Driving up the highway it was clear to see that there had been bad fires. Both sides of the Castlereagh highway, the fields were scorched. Razed. Fields of green had become fields of black. It didn’t take too much imagination to picture how scary this must have been, just days ago, as bush fires ripped through the region. This fear was made real when Sharon at the cellar door at Burundulla vineyard shared a video on her phone of a Mudgee local and his partner driving through at the exact moment the fire jumped the highway. Frightening, even at a distance of some days. Even the roadkill, so prevalent on drives through the country, look to have suffered in unimaginable ways.
Coming to Mudgee, in the midst of the bush fire disaster taking over large swathes of Australia, family and friends understandably had lots of questions. Is it safe to travel to Mudgee? Is Mudgee affected by the bush fires? Are the Mudgee wineries affected? We are able to answer these, and other questions, including what there is to do in Mudgee and the surrounding towns. Where to stay, and why it is now more important than ever to visit regional towns like Mudgee, when every dollar spent in local businesses is critical. My little love affair with Mudgee was to continue.
We had come to Mudgee to escape the madness that is New Years Eve in the city. In the years I have lived in Sydney I have, like hundreds of thousands of others, joined the crush around Sydney Harbour. Trying to get a birds eye view of quite possibly the best fireworks display in the world. So, whilst I know first hand how impressive this spectacle is, I also know that I no longer want to spend the last day of any year down there again.
If there is an antithesis of the new year carnage on the Harbour, it must be the little country town of Mudgee in regional New South Wales. I have previously written about celebrating my Australian citizenship in Mudgee. Insulated from the city of Sydney by a 3 and half hour drive, up through the Blue Mountains, once here you could be on a different planet. A planet blessed with abundant wildlife and some of the best wines you will taste. The difference now, sadly, is that due to the changing climate, the vines are at risk, and I’m saddened to hear from locals that the animals are just giving up. Just laying down to die. Through lack of water, and lack of green grass to graze on. The heart breaks.
The effects of the changing climate is evident everywhere. Each time we have visited Mudgee in the past, as we broach the hill and descend in to the valley near Windamere dam, we are usually greeted by a lush carpet of green. As far as the eye can see. Green fields stretching out and away as far as the mountains that surround this beautiful little town. This year we audibly gasped as we were met by a landscape that could have been from Australia’s desert. Colours that would not have looked out of place on a long drive through the Nullarbor. Every shade of brown, only punctuated by black. The tell tale signs of the fires. Apart from the trees that have managed to keep the majority of their green leaves, the ground was dry as a bone. Mudgee was in the middle of a very long drought.
In the middle of this drought, and as the fires raged, tourists stayed away. A town like Mudgee relies heavily on the influx of visitors that spend money in local shops and at the cellar doors. If businesses are to survive, tourists need to keep coming. And so, having made sure we were not in danger, we drove to Mudgee to “reset our senses”, to borrow the tagline of the local tourist board.
Our senses were going to be reset at “Tom’s Cottage” in Wilgowrah (www.wilgowrah.com.au), a short 5 minute drive from the centre of Mudgee. A self contained cottage, with sweeping views of the Mudgee hills, we were in the right place to quietly celebrate the end of the year together, and to chat through our hopes and dreams for the year ahead. The cottage is nestled in the gardens of the heritage listed Wilgowrah homestead, and is their first offering. Plans are underway to convert a small nearby church in to accommodation which will make for a very unique stay. One evening, take the 4 wheel drive buggy up the hill, with a bottle of wine, and have a picnic, watching the sunset.
Each stay in Mudgee is unique, even just for the pace of life there. No traffic lights. You heard that right. Can you imagine it? And after being there a while, especially coming from the city, you start noticing the absence of something. It takes you a while to realise you have not heard a car horn in the time you have been here. It has sadly become part of everyday life in Sydney, even if a driver has the temerity to take more than 2 seconds to move once the lights have turned green. City people must be in such a rush.
Slowing down in Mudgee, we took the push bikes out. Very little traffic. No car horns. And a very flat landscape. Cycling down country lanes was such a pleasant experience, stopping to chat to the local goats and horses. Every kilometre we cycled we promised ourselves another glass of wine.
That was a lot of wine, starting at a cellar door we hadn’t previously visited. Elephant Mountain wines (www.elephantmountain.com.au) have not had a cellar door in Mudgee for very long, with the vines being in the neighbouring town of Lue. The cellar door has been in Mudgee for just over a couple of years. In my opinion, it is a very welcome addition. Having discovered the wonders of Pinot Gris in New Zealand, I was very pleasantly surprised to taste one of such quality here in Mudgee. Needless to say, some made their way home with us.
Talking of quality wines, next up was one of our favourite vineyards in Mudgee. Lowe wines (www.lowewine.com.au) have made us feel very welcome each time we visit the cellar door. The very first time we visited we were supplied with a seemingly endless amount of wine. On a tasting. Which effectively means it is free. However, this is hospitality at its best as what often happens, and it did on that first visit, is that we get to taste how great the wine is, we end up slightly tipsy, and then buy almost every bottle available when we leave. Everybody is happy. It is just this kind of hospitality that keeps us returning time and again to Lowe. Oh, and did I mention that they do an awesome grazing board?
Suitably stuffed from an afternoon at Lowe, we save our next food experience for the following day. Our first visit to the Pipeclay Pumphouse restaurant (www.pipeclaypumphouse.com.au), out at the Robert Stein winery. From the outside it looks like a tin shed. One that graces many a paddock across Australia. Inside is where the magic happens. You can look forward to a spectacular menu and first class service. We opted for the tasting menu but you would be just as happy choosing from the excellent a la carte options. As you would expect, the wine list is made up of a selection that are made right there on site. We chose the 2019 Riesling and it was superb. Hints of mineral, lemon and lime, and a very smooth finish. Luckily for me, it wasn’t my day to be the designated driver.
Food. Wine. Rest. Relaxation. You truly do get the opportunity to reset your senses when you spend time in Mudgee. Life slows down to a very enjoyable pace. Nothing is urgent. Nothing is rushed. Is it any wonder that I have a little love affair with Mudgee? Each time I leave, I feel like I leave a piece of myself behind. I am always driving away wondering when I can be driving back. Next time I visit, I hope to bring a little rain with me.
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