Approx 12 months ago we decided we would head across the ditch and spend 10 days on the South Island of New Zealand. We are basing ourselves in Queenstown with two overnight stops elsewhere on the island that you will see in future posts.
I’m somewhat embarrassed that after over 50 revolutions of the sun, I still haven’t visited New Zealand. It’s so close, I have so many wonderful Kiwi friends and colleagues yet had never bothered to get on plane and give the place a visit. I guess It’s something I always thought I’d get to later, well joke is totally on me, I’ve only been here a few hours and I can already see its drop dead gorgeous and amazing. I’ve been missing out. The flight over the mountains and into Queenstown has some eye popping views. We were also blessed with a clear sunny day on arrival.
A few minutes from landing
The other novelty of visiting NZ after spending the last few holidays in Europe is that it’s only a two hour flight. Take off, quick meal and we are getting ready to land.
As far as travel days go, we had an amazing one. Home to the airport in about 40 minutes, one of the fastest checkins and security clearances ever in Sydney, less than 15 minutes from walking in the airport to looking for a coffee on the airside of the airport. Coffee was the usual Sydney airport affair, average and eye watering expense.
Took the jet ages to taxi around the airport, they had set flights to take off from the eastern end of the runway. Unfortunately we didn’t fly right over the city, as soon as we took off the pilot pulled an Elon (AKA a hard bank to the right…) and we went straight out to sea and over to NZ.
It was equally good in NZ, about 10 minutes from passport control to getting bags and passing customs. Only slight hitch was we went to the wrong side of the airport to get the hire car.
I spent a good 5 minutes talking pictures of the hire car checking for damage then remembered I’d paid extra for zero excess (walk away) insurance, so that was essentially a waste of time. Airport was only a 10 min drive from the apartment, after checking in we dusted off our Jandals, grabbed our chillybin and headed off to local supermarket to grab some local supplies. Pineapple Lumps are the bomb!
The other bonus of coming to NZ is the exchange is in our favour by roughly 10%, way better than visiting the UK !. Was also checking FB history, exactly a year ago we were in Spain, exactly the opposite side of the planet to NZ.
The lake here is massive, apparently it’s 380m deep. It’s so deep part of it is 70m below sea level.
We had booked dinner at the Stratosfare Restaurant at the top of Bobs Peak, you take the Gondola there. Of course it’s beyond silly cost wise for a buffet dinner (NZ$170 per person), but you are really paying for the view and the upkeep of the Gondola. Great selection of food on offer.
I think Dave Dobbyn was correct, this place really is a slice of heaven.
Every few Christmases we are in South West Rocks at my in-laws house. SWR is a great little town that hasn’t been overwhelmed with development over the past 30 years.
It still has many of the traditional post war “fibro” houses right near town. There has been an uptick in new housing but most of it is further west on the outskirts of town closer to Jerseyville.
Every morning I’d go for an early walk to grab a coffee from the best cafe in SWR and go drink it just watching the ocean from Horseshoe Bay in town.
Went for the same walk Christmas morning with no expectation the cafe would be open, but walking into town I saw a few people with takeaway cups and thought could that be…. On Xmas… ?
And sure enough the cafe was open! On Christmas!! Sure enough it was significantly more than usual, not that I cared, awesome coffee on Christmas!! Santa has delivered ! It’s a Festivus Miracle!
Just before Xmas, I purchased a drone. Pic below is from that. Had been thinking of getting one for a while, but after visiting a friend in the Hunter Valley region who has one, the deal was sealed. Will be great for our upcoming trip to NZ.
Coffee at Sixty Degrees, South West RocksOverlooking Horseshoe BayDrone Pictue over Back Creek, South West Rocks
In November we did a cruise from Sydney to Melbourne on a specific “Melbourne Cup” cruise. If you are keen on the cup, this is a great option if you live in Sydney (there is an equivalent cruise from Brisbane too), you just show up at the terminal in Sydney, you cruise to Melbourne, the cruise line organises tickets into Flemington and takes you there by bus and brings you back.
