GO ON TOUR IN BENDIGO
Exploring THE CITY’S many LAYERS with the LOCALS.
Beginning at Get Naked Espresso Bar (no, you don’t have to) where the whole idea started, Nacho will introduce you to the etiquette of the street art and graffiti scene and uncover a world of artistry around town. By the end you’ll recognise the works of local practitioners, including teacher-by-day Mr Dimples, and create some street art of your own, in a totally non-destructive way, of course. This is a tour that trains you to peer high and low to spot works you’d otherwise miss.
Alternatively, explore the Bendigo Art Gallery with a volunteer guide who’ll divulge the back stories of their favourite pieces. The building merges heritage with contemporary, as does the collection. It reflects the ethos of a visionary director determined to add an edge to the initial works, which were largely donated from wealthy gold rush families. Look out for the rolling series of exclusive exhibitions from around the world.
FOSSICKING FOR FOOD
What better way to find culinary treasures than with some of the makers and bakers themselves? On a Food Fossicking Tour, with a constantly changing mix of producers, you meet some of the folk behind the food (with a good bit of taste-testing en route) and discover they care about each other as much as the food.
The tour starts at the 1887 roller flour mill, now repurposed as Mister Grimsby Coffee, for a local pastry and special siphon coffee brew. At The Good Loaf bakery, it’s all about re-using and re-purposing (including the building itself, a 1950s Beaurepaires tyre shop) as well as using the best local ingredients to produce outstanding sourdoughs.
Decadence is next at Indulge Chocolates where chocolatier Hayley Tibbett will demonstrate how to temper and mould her Belgian couverture chocolate delights (with sampling of course). Next, join chef Gina Triolo from Hoo-gah Cafe who shares some of her nonna’s culinary tips and hands over the cooking reins for visitors to make ricotta gnocchi from scratch. If there’s still space, fill up at the Visitor Centre, sampling local wines and epicurean goods.
DISCOVERING THE PAST
Bendigo is shrouded in a deep, rich history and its Vintage Talking Tram is a perfect way to orientate yourself and get acquainted with the town’s past. As you sit on polished timber seats in original
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Join stalwar t chef Bobby at
for incredible meals in a casual setting.
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Enjoy tapas at eclectic Chancery Lane.
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Go all out with a degustation at on
WORDS IMOGEN EVESON
THE KANGAROOS WERE AMONG the first to return. Today, they laze and graze in mobs on lush open grasslands: recent rains and the resilience of the bush itself mean the valley has never looked greener.
Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley, in NSW’s World Heritagelisted Greater Blue Mountains region, had no choice but to close temporarily due to surrounding bushfires late last year but its reopening brought with it a renewed sense of purpose. While there is still visible scarring in the surrounding bushland when I visit, the resort’s passionate field guides have been blown away by the landscape’s incredible natural regeneration and are inviting guests to contribute to its recovery and ongoing care.
As Australia’s first conservation-based luxury resort, Wolgan Valley prides itself on its symbiosis with, and respect for, nature and the environment. “We like to think we are the only place in the southern hemisphere that’s carbon-free as a resort,” general manager Tim Stanthorpe says over a lunch cooked open-air among the gum trees. Everything on our plates is sourced straight from the chef ’s garden or gourmet producers in surrounding communities.
The property is set on almost 3000 hectares of nature and wildlife reserve: an inspiring tapestry of rolling grasslands and rich native bushland framed by dramatic escarpments. Guests come here to relax in absolute wilderness: fine dining on seasonal fare, swimming in their own private pool or indulging with an organic spa treatment. But they also come to get out into that wilderness, whether on horseback, mountain bike or foot, and now – more than ever – by participating in the resort’s meaningful and wide-ranging conservation work.
After lunch, my small cohort sets off with activities and conservation manager Simone Brooks and field guide Kirra Tammjarv to plant trees. Last year saw the longest drought on record for the valley and even mature eucalypts, characteristically drought-tolerant, were starting to give up the ghost through lack of water. So today, seeing the jewel-green grass and crossing the flowing Carne Creek, which supplies the resort’s drinking water, is a small miracle in itself. “What we’re seeing here is incredible natural regeneration,” says Simone, “but we’re also trying to fast-track some other areas that were impacted a little bit more heavily.” Accessed from a bank of more than one million seeds from over 25 local native species, the seedlings we plant today will help restore habitat and create a wildlife corridor. It’s part of a program that has been running for several years, Simone tells me. “Guests have been collecting the seeds with the field guides through our conservation experiences and we’re now planting them!”
