MUDGEE, NSW ROAD TRIP -November 9-15 2020

On Monday morning, November 9 2020 I collected Lillian at 10.30am at the bus stop near Sydenham Train Station. We drove to Blackheath for lunch at the well-known café, Bakehouse on Wentworth. I had to bypass the wonderful cakes-doctor’s order!

We then travelled to Cedar Park Lodge, Mt Victoria where we checked in. After the car was unpacked, and we had a welcome cup of tea, we left for Katoomba and visited the Three Sisters. This viewing area has been improved greatly since my last visit, many years ago. Then, on to Leura where we looked at the shops. Dinner was at the Ivanhoe Hotel at Blackheath.

Tuesday morning, we left at 9am for Mudgee. We had a quick lunch at a café on the outskirts of Mudgee. The next stop was the former Mudgee Railway Station, which is now a Craft Centre. At 2pm, we checked into the 2 bedroom villa, our accommodation for the next 3 nights.

I had booked this on the Stayz site, originally for late March 2020. Due to Covid -19, we had to reschedule to November 2020. Next time, I will book accommodation in a quieter location. The villa had everything we needed; it was located however on a corner of a busy road, and traffic noise started at 5am.

We took a drive to familiarise ourselves with Mudgee and had dinner at the Mudgee Club. Fortunately, the streets are wide and are on a grid, so it was easy to navigate ones way around.

Wednesday morning, we visited Lawson Park in which the Mudgee swimming pool is located. Then, to lunch at noon with Peter, a friend who had worked with me on the Griffith House campaign, St George Hospital Campus in late 2012 until April 2013. Peter is an architect, who specialises in heritage, and had travelled from Dubbo to join us for lunch in the 1875 Butchers Café.

Lillian had an afternoon pedicure, and then we caught up with Helena, a former teaching colleague from St George Girls High School in Kogarah, Sydney. We met at Kellys Pub at 4pm and then had dinner there – a wonderful beef and Guinness pie with vegetables. It was State of Origin night, so we went back to the villa to watch the game.

I had been told that I had to book to visit the wineries and pay a possible charge for wine tasting. We visited Peter Van Ghent winery, so that I could buy some white wine port for Bob- a special order for him. This is apparently a very popular wine.

Then on to Di Lusso’s winery, where we had lunch and Lillian met her neighbours unexpectedly, as they were also visiting Mudgee. The grounds were lovely and weddings/receptions were often held here. On Saturday, there was to be a reception held here whilst the bride and groom were in Melbourne. Zoom was being used to connect the parties. A sign of our Covid times !

Di Lusso make a wine, which is also made in the region in Italy where Lillian’s parents came from in north east Italy-near the Dolomites . The wine is called picolit, and can be matched with apple tart or soft cheeses. Lillian organised some of this wine to be delivered.

We asked the waiter what he would recommend we do in the afternoon. His reply caused us to smile “I am busy working this afternoon!”

We saw Helena briefly again at Kellys Pub, which she and her husband, Ned own. Helena introduced me to Garry, who manages the oldest house in Mudgee. The house was built in 1827 by William Lawson – of Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth fame. We were invited to have a look on Saturday morning.

I had a late afternoon massage. I was informed by the therapist of issues of concern to the locals in Mudgee: lack of long stay parking , no heated pool , little for young people to do, and no cinema. Thursday night we dined at a Chinese restaurant.

Friday morning, we checked out of the villa and drove off to Gulgong. Our first stop was Mudgee Honey where we purchased well. At Mudgee Honey we chatted to an interesting lady, Gitte who told us that her daughter ran the heritage listed Parkview Hotel in Mudgee. A possible accommodation venue for my next visit.

Then on to Gooree Winery and Stud Farm, where I purchased some shiraz for my pharmacist and I bought some wine for myself . I told Jessica, a staff member that” I would love to return to do the stud tour – 2 to 10 people are allowed on the bus tour of the stud. More importantly, I would love to win some money to be able to afford to buy a horse.“ Jessica then replied “call me”.

On the way to Gulgong, I noticed the sign for Dunedoo. Winx’s jockey, Hugh Bowman comes from Dunedoo.

We checked into the Ten Dollar Motel in Gulgong after lunch in a lovely café, which had been a former butcher’s shop .Then, a visit to the Gulgong Pioneer Museum. I looked to see if they had any horse racing material –alas, there was nothing on display. A friend had visited in 2006 and photographed this display.

Friday night, we had a wonderful dinner at the Motel, and had a lovely glass of wine each to toast our visit. Next morning, we had a hearty breakfast in our rooms. The Motel was booked out Friday night and was booked out again on Saturday night .We went for a walk on Saturday morning to enable me to get some streetscape photos of this historical and unique town. The main street is very narrow –one can visualise Cobb and Co Coaches travelling down this street.

Gulgong is known for the Henry Lawson Festival, which is held on the June long weekend each year. Due to Covid-19 the Festival was cancelled this year and the Henry Lawson Museum in Gulgong was closed. The last festival was held on June 7-10 2019.

Henry Lawson (1867-1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with Banjo Patterson, he is amongst the best Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period. Henry Lawson was born at Grenfell, the son of a Norwegian miner, Peter Larsen and his wife, Louise. The surname was changed from Larsen to Lawson.

We left Gulgong, and then visited the oldest house in Mudgee . The property was stunning, as was its view towards Mudgee. Sadly, we left Mudgee just after noon for Wallerawang to catch up with a former St George Girls High School colleague, Jo from the English Department in the early 1980’s. Jo had arrived from Bathurst ahead of us. We met at the BlackGold Motel, where we had afternoon tea.

Lillian and I stayed the night in a new motel unit, and again had a great meal in the restaurant. We toasted our wonderful week with a glass of wine, and enjoyed our wonderful Seniors Meal of smaller portions. We had to have desert – I had apple pie and ice cream and Lillian had sticky date pudding.

Reluctantly, we had to leave Sunday morning. We had lunch at the Conservation Hut at Wentworth Falls, a lovely location. Had we had more time, I would have done a short bush walk.

We arrived back at Sydenham Station after 4pm, after a busy and varied week .Lillian caught the bus home taking her valuable cargo of 2 bottles of Gooree Merlot with her. Her daughter met her at her destination.

Mudgee is a vibrant and busy country town. People are friendly, and there are so many wonderful restaurants, cafes, wineries and shops. I admired the lovely heritage homes; the town has no high density development. Young couples are happy to buy heritage homes to restore them to their former grandeur.

There were many visitors in town – accommodation was heavily booked, which was an indicator of the numbers of people travelling. A positive sign for the local economy.

Mudgee is a must return when a country race meeting is scheduled, and to also visit Kandos and Rylstone. Time did not permit this on this visit.