There’s gangs of women trawling the streets in daylesford . Women rushing to relax as the hours tick by until they must return to the kids, the washing, the dog and a husband in need of cuddles. Daylesford is the go-to Victorian country town for relaxation. There’s natural springs with the massage centres bubbling up around them, the cute antique stores and the delicious restaurants all only an hour from melbourne.

Our book club group of ten women left 28 kids* at home and while we thought we’d have lots of sleep and come back refreshed, the reality was very different. We regressed to our childhood, giggling in our rooms until 2 in the morning. We drank far too much wine, had scones and pavlova for lunch before rolling to dinner and ordering nearly the entire menu. When the waiter offered to “put on a show” we thought all our Xmas’ had come at once!( the show never eventuated although we did drink a few cocktails while waiting for it. Smart move by the restaurant!)

We all went on an unannounced cleaning strike for two days. Our rented house looked like a bomb had hit it while we gossiped, laughed, spaa’d and discussed every aspect of life. To debrief like this is essential and nourishing for life. I’m a big advocate of my marriage being a solid unit that allows us both to go do our own thing. When my hubby says he wants to spend two weeks cycling around Belgium with mates, I say go for it! It’s not something i wanted to do but it wasn’t long before I went to Switzerland filming with getaway for two weeks. It all evens out.

The only problem with our girls weekend away was that we all came home exhausted, but there’s that unwritten rule that you can’t state how tired you are when you’ve been away gas bagging all weekend. Suck it up, sister.Next year, we’re thinking about the Yarra Valley. Somewhere close if we need to rush back, but somewhere far enough away that the screams can’t be heard- ours and the kids!

*the average number of kids per Aussie woman is 1.9 so clearly we’re not doing enough reading!