Come find us (come find you)
All rolling hills, pristine streams, ALPINE AIR and FARM-FRESH PRODUCE in the foothills of the mountains: now is the time to discover NSW’s enchanting SNOWY VALLEYS region for yourself, writes Imogen Eveson.
SECRET SWIMMING
For a few blissful moments, I have Yarrangobilly Thermal Pool all to myself. I float on my back and can’t remember the last time I’ve felt this relaxed, breathing in the fresh alpine air and the landscape itself: a sailor’s blue sky and white fluffy clouds above and the eucalypt green of Kosciuszko all around.
This hidden gem of a pool, an unreal shade of turquoise, is embedded in one of Kosciuszko National Park’s deep vees. And its mineral waters fed by a natural spring are warmed to a balmy 27°C yearround thanks to the same porous limestone that formed the nearby Yarrangobilly Caves over the course of millennia.
GOLD AND OLD STONE
“This whole area is all about stone,” says Louise Halsey, conservation coordinator at
RUINS, as we look ADELONG FALLS GOLD MILL at what remains of the 19th-century Reefer Battery that once crushed 24 to 30 tonnes of gold ore each day. From the limestone of Yarrangobilly to the extracting of gold from stone by the tumbling waters of Adelong Creek, the Snowy Valleys can be defined by its mineral matter.
FOODIE TRAILS
Stone sows its influence in other ways, too: the basalt soil of the region’s most fertile pockets reaps rich agricultural land. In Tumut, my partner and I find CO. TUMUT RIVER BREWING and its small-batch beer brewed from Riverina barley. has THREE BLUE DUCKS introduced its farm-to-table ethos to the region at LODGE, with a menu NIMBO FORK featuring trout farmed 30 clicks downstream. Further south in Batlow, we sample cider at
and CIDER, and WILGRO ORCHARDS CRAFTY at Tumbarumba’s we eat pizzas piled NEST high with fresh, seasonal ingredients.
SOUL CYCLE
It fuels us up for a cycle through the storybook landscape along Australia’s newest rail trail, the TUMBARUMBA TO ROSEWOOD
TRAIL, which opened in April 2020. RAIL We coast on the gentle gradients along the 21-kilometre-long trail at a speedy 25 kilometres per hour thanks to e-bikes hired from BLOOMS. TUMBA BIKES + SIP AND SAVOUR
Afterwards, we drink wine as fresh and crisp as the landscape at one of Tumbarumba’s cool-climate wineries. Apart from last year when the hills turned black with the bushfires that tore through the region, the view from the balcony here is always green, says
owner Cathy Gairn. COURABYRA WINES “Most of our clients are Sydney-based and coming here,” she says, “they just feel like they can breathe.”
Pt. Leo Estate signature restaurant Laura has had a makeover, revealing a sleek new interior and recalibrated menu from culinary director, Phil Wood. According to Wood and partner Ainslie Lubbock, “Laura is our opportunity to offer guests a dining experience that elevates the simple luxuries of time, space, ingredients and attention. We want Laura to be an unhurried experience where respect is delivered in every detail; in the sourcing and preparation of the food, its execution in our world-class kitchen and delivery from the exemplary service team.” One thing that hasn’t changed at the Mornington Peninsula favourite is the quality, freshness and seasonality of the ingredients used, sourced from across the country, including from the restaurant’s own garden. ptleoestate.com.au/laura
Really good food
The newest restaurant to join the bustle of Melbourne’s Chinatown is Niübi, a Mandarin slang expression that means the equivalent of ‘really awesome’, except starting with an ‘f ’. The restaurant’s sleek interiors are housed in a former warehouse on Heffernan Lane, where chef Iven Foo’s menu sticks pretty closely to authentic Southeast Asian flavours with small tweaks to suit the Australian palate. Spices are imported from Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia to make dishes that the Niübi team believe can’t be found anywhere else in the city. niubi.com.au
French kiss
From the talented peeps responsible for Boom Boom Room Izakaya and Blackbird Bar & Grill, comes Bisou Bisou. French for ‘kiss kiss’, the restaurant, helmed by head chef Anthony Donaldson (ex-Blackbird Bar & Grill) and housed on the ground floor of Fortitude Valley’s new Hotel X, offers diners a French menu that has been calibrated to the Queensland weather. Classic dishes like bouillabaisse with a saffron rouille and confit duck are given a modern twist, and complemented by a groaning fromage trolley and extensive wine menu. bisou-bisou.com.au