It’s a reasonable deal, if you consider the cost of flights, hotels, food, taxis/Ubers etc, if you book early enough the cruise would be comparable in cost. Just keep an eye on the “extras” you could be charged for on the ship, even though food is mostly free, there are some items on menus and some restaurants where it’s not included. Alcohol isn’t included either. After a few days the ship got renamed the “Carnival Spender”
We were with a group of friends celebrating, two of whom were celebrating their 60th Birthday, so it was a stack of fun spending a week with friends on a ship. After the cup you get a few days to look around Melbourne, the ship acts as a floating hotel and you can come/go as you please.
We had lunch at the Esplanade Hotel in the “Green Room”. The “Espy” is famous for its live music scene and Rockwiz was filmed in its Gershwin room. Totally stoked that we got to see that.
I got to test drive the new Polestar 4, since the centre was only 5 minutes away from where the ship was docked, so I walked over and was pleasantly surprised that they offered me a drive in the new car, even though I had no intention of purchasing one.
The ship had Banoffee Pie on the menu (and strangely on the Breakfast menu – this must be an American thing….). I’ve got a somewhat “complicated” relationship with Bananas after being sick from Banana Cake on a hot day as a child. Sometimes I can eat them sometimes I can’t and they have to be near green, so I’ve never been keen to buy it when I’ve seen it offered. Since it was there and included in the menu, thought why the hell not, give it a whirl !
Never again, it was disgusting. Mushed overripe Bananas with whipped cream on top. Very much less than the sum of its parts. At least now I know.
The ship had two Cafes on board that served espresso coffee (for an extra fee). It was OK, however didn’t touch it when in Melbourne given the number of spectacular cafes just a stones throw from the ship.
On our way back from Orange, we had a night at Lilianfels Resort in the Blue Mountains. We have stayed here before and it’s my favourite hotel in that region. It’s not cheap, but we did get a great package that includes the accomodation, 3 course meal at the onsite restaurant and Breakfast. Wine is extra.
The resort is right near Echo Point, so you want wander down and look over the Three Sisters etc. Hotel has parking so no need to worry about where to leave your car.
We were there on a Monday night and their normal restaurant (Darley’s) was closed, so our package included dinner at their neighbouring resort across the road (Echo’s Hotel). Unfortunately we didn’t have a table near the window so missed out on a view across the valley.
Included breakfast (buffet style) was good with a wide selection. The coffee was Barista made and quite good.
Early October is a long weekend in NSW, and I’d been wanting to really try out the foodie scene thats been happening in Orange for a number of years, so I booked in a three night weekend. I’ve travelled through Orange a few times in the past couple of years when going to other places and saw enough to know it really was a happening place and we needed to spend more time there.
I remember years ago as a kid, the food scene in country towns (as well as everywhere else) was pretty dire. Meat pies, pub steaks, fish and chips or the 1970s Chinese takeaway were about it. The roads were also terrible. Wow, things have changed……
One “fun fact” about Orange is that is has nothing to do with growing Oranges. The climate is too cool for the fruit and is one of the few towns in Australia that will likely see some snow in Winter.
Be prepared to read through what was essentially three days of a food and drink extravaganza.
First stop in the morning on the way to Orange was Glenbrook in the mountains for Coffee & Breakfast at Glenbrook Underground. I’ve mentioned that cafe before. Glenbrook is a great place for Breakfast as it’s the first town on the way up the mountains so many people skip it in the morning and wait till they reach Leura. Glennbrook seems less crowded, I’ve not had any issues getting parking there on a morning.
A quick stop in Bathurst to top up the car and we were on the way to Orange for our lunch stop at The Agrestic Grocer for lunch. This place is just outside town to the North West, but I’d say it’s a microcosm of everything thats great about the Orange food scene. They sell lots of interesting fresh local produce and have a great cafe attached. They often have live music and a fireplace for when it’s cold. This is a must visit place if you are staying in Orange or even just passing through.
We picked up lots of local samples to try. Got a selection of the red apples, they were all massive and all super delicious.
The Agrestic Grocer
After checking into our hotel, looking around for something to do in town, noticed a local distillery that also did pizza. We drove over and shared a Gin tasting menu (Had I not been driving I think I could have had quite a few of these! They were wonderful). Was really too early for dinner, considering lunch wasn’t that long ago, but we decided we would come back and get a takeaway Pizza for dinner.
One of our favourite butchers shut up their local shop in Kirrawee and relocated out here to Orange. We did pop by his new shop to see if we could pickup some of our all time favourites. Thankfully he does do local visits back to Sydney for regular customers a few times a year.
