our next stop is Diggers Rest, with a 20-minute stretch to explore the aviation-themed sculpture, community garden, and rest facilities. This was named as a rest stop for miners on their way to the goldfields of Bendigo inthe 1850s, and is where Caroline Chisholm assisted the women and children who were part of the gold rush fever.

LEG 4: Diggers rest through Bulla to the Lancefield Farmers' Market

While the final leg takes us onward to Romsey and Lancefield via Bulla, it’s the drive itself that delights: narrow winding roads, elevated views across vineyards, bushland, and ridgelines, and the rural quiet of roads like Konagaderra and Wildwood.

This is cruising country at its best—no overtaking lanes, no urban sprawl—just open road, good company, and beautiful scenery. (subject to change due to weather and timing issues - a shorter route may be used).

This new route bypasses our original locations of Macedon and Hanging Rock, but they are easily accessible on your return to Melbourne. The Lancefield Market has abundant parking and a single Evie charger on High Street. If the weather is too inclement, you're welcome to join fellow TOCA members and head for lunch at the Lancefield Hotel or one of the other nearby eateries and bakeries.

This route may change on the day due to weather and unforeseen obstacles or necessary detours (lots of roadworks and level crossing removals happening). We should finish in Lancefield about 1145 - the market officially closes at 1pm. The anticipated distance travelled is 150km so all should be able to easily do the cruise without the need to recharge along the way (depending on your starting point). There are 50kW chargers as part of the Macedon Ranges shire plans in Woodend, Romsey, Kyneton  and Macedon. 

A few days before the cruise, turn by turn instructions and waystop information will be forwarded to registrants. Contact Les Posen (les@lesposen.com) with any questions.