Elsewhere in the valley, we spot little piles of logs: another way of restoring habitat to the areas that were impacted. “Guests are helping us add layers of habitat to those barren and burnt areas,” Simone continues. “It’s like when you put material into the garden, it brings life back into the soil. It attracts insects, reptiles and birds, and is really important work for us at the moment. It seems like we’re just moving sticks around, but it’s a cornerstone for the rest of the ecosystem to build upon,” she says.
Other conservation activities guests can take part in include wildlife surveys, testing of water quality, feral animal monitoring and the mapping of significant trees to locate hollows, which provide homes for arboreal marsupials such as gliders and possums, and nocturnal birds, like owls, too.
My own experience today rewards as an uplifting and genuine way to connect to Wolgan Valley’s blissful landscape. We finish our task, dust ourselves down and return to the main homestead for a deck-side cocktail made with the resort’s signature 1832 Wolgan Gin. Distilled with purified water from the pristine Carne Creek and infused with hand-picked lemon-scented tea tree straight from the nature reserve, it’s the perfect way to clock off.
Tasmania’s northern city is becoming ever more cosmopolitan. While traditional attractions such as Bridestowe Lavender Estate are still a strong pull for visitors to this part of the Apple Isle, they are now being complemented with chic eateries such as Timbre Kitchen, Charlie’s Dessert House and Tasmanian Food & Wine Conservatory; boutique hotels – check into hotel-with-a-conscience Change Overnight or The Florance; and headlining events including Festivale (5–7 February 2021), showcasing the best of Tasmanian food, beverage and entertainment.
LAUNCESTON
Located in south-west WA, roughly five hours’ drive from Perth, this historic port city boasts a roster of stunning attractions, both natural and manmade. Make sure to visit the award-winning National Anzac Centre; in 1914, Albany was the final departure point for the first wave of ANZAC troops heading to the battlefields of the First World War. The city also offers easy access to stunning beaches, the natural wonders of Torndirrup National Park and diving the scuttled wreck of the
And, for the perfect then-and-now contrast, visit the museum at Albany’s Historic Whaling Station, before taking a whale-watching cruise in King George Sound.
ALBANY II. Perth
Freo, as it is lovingly known, is a favourite weekend retreat for Perth locals, an easy 30-minute drive from the state capital. Visitors flock here to browse the historic markets (established in 1897), sip coffee on its bustling ‘Cappuccino Strip’ of South Terrace, eat fresh-off-the-boat seafood at its harbour and enjoy the laid-back waterfront lifestyle it is famed for.
FREMANTLE
There’s a lot to recommend this city of 93,000 occupants apart from the rum distillery (although it’s definitely worth a visit). Head to Bargara (15 minutes’ drive from the centre of the city) to sample the wares of Bargara Brewery including the imaginatively named Rusty Roo, Thirsty Turtle and Drunk Fish and dine at The Windmill Cafe. Check out cultural highlights like the brightly painted School of Arts, the Fairymead House Sugar History Museum (housed in a lovely Indian bungalow-style plantation house built in 1890) and the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery or BRAG. Head to Mons Repos to see the turtle hatchings (November to March)
BUNDABERG
and use the city as a base to explore the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef.
This pretty NSW border town (twinned with the Victorian town of Wodonga) boasts wide streets lined with historic Victorian, Federation and Art Deco buildings and houses that hint at a properous past. While there, spend time exploring the Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA) and the Botanic Gardens, both handily located in the heart of the city; dine at local favourites like the delightfully situated River Deck Cafe in Noreuil Park, overlooking the mighty Murray River, and modern fine diner Bistro Selle, where head chef Tara Davis’s menu includes the likes of crispy tripe, curry and boudin noir; and shop at homegrown boutiques like Pour Mes Amis on Volt Lane and the monthly Twilight Markets.
ALBURY
DISCOVER OLD-SCHOOL CHARM AND NEW IDEAS IN NORTHAM
With more than 185 heritage-listed buildings (above left), a characterful old train station that’s now a museum and the picturesque Avon River running right through it, Western Australia’s largest inland town already had a lot to recommend a visit. Located in the Avon Valley region 1.5 hours’ drive north-east of Perth, Northam acts as a hub for surrounding farmlands and offers such wholesome pursuits as riverside picnics in the company of elegant white swans, hot-air ballooning and fossicking for crafts and curios in its cute stores.
But the transformation of eight 38-metre-high grain silos into giant works of art in 2015 (above right) not only heralded Australia’s first silo mural and marked the start of a self-guided art trail that runs across the Wheatbelt, it had an energising effect on the town itself.
