Cactus Country - A Quick Day Trip Guide
So many of you guys were super impressed by this cactus garden we shared on Instagram the other week that I thought I'd put together a quick guide to visiting Cactus Country yourself! We visited Cactus Country a few weeks ago and absolutely loved the chilled out vibe and quirky Mexican theme they had going on here. It was a great afternoon of fun so if you and your friends are a bunch of plant lovers, jump into the car, save this post and make your way there.
LOCATION:
Cactus Country is located in Strathmerton, a small country town approximately 3 hours drive from Melbourne.
HOW TO GET THERE:
The drive to Cactus Country is a super straightforward but long one. If you're a local, it's easy to go by car - pack in some road trip tunes and a bunch of friends. Along the way, there are plenty of rest stops and service centres where you can fill up on petrol, grab something to eat and use the toilet. They're scattered all along the Hume Highway so definitely take advantage of them. There's not too much to see along the way there that we noticed so we didn't do any side stops or pack in any additional sights.
ENTRY:
Upon arrival, head into the reception area to buy your entry tickets. Entry to the garden costs $15 for adults.
THE GROUNDS:
Cactus Country is comprised of three main areas of interest. There's the beautiful cactus garden, the cactus shop and the adjoining cafe area. Make sure you visit all three! We headed to the cactus garden first to explore the beautiful plants. It's like walking into a desert in the middle of Victoria, it's quite funny to imagine three hours north of Melbourne would be home to this little slice of Mexico! The garden is split into a few sections. Each section has a different variety of cactus and some of the plants here are absolutely humungous like the one below! It's really fun to just explore the gardens - a lot of these plants you'll recognise and have seen before sold as house plants in pots so it's crazy to actually see how big they can get. You'll also get a little guide book of the garden where you can identify the different species of cacti as well. There's plenty of pic opportunities here, you'll definitely want a camera (or camera phone!) handy.
On your way out, do check out the cactus shop if you want to take home a plant souvenir. There's also a cafe which we quite loved. We tried the cactus ice-cream, cactus cake and bought some cactus pear jam to take home as well. It's one of those experiences you just don't want to miss - where else would you try cactus ice-cream right? A few of you guys asked me on Instagram DM what it tasted like so to let any curious souls out there know - it tasted the slightest bit like a sweet melon, but really it's a bit of a unique flavour that's quite hard to describe.
I hope you enjoyed this quick little summary of Cactus Country! For all you cactus lovers out there, definitely check it out the next time you're looking for a day out of Melbourne.
Outfits:
Ministry of Style Luna dress (also available in dusty pink, pastel blue and black/white here)