So if you are in Orange and want a great Pizza or a great Gin (or both!) head on over to Parrot.
Parrot Distillery
The hotel we picked was the de Russie Boutique Hotel. It looks relatively modern, has onsite parking. It’s located on Hill St which is only a very short stroll from the centre of town and close to some wonderful restaurants and cafes. They have a number of serviced apartments and the room we had included a small kitchenette.
Breakfast on Saturday morning had to be back at Factory Espresso, I was impressed when I came through in August and wanted to have a breakfast here. Was a great decision, I had one of the best Bircher Muesli I’ve ever had. Only potential improvement would be to use normal yoghurt as opposed to coconut yoghurt. Pic of the dish in the block below.
After breakfast, started the day with a visit to a winery just a few minutes out of town : Nashdale Lane. They were all great but I had a real liking for the Pinot Noir. Of course, we purchased a box of wine. Leaving the winery carrying the box some smarty on the way in suggested I was walking out with a box of problems, I suggested they are actual a box of solutions to one’s problems….
Nashdale Lane also have some accomodation onsite with Glamping tents if you want to stay on the vineyard.
Next stop was the historic town of Millthorpe. It’s a quaint little old town, much of it on the National trust. Back in the late 19th century a flour mill was built and the railway came to town. Well worth a wander with lots of little cafes, “old ware” type shops, pubs and restaurants. If you were looking for somewhere close to Orange but maybe a little quieter, you wouldn’t go wrong here.
Had a browse through Millthorpe Providore before settling on the Old Mill Cafe and Restaurant for lunch. Couldn’t fault the coffee or the food. After lunch went for a walk around town and checked out the historic rail station.
Millthorpe NSW
Around a few places I’d seen this local Cherry Gin mentioned or for sale, being a slight fan of Gin, I was keen to buy a bottle to take home, but cherry flavour can be hit or miss, so I really wanted to try it first. The distillery is in Lucknow just outside Orange, so we dropped in on the way back for a tasting. Glad I did, as it wasn’t particularly to my liking, maybe a little on the medicinal tasting side. Next time in Orange will try some of their others, as no shortage of selections !
Dinner later Saturday night was at the Union Bank House Restaurant, a short 5 min walk around the corner from the hotel. Lovely old colonial building, food was as good as the ratings suggested. I had a miso encrusted steak and Sharon had a fish dish.
Day three of the food tour started looking for a coffee. Bit of googling suggested there was a great one about 15 minutes walk away called Academy Coffee Roasters on Woodward St. It was a nice walk through Cook Park, however I should have checked closer as it was closed on Sundays. Not to worry, I’d walked past an amazing looking place “Anything Grows” which is a cafe inside a plant nursery. Whilst the Coffee was no where near as good as Factory Espresso, it was still good and the location and atmosphere is amazing, especially on a nice cool sunny day.
Sisters Rock Resturant
After breakfast we had a walk through the Orange Botanical Gardens, then over to Lake Camobolas. That’s a man made lake, it was once the main water supply to Orange, however thats been replaced with a larger dam further out from town and this is now a recreation and picnic area.
Anything Grows, Lake, Gardens & Dinner
Lunch and the afternoon were spent at Sisters Rock Restaurant and the Skybar. I’d started to worry a little as they had recently had some lower google reviews, however we had a fantastic experience there, the food and wine were excellent. I’d started to really feel all the food from the weekend already so I stuck to a vegetarian option. 5 stars on my review !
Views over the valley from both the restaurant and the skybar were amazing on such a clear sunny day. I tried the Cherry Liqueur…. This was very very nice. The restaurant also had free EV charging, so was able to top up the car whilst we had a leisurely afternoon too.
Much later that evening we walked 5 minuted from our hotel and had Thai in the Gladstone Hotel. Excellent food, served super quick, couldn’t fault it at all.
We sadly had to leave Orange on the Monday morning, and then faced a coffee dilemma in that Monday being the Labour Day holiday, almost nothing was open. We drove past “Crema on Lords” (which had also been recommended to me) and it was open. There was a massive queue, however absolutely worth the wait. First cafe that I’ve ever seen that gives you a free macchiato whilst you wait for your late, cappuccino or flat white.
On the road and back up Victoria pass in the mountains for a night there before heading home.
It's all about the coffee 