Travel as we know it has changed dramatically this year. Many countries have closed their borders to foreign travel, as have some borders within countries, like Australia. At the time of publication, travellers can’t even get to Melbourne or Cairns from Sydney, much less the likes of New Zealand or Fiji! However, this has given me the opportunity to really explore what New South Wales has to offer and indulge in some long weekends out of the city.
Hunter Valley
The Hunter Valley area is renowned for its smattering of vineyards and wineries, and while you’d imagine visiting on the warm spring or summer’s day, as the grapes grow, the area is just as vibrant in the winter - just be sure to pack your layers, as temperatures can dip to just a couple degrees in the mornings and evenings.
My time in the Hunter Valley marked off a big tick on my once-in-a-lifetime bucket list: a hot air balloon ride! We chose to ride with Beyond Ballooning, with whom you meet in the early hours at a local hotel, who then drive you to the launch site in coaches. The morning was windy at the planned launch site, so the dedicated staff drove us to a valley around half an hour away, where the air was more still. It wasn’t until we watched in awe and anticipation as the balloons were blown up that I realise what we were about to do, but I need not have feared anything at all. Riding in a hot air balloon is so incredibly smooth and peaceful; you literally don’t feel a thing (and this is coming from someone who is super sensitive to turbulence when flying, and cannot stand fairground rides). The closest thing I could liken it to is floating in a still pool, where you reach the other side, but you’re not quite sure how you got there. While up there, we revelled in the incredible valley views, as well as watching wild animals below, like kangaroos, hopping around.
After our early start, we met with the rest of the group for a day of wine tasting and vineyard visits. We visited Boydells in Morpeth, in which we tasted 10 fab wines. It was a beautiful space, with a well-informed host and sommelier, but didn’t feel pretentious; as a group, we had different knowledge of wine, and it was inclusive for all. You could taste the difference of each wine, as well as the care that had clearly gone into each creation.
Later, we visited the Audrey Wilkinson vineyard and winery. As it is a little out of the way, it was not teeming with tourists. Now, you can pre-book a tasting indoors, or do what we did - buy a bottle or two there, then sit on the green in front of the grand building, soaking up the incredible vineyard view below, backed by craggy mountains in the distance.
Mudgee
Another destination for wine lovers - hey, travelling with our taste buds is all we’ve got during this pandemic! Around three and a half hours inland from Sydney, you’ll find the town of Mudgee. The main thing to do here is, of course, wine tours: you can travel via horse-drawn cart, car or coach from cellar door to cellar door on pre-organised wine tours, or you can organise your own tastings. As we decided to book our trip to Mudgee relatively last minute, we had to organise our own tastings as all pre-organised tours were already booked up. The key here is to make sure you pre-book these, along with any transport between each, unless you have a designated driver amongst yourselves. The cellar door map on the Visit Mudgee Region website is a great planning tool.
Our first stop of the day was Lowe Winery to which we arrived at 9.40, the first drop of wine passing our lips at about 10.05 - start as we mean to go on, right? Lowe specialises in organic and biodynamic wines, which hold fewer preservatives, so you'll feel less of the hangover the next day. Our relaxed sommelier was friendly and very knowledgeable about the 7/8 wines we tasted. The surrounding area was so picturesque too; from the rolling hills to orange trees, kitsch swing to jetty leading into the water.
Next up, we headed to Heslop Wines, which was set in an equally picturesque location, but was a totally different vibe: the tasting room is in the owners' home, exuding cosy cottage vibes, decked out in wood panels - it wouldn't have been out of place in a Swiss town. It was run by a couple and their son, who also make the wines. As was the homely personal touch that one of the owners drove us to our next stop when our booked cab failed to turn up.
After a short meander around town, lunch and cocktails, our third and final winery was Logan's, a beautiful spot with floor-to-ceiling glass windows. You choose your 'flight' from four options, each with 5 wines: adventure, heroes, red or white. I chose adventure and tasted a great selection of whites, roses and a red. We ended our day with our snack and dinner purchases from Coles a day before, and the wine we’d purchased all warm and cosy in the Airbnb.
Jervis Bay
Home to a smattering of gorgeous white-sand beaches, you’ll find Jervis Bay two to three hours south of Sydney. Arriving on Friday evening, after a few wrong turns and a delicious KFC stop (they played the whole Britney Spears backlog on the speakers and it had a stunning lakeside location - it was worth it), we effectively had one full day, which we definitely made the most of.
