Fine dining on the Grampians' edge

Tramping beside the fertile vegie beds on a knife-crisp morning, I imagine – very briefly – having a go at growing things myself. Everything looks so vibrant and green with striking Mount Sturgeon, in the background, seeming to give its blessing to the neat rows of produce below.

It's a good way to walk off the indulgences of dinner the previous night at the Royal Mail Hotel, a gourmet beacon some 282 kilometres from Melbourne.

Our guide, Abbey MacGillivray, is one of the two female commis chefs in the kitchen who helped cook our dinner. Now she points out warrigal greens (used in a dory dish), savoy cabbage and artichokes (a devil to peel). Amazingly, the hotel sources almost 80 per cent of its produce from this garden patch.

These behind-the-scenes tours, a guided walk through the hotel's kitchen garden or a peak at the expansive cellar across the road, all help make a stay here a richer experience.

The Royal Mail Hotel has been on the gourmet trail for a long time, first with chef Dan Hunter in the kitchen and now – following a successful transition – with Robin Wickens at the helm. Still, for all the foodie focus, it's surprising how many still haven't heard of Dunkeld, a little town at the southern end of the Grampians.

Local Allan Myers, a barrister and entrepreneur, injected life back into the town (population fewer than 500) when he bought the Royal Mail 20 years ago.

There are several nice walks around town, a gentle one circling the arboretum or the longer Mount Sturgeon trails. In the late afternoon I set off on the river walk, a seven-kilometre round trip, towards Mount Sturgeon cottages. It's the perfect time to watch the kangaroos and wallabies that, in turn, seem to be watching me. For the more serious walkers, the Picaninny or Mount Abrupt national park treks reveal stirring views of the Grampians and the surrounding countryside.

Of course, Dunkeld has other attractions such as Roz Greenwood's old and rare books, Griffins Hill yoga retreat and the Dunkeld Old Bakery and café. But, if I'm honest, the highlight of my stay was eating my way through the chef's eight-course tasting menu with matched wines.