Oh! Mudgee you did not disappoint, what a beautiful town!
At Easter we took a few days off and headed away on a mini-break/roadtrip to Mudgee in country New South Wales. The plan was to take the 4 hour drive and look for treasure in the antiques and op shops along the way, we didn't find so much treasure... but had such a wonderful time!
Travelling from Newcastle to Denman for Breakfast, Denman is a quaint little town close to Muswellbrook. It has some great pubs and cafe's. The ladies who run the craft co-op are so cute and passionate about the town you will be hard pressed not to buy something, just to support their little community. They asked me to let everyone know about the Upper Hunter Food and Wine Festival, held annually in the main street of Denman.
It was then onto Merriwa for an op shop and drink stop. Merriwa is a one op shop town, but it does have a crafty co-op full of handmade goodies & condiments.
It was onto lunch at Gulgong, a friend had mentioned we would love Gulgong, she hit the mark with this one! Gulgong is a 19th century gold mining town that was once home to Henry Lawson and features on our 10 dollar note along with Henry. It's such a charming town so rich in history, it's like driving through a museum. We loved it so much we went back for breakfast and to visit Gulgong old wares & collectables on the trip home.
Next stop Mudgee. Built on the fortune of Gold mines, you can tell Mudgee has had a colourful history with it's grand old houses and a pub on every corner (not joking here, I counted about 7 and a brewery too). Mudgee is home to over 40 wineries all less than 10 mins from the centre of town. We spent a small fortune on wines and port.. well worth it! Here are my recommendations...
Our pick of Mudgee Wineries:
Pieter Van Gent - 141 Black Springs Rd - the best port in the region.
di Lusso - Eurunderee Lane - premium italian style wines.
Petersons Wines - 6 Blacksprings Rd - make sure you try the 2010 Marsanne
High Valley Wine & Cheese Co - 137 Ulan Rd - cheese tasting and cellar door all in one. Great cheese platters and local gourmet foods for sale.
Our pick for eating out in Mudgee:
Mudgee Brewing Co - 4 Church St - Open for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Try their special pesto sauce on mushrooms for breakfast. Great coffee beer all day long.
The Oriental Hotel - 6 Lewis St - Get in early as this one is very popular with the locals, great gastro pub food!
I could write things to do lists all night on Mudgee, lots to do and see! One last thing you need to do is visit the Mandurah Studio Craft Co-operative located at the old Mudgee railway in Inglis St.
Now for the wonderful photos, we took so many.
My lovely and talented travel companion, Simone De Peak took some photo's to share with you below.
And now for some more snaps from me!
Thanks for indulging me with my longest blog post ever, I really could have written thousands of words. My advice is Mudgee... do it.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 at 9:25PM 