Start your day with a dolphin watching tour, leaving from Huskisson - we pre-booked online with the aptly named Dolphin Watch Cruises Jervis Bay. Now, like my dolphin watching experience in Bali, I expected this to be a frenetic zoom from spot to spot to catch a glimpse of the dolphins, however, nothing could have prepared me for just how many we saw. Easily 30, if not more (that said, they could have been the same ones popping up; I didn’t ask their names). It was incredible - we even saw one do the famed leap in the air!
Next up, we drove to Hyams Beach and… wow. White sands, clear waters. Tourists aside, this would be the spot for Instagram bikini shoots come summer. Our little winter bodies needed coats and cardigans though, otherwise, I’d have made a beeline straight for that sea. Had we had an extra day, we’d have done the White Sands Walk, which takes in this and many other white-sand beaches in the area. Afterwards, we returned to Huskisson where we caught a dramatic pink and orange sunset (after catching the beginning of it at Plantation Point beach during a stroll).
The most dazzling attraction of Jervis Bay is the bioluminescence, where the sea lights up at night, thanks to algae and other living organisms - think of it as the Northern Lights of the sea. Much like the Northern Lights, they require complete darkness, high-exposure camera settings (if you want a pic), and make you chase them! On our first night, we wandered to Orion Beach by a residential road, careful not to tumble down the stairway into the pitch-black waters, but on the second night, we were more prepared, seeking out a car parking spot near the Plantation Point beach entrance, so we could keep warm in the car between running to check whether they were there yet. Ideally, the darker and longer after sunset, the better, so when we didn’t see them at first, we went to dinner and returned. Now, like my experience with the Northern Lights, what we saw wasn’t the huge blue hues depicted in photos, but rather what I would describe as a dance mat of stars, if the stars were on the sand. Glittery and gorgeous. Perhaps had we returned at 1am, it may have been a different story, but our Death Valley drive back to the AirBnb wasn’t something we wished to do at that time…
Cowra
Cowra, sitting four hours’ drive inland from Sydney, is a small town with a big history. Start your time in Cowra with a trip to the Tourist Centre, which tells the history in the intriguing form of a small hologram. Once home to a Japanese prisoner of war camp, the history is not particularly pleasant, but the town represents its ties with Japan in many ways. One is the five-hectare Cowra Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre, an absolutely stunning place for walks and reflection. It is home to a peace bell, a smaller replica of the peace bell in the town, which in turn is a match for the one in New York. The town is small - one local quipped we were walking to the other side of town for our evening KFC… and, we did, all 10 minutes.
Elsewhere, a huge draw to Cowra, especially in the spring, is the canola fields. A drive in and out the town takes you past sweeping fields of gold - absolutely stunning! Feeling peckish while in town? The Breakout Cafe is a great spot for alfresco eats.
Port Stephens
We drove up to Port Stephens from Sydney, via a night in the Blue Mountains. Our first stop was the stunning Tomaree National Park, and the Head Summit walk. Although it is listed on the website as a Grade 5 hike, I would say it was completely doable for any able-bodied person - yes, it is steep, but the hardest part is near the bottom, before you reach the first metal steps. After that, it’s all good, and, boy, is the view from the top worth it! You'd be forgiven for thinking you were in the Maldives or the Whitsundays, I couldn’t believe my eyes. After descending, we caught view of the mountain we'd just climbed from a secluded, deserted beach where tropical island vibes continued, with lush greens, fine sand and crystal-clear water (it was so clear that we're pretty sure we saw a shark from the mountaintop as we looked down…)
Our next sightseeing spot was the Worimi Conservation Lands, specifically the Oakfield Ranch where what commenced was probably my favourite experience throughout my whole time in Australia, and probably one of my top life ones too: Oakfield Ranch Camel Rides offer a desert-style experience with camel rides through the sand dunes. Daytime camel rides are 20 minutes’ long, and can’t be pre-booked, while sunset camel rides are longer at an hour, and you can pre-book. We opted for the latter. Our camel ride took us through the majestic sand dunes and into the lapping sea. I've always had a fairytale desire to ride a horse on the beach and this was one better as we literally went through the water. On the ride, we saw a rainbow in the sky, jumping dolphins in the water and even a proposal on the beach. I can't rate Oakfield Ranch Camel Rides highly enough: they answered questions, took incredible photos, gave us an incredible experience and clearly care for the camels. It is an experience I will never, ever forget.
The next day we returned to the Worimi Conservation Lands, where it literally felt like we were on another planet. We accessed the dunes from a quieter trail, meaning there was not another soul around and you could see sand dunes for miles (32 kilometres to be exact). Again, it was another incredible otherworldly experience I ticked off the bucket list, I can barely do it justice with my words!
