retreat to peace. Written by Liz Porter Published in The Age, Melbourne Liz Porter's spirits are refreshed by her Dandenongs experience. We had planned the ideal wind-down to finish the perfect Sunday in the Dandenongs. After spending the middle of the day walking through the cool ferns and eucalypts of Sherbrooke Forest to the Sherbrooke Falls, we'd wandered around the gloriously romantic Nicholas Gardens, once the gardens of the Burnham Beeches estate, with their man-made lake and waterfalls. After that, we'd eaten a late lunch in Sassafras and then taken the steep track down to Olinda Falls. Now we were going to hop into the spa bath at our B and B with a glass of wine and read the newspapers. This spa, you see, was something special. Not only was it a spa with a view over the three- hectare gardens that surround A Country House at Winstanley, on the outskirts of Olinda, but it was located in a bathroom with a history. The main building of A Country House was built in the '50s, as a nuns' retreat. From the '50s to the '70s, nuns came up here to relax, pray and rediscover their vocation. Accordingly, the building contained a chapel, complete with two gothic-arched stained-glass windows, decorated with the dove of peace and the lamb of God, and an adjoining vestments room. That chapel became the "chapel suite" - a large luxurious studio-bedroom, complete with open fire, and a large relaxation area, furnished with a couch, dining table and TV. The vestment room, now a large light-filled marble-tiled bathroom, housed our spa. So there we were. Ready for an hour or so of peace, with the late afternoon sun shining in and the laughter of kookaburras in the air. We filled the spa with hot but not-too-hot water, placed the wine glasses and newspapers within reach - and poured in some strawberry bubble bath. (Every second shop in the hills is selling body unguents, from lemon and lime "body custard" to mango-scented soap. It would have seemed churlish not to buy some.) But when we pressed the "start" button, the water did more than bubble. It foamed, it heaved, it rose up in great snow drifts of soap bubbles. First the wine glasses disappeared under a bubble wave. Then the newspapers. Then my partner. Finally, the garden view. In a few moments a great frothing carpet of soap bubbles had overflowed the spa and was advancing over the tiled bathroom floor in the direction of the smooth blue carpet of the bedroom. Where was the "off" button? That was the question. Somewhere under the vast foaming bubble clouds. But where? Increasingly desperate, we pressed every button we could reach. But we only succeeded in turning on more bubbling mechanisms. Finally, after some intense cursing, we found the "off" button - and the plug - used some towels to "sandbag" the entrance to the bedroom and herded the great bubble drifts back into the spa bath. We got very soapy but the carpet remained dry. Of course it was all my fault for being too generous with the bubble bath. Or had the bubble tsunami been created by the ghost of some long-departed holidaying nun, having a bit of fun at the expense of a couple of hedonistic holidaymakers (one of them a former altar boy) who had let a whole Sunday pass without a single thought of church-going? Either way, our lesson in the physics of bubble bath and spas was only one of the things we learnt during our weekend in the Dandenongs. Our main discovery - one made by everyone who bothers to spend a couple of nights in the hills - is that, to really enjoy what this area has to offer, you have to forget about your car, throw a bottle of water and a picnic lunch into a little backpack, and walk. If you stay in the car and drive the winding roads from Sassafras to Olinda and Kallista, you feel stuck in some strangely confused faux Tudor mini-universe, one part Hansel and Gretel to three parts Henry VIII. Olde English-style-loving locals run establishments like the Drunken Duck, the Snooty Fox (selling "English roasts") and Miss Marples Tea-room, while Olinda's The Cuckoo continues to fly the flag for Bavaria with its dirndl-aproned waitresses and lederhosen-clad thigh-slapping and yodelling floor show entertainers. Sure the ferns make the air smell cool and deliciously different when you stick your head out the car window, but there's got to be more to a Dandenongs trip than a drive to a Devonshire tea, followed by a bout of retail therapy buying local and imported crafts, specialty sweets, perfumed soaps, or antiques. You may be a mere hour's drive from home, but that doesn't mean you have to act like you're on a suburban shopping trip. All the walking tracks are in the area are signposted (and there's a wealth of information about them on the Parks Victoria website at http://www.parks.vic.gov.au/ On the Olinda Forest or Sherbrooke tracks - or so the picnic ground's Parks Victoria information boards promise - you might see sulphur-crested cockatoos, lyrebirds, long-nosed bandicoots, swamp skinks, or yellow-bellied gliders. The advantage of staying at A Country House is that you have to drive a little off the beaten track to find it. You take a turn off the Dandenong Tourist Road, driving under a shady canopy of chestnut trees on the winding Perrins Creek Road and on to Warwick Farm Road, where the properties are on large acreages and lyrebirds are occasionally seen taking a stroll. Next door, set in about nine hectares of garden, is the art deco mansion Dalcrombie, reputedly designed by the architect of Burnham Beeches. Whether you stay in the Country House's "chapel suite" or the "cottage suite", at the other end of the main building, the property's expansive gardens give you the feeling of already being in the bush. You wake to liquid bird song, and watch the birdlife from the terrace overlooking the garden. A hearty breakfast of muesli or cereal, fresh fruit, bacon and eggs and tea or coffee is served to you, at the hour you request - either in your room or on the terrace. And if you hang around long enough afterwards you'll probably encounter a wombat or a kangaroo. Just remember to keep the lid on the bubble bath. The Verdict: Luxurious, relaxing - but note the location of the spa "off" button. The place: A Country House at Winstanley, 13 Warwick Farm Road, Olinda VIC.