Sequoia, Woodend

As anyone who's seen Wolf Creek will tell you, it's not safe to stray too far from an Australian city. Make no mistake. There are cities, and there's the outback. And in the outback you're a fair chance of being chopped into little pieces by a crazy psycho serial killer. So this morning, my heart pounding with fear, I threw caution to the wind and set off on the 67 km drive North of Melbourne to have breakfast at Sequoia, 84-88 High Street, Woodend, Tel +61 3 5427 2442. That's right, I cheated death, and did breakfast in regional Australia. What a rush.



At first, the slick fit-out, warming fire and welcoming staff took my mind off the dangers that lurked outside. I forgot for a moment that several innocent young maidens had mysteriously disappeared from these parts way back in 1900, as depicted in Peter Weir's 1975 serial killer flick 'Picnic at Hanging Rock'. But not for long...

There, on the menu, was a Croque Monsieur.

The same day that Ivan Milat gets his sandwich-toaster back, Sequoia serves up a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Sick bastards.

"I'll have the poached eggs with hollandaise, bacon and mushrooms, please..."

You don't scare me.

The "goldfields" eggs were very good, and the hollandaise was tasty, if a bit thin and runny. Nice mushies and bacon too. The Precious One had a goat's cheese and spinach frittata, which she enjoyed, although both her meal and mine were quite small.

If you're brave enough to risk the trip, you'll get very good service and coffee (Grinders), good value (nothing over $10) and nice sourdough toast. But you won't get much choice. No pancakes, fruit or cereal the day we were there.

15/20 "cereal killers"