Last weekend we headed up to Echuca for a mini break (as Bridget Jones would say – A mini break means true love!) for a bit of a getaway and R&R – and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. When Echuca was suggested, I was skeptical. Um, isn’t Echuca like, the real country?

I know I am quite the princess (you know it too) and so the search for accomodation that was up to my royal standards began. There would be no down and out motels with brown carpet and curtains for us!

Check out the Adelphi Apartments. These rooms are a little bit city with all the appeal of the country. Modern, but quiet. Sophisticated, but homely. In essence: my kind of place. We stayed in the Courtyard Suite, a one bedroom studio-esque room with a kitchenette and en suite, that had a private courtyard area. The apartments complex has a pool (which I didn’t know and failed to take bathers for) and you are minutes walking to the Murray, Main Street and the Campaspe River is right out the back gate.

The Shamrock Hotel is famous for its Parmas – all 250 varieties of them – and, lucky me, one of them is Gluten Free! I don’t think I’ve had a Parma in about ten years so this was quite the novelty. I will confess to having a frozen coke and soft serve ‘McFloat’ at the McDonalds as well. Only in Echuca!

We also visited the Millewa Spa Retreat for massages and I was suitably impressed with the facilities – you know, for the country. The spa is beautifully fitted out, our treatments were lovely and the staff – at all the venues we visited – all divine.

Our weather was perfect, there was plenty of reading by the pool (even if I did have to do it in my underwear!) and many a walk just cause. AND we went on a Paddle Steamer.

Apparently, that’s what you are meant to do in Echuca.

For more info on things to see and do in Echuca, visit www.echucamoama.com