Mudgee

Mudgee has got to be one of New South Wales’ best-kept secrets. This vibrant country town nestled in the foothills of the Goulburn River National Park proved to be an unexpected highlight on our recent inland road trip. Garry and I spent two nights here enjoying many of its popular attractions.

The town’s first highlight was our accommodation. We booked ourselves into a boutique B&B hotel called Hanger House. This modern building sits on the edge of the local airport’s runway. It features a dramatic curving roofline that encompasses a working aircraft hangar and five luxuriously appointed bedroom suites. It’s probably the only hotel we’ve ever stayed at where you fly in and park your plane inside the building.

We later learned from the owners that the hotel was originally built to house a flying school. However, this venture failed before it was launched. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. It was refreshing to sit on the balcony of our room, the Constellation Suite, and look out over the runway threshold and surrounding farmland.

The bulk of our stay was spent doing a private, full-day, wine tour of the Mudgee region with a small outfit called Country Escape Tours. I had no idea the area was filled with so many established wineries before planning our road trip. We sampled some impressive wines, including a sparkling wine called The Lucky Find. This unexpected find is aptly named. We felt it was equal to anything produced by a top French champagne house. 

We also dined one evening at the highly-rated Pipeclay Pumphouse. This fine dining restaurant located in the Robert Stein Vineyard & Winery served up an impressive meal. Our table looked out over a picturesque reed-fringed dam running along one side of the building. It was easily the best meal we experienced on our entire road trip.

The final night of our road trip saw us make our way over the Blue Mountains via Lake Windamere to Medlow Bath. Here we stopped overnight at the recently restored Hydro Majestic Hotel. We enjoyed a high tea in the main lounge shortly after checking in. This proved a fitting end to our inland travel adventure. I doubt we’d have planned such a thoroughly enjoyable holiday had the borders not been closed between New South Wales and neighbouring states. Perhaps the pandemic has a silver lining after all?