ESCAPE

Some 140 cool-climate vineyards (canberrawines.com.au) surround Canberra, particularly around Lake George, Hall, Murrumbateman and Bungendore. Small, informal cellar doors and restaurants provide great stops on a drive through rolling countryside.

Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve (tidbinbilla.act.gov.au), 40 kilometres outside town, provides quintessential Australian countryside of hills, sheep farms and eucalyptus trees. Kangaroo and emu sightings are common from the roadside, but part of Tidbinbilla is fenced off, offering close encounters with kangaroos, wallabies, koalas and waterfowl.

Follow tourist route The Poacher’s Way (thepoachersway.com.au) around Canberra’s very pleasant hinterland and discover a food trail that links restaurants, craft shops and regional providores that offer everything from quality smoked meats to handmade chocolates.

Canberra sites … (clockwise) the National Museum of Australia; wines at Shaw Vineyard Estate at Murrumbateman; waitress at Poacher’s Pantry; handmade chocolates found along Poacher’s Way; kangaroo.