In 2018, Northam saw the opening of the Bilya Koort Boodja Centre for Nyoongar Culture and Environmental Knowledge (below), an architectdesigned hub that celebrates the rich Aboriginal and environmental presence in the region. And now, the town welcomes the complete revitalisation of the Farmer’s Home Hotel – a 190-year-old property (known most recently as The Shamrock) that evolved from a wattle and daub hut into one of the most distinguished federation hotels in regional WA. It’s the second project of its kind from Nigel Oakey of the Dome Group, and this sensitive redevelopment channels the same luxury-meets-heritage philosophy as the Premier Mill Hotel in Katanning, three hours south. With the reinstation of its original name, the Farmer’s Home Hotel brings both the property and town’s history and character to life with aplomb.
WORDS PHIL HAWKES
from the NSW side of the border near Tenterfield (entry fee applies). Here you’ll find the largest exposed granite rock in the southern hemisphere: it’s where the giants presumably got their rocks off.
COOL-CLIMATE WINES
Granite Belt wines have come to the attention of wine lovers and critics in recent years, and with good reason. There are over 50 wineries, many with cellar door sales and tastings: just what the doctor ordered after my daytime exertions. The unique terroir with its longer growing season and deep granite soils, combined with the innovative approach of the region’s winemakers and vignerons, produces wines of elegance and complexity. Cool-climate wines as individual as a fingerprint.
Close to Girraween at Wyberba there’s a small cluster of wineries ideal for that post-walk tipple. Balancing Rock Wines, awarded Best Small Cellar Door on the Granite Belt by
2019, has a cute label displaying the balancing rock in its vineyard. David and Lori Broadbent offer a range of reds and whites including a highly awarded reserve sagrantino, which is definitely one for the cellar at home if you don’t drink it all first.
Pyramids Road Wines focuses on low-volume handmade wines, the passion of Sue and Warren Smith who are expats from the Sunny Coast doing a terrific job with a big range of grape varieties, with reds like mourvèdre and petit verdot prominent. Sue laughs that, “Our friends said we had rocks in our head taking on the hard work that goes into winemaking – but now the only rocks are on our labels.”
Girraween Estate is the love child of Lisa and Steve Messiter, who purchased the property in 2009; since then they have won top awards for their shiraz cabernet and chardonnay. They are especially proud of their fruit-driven, crisp and refreshing sparkling wines.
THE BUSHRANGER’S HIDE-OUT Gourmet Traveller WINE THERE’S SOMETHING BREWING AND DISTILLING
It’s not just about the wines of the Granite Belt. You’re very welcome to rock up to a brewery or distillery if that’s more your fancy: there are several choices including the boutique Brass Monkey Brew House, the closest to Ballandean; Granite Belt Brewery (with pub-style food, and comfortable cabin accommodation so you don’t need to drive and tempt the very active RBTs); and further north past Stanthorpe you’ll find Castle Glen.
Even before a drink, you’ll think you’ve arrived in Scotland. The solar-powered castlelike building reflects the heritage of the Millar family in the British Isles and their service to royalty dating back to the 13th century. The product range includes multi-award-winning whiskies and gins (served on the rocks, naturally) plus a whole range of delicious liqueurs based on the region’s abundant fruit.
Not far from Castle Glen you’ll find a spot called Donnelly’s Castle. You can squeeze through crevices in giant granite rock boulders, walk on top of them and enter into cave-like openings. The famed bushranger Captain Thunderbolt once used this rocky outcrop north of Stanthorpe as his hideout and it’s a hidden gem.
GO OFF-GRID IN A TINY HOUSE
The CABN concept was launched in 2017 to encourage guests to step away from the hamster-wheel-like existence of everyday life in order to appreciate a more minimalist lifestyle – and it’s one that has certainly caught on and feels all the more relevant today.
CABN’s off-grid getaways are much in demand and you’ll find them dotted around the outskirts of Adelaide in South Australia and in Victoria’s Yarra Valley. The 100 per cent sustainable custom cabins, with names like Chloe, Allira and Matilda, sleep three to four people, have composting toilets, rainwater catchment and solar power so conscious travellers can tread lightly during their stay.
CABN creator Michael Lamprell says the ethos behind the CABN philosophy is simple: it’s about placing these minimally designed spaces in some of Australia’s most stunning and stimulating landscapes to give people the opportunity to “disconnect from the crazy”. Lamprell says while some guests might only be able to exit their busy lives for a midweek break or weekend, he hopes a short stay in a tiny home will give them time to rediscover relationships and reconnect with nature.
There are also plans afoot for a number of sustainable eco-friendly tiny CABNs to be placed along the Cooloola Great Walk, on the Fraser Coast region in Queensland, about 250 kilometres north of Brisbane.