TK Adventures – January 2022.
Part 2 of 4 Dubbo to Nelson Bay with What’s Up Downunder
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Picking up from where we left off last month, we set off early this morning, our next destination, Mudgee. Located in the Central West of NSW. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley, approximately 260kms north west of Sydney. Population around 12,500.
Like many of these regional towns in NSW, I have toured here many times however, never seeing much more than a motel room and an RSL Club. Today was my chance to ‘taste’ Mudgee in a whole new way!
First stop is the Short Sheep Winery. Before you ask…yes, this boutique winery does have ‘short’ sheep blissfully grazing underneath the grapevines. Our hosts, Sue and Tony are super proud of their ‘micro’ winery and they have every right to be. Set amongst magnificent twisted snow gums, their gorgeous Wi Maremma dog was first to greet us with a hardy tail wag as the crew and I made our way up the driveway. His job is to guard Sue and Tony’s prized ‘short sheep’ whilst they nibble away at the emerald grass in between the grapevines. Being slightly vertically challenged, these cute ‘short-sheep’ are too short to reach up and chew on the precious vine leaves, so they are perfect for the job, absolutely ingenious!
The Short Sheep Winery specializes in their own Chardonnay, which incidentally, has qualities more like a Pinot Grigio. Their Shiraz is also superb, definitely worth a glass or six and bound to impress the most discerning sommelier.
Short Sheep Winery also has their own B&B style accommodation. Each room has been meticulously decorated with views to simply die for stretching out across the vineyard and beyond, with vistas of the glorious rolling mountains in the distance. I loved the fact you can sample their wines, enjoy a cheese platter and then just a short stroll or perhaps stagger, from the tasting room is your bed for the night…no worries about allocating a designated drive here!
About 30kms out of Mudgee on the Lue, Rylstone Road is Old Carra CampGround. Part of the original Old Barra Farm, this off the beaten track campground is an absolute hidden gem. If you love bush camping, surrounded by green hills and a place where you can actually have a campfire, this place is for you! To complete this scene, you’ll see kangaroos bouncing off in the distance, plenty of birdlife all whilst the black angus cattle look on inquisitively from the adjoining paddocks. The amenities are basic, however, this campground has the best longdrop toilets I have ever seen!
Next day, my alarm buzzed at 3.40am because that is the time I needed to start getting ready for today’s film shoot. We are off for a hot air balloon ride!
With slightly blurry-eyes, the crew and I crept out of the Riverside Caravan Park at 4.30am to meet up with Sam and Craig, the boys who ran Balloon Aloft.
I have to say, I was a little apprehensive about climbing into a big wicker basket and gliding through the morning sky at 2000 metres with a big flame burning not far from the silk balloon above me! My nervousness was soon eased when our pilot Sam, who had 24 years experience, introduced himself. I thought to myself, this guy was more than capable, phew! After going through the safety check drill with Sam, we were up, up and away. Effortlessly, we lifted off and were soon enjoying the breathtaking scenery of the sunrise over Mudgee.
All too soon our 30 minutes flight was coming to an end as we prepared to touch town in a cow paddock below just a few kilometers from the township of Mudegee. Might I say, the landing was just as effortless as the take off, well done Sam.
Our adventure was not over by any means. We were soon escorted to Blue Wren Winery for a champagne breakfast. Our chef, Paul. prepared the most delicious spread I have ever experienced for breakfast. In addition to the usual culprits, of granola, yogurt, fresh fruit, etc it was the champagne, smoked salmon, croissants and array of fresh berries that got me all excited.
The hot air ballooning experience combined with the champagne breakfast was an absolute hit with the entire WUDU crew, we’d all do it again in a heartbeat.
I grabbed a long black coffee to go as I was feeling just a little tipsy from the champagne or was it the hot air balloon ride that was messing with my head! Nevertheless, with full tummies we made our way back to the Riverside Caravan Park where NIck from Mudgee Trikes was ready to take Macca and I on a sightseeing tour of Mudgee in real style.
I’d never seen a trike with so much chrome on it, it was absolutely glistening. Decked out with beautiful black leather upholstery and sunburnt orange paintwork, this Trike looked to me like it had been ridden straight off the showroom floor. It was obviously Nick’s pride and joy.
As Macca and I donned our helmets, I cracked up to myself thinking we both look like that foodie TV show, Two Hairy Bikers, I thought we looked hilarious. With pride put to one side, we threw our ‘wigs to the wind’ and had the most thrilling time being chauffeured around the streets of Mudgee this way.
Nick not only provides Trike tours of the township but also offers tours of the Mudgee region and surrounding areas. His winery tours are very popular particularly if you are partial to a few Pinots!
Join me next month for Part 3 of my adventure as I take you to Bylong Creek 4WD Park and then onto Australia’s largest Harley Davidson collection in the little town of Kandos.
I hope you have enjoyed this little blog on my Adventure, see you next month.
If you have enjoyed this month’s TK Club, please tell your friends and let them know they too can become a TK Club Member by visiting my website www.taniakernaghan.com
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Love
TK
