Canberra sojourn #11 – Fun if you’re 5 or 50!

Making the most of our final long weekend in Canberra, Jules and I followed the advice of Lana and Lyndell and booked a trip down to the Rutherglen wine region. As we booked late we couldn’t get into Tulleries in Rutherglen as per their recommendation, so with a bit of googling and AirBNB I came across Inspiring Views, Artisan Homestead in Huon Creek, about 10kms south of Wondonga and we’re so happy we did!

Margaret our very lovely AirBNB host shares her bespoke and very special house and property. We had the king suite which consisted of a very comfortable king bed and bedroom, with a small kitchente, bathroom and private balcony with stunning views. Inspiring Views is perched atop one of the ridges surrounding Wondonga and the name says it all, the views are amazing. However, the star of the place is Margarets hidden pieces of art, some quirky, others amazing, scattered throughout the beautiful gardens. At check in you’re invited to grab a checklist and go hunt the 100’odd art installations spread, and often cleverly integrated & hidden in the garden. When booking I had read about the art and didn’t think it’d rock my boat, however, whilst taking a wander through the gardens on Saturday I came across a little door in the base of a gum tree and I was 5 years old again, instantly hooked with a stupid smile on my face as I hunted out the other obscure pieces.

Topping it off is the amazing house and outbuildings as they’re literally packed with antiques and odds and sods, all out on display and able to be enjoyed. This includes the vintage pull down old train sink in our bathroom! In fact, our only gripe for the place was that there were so many amazing nicknacks, we sometimes struggled to find a spot for our mundane items like the mobile or kindle. The gardens are full of flowers, singing birds and the paddocks grazed by sheep, cattle and kangaroos!

Margaret is a lovely host and very welcoming, inviting you to join her in the evenings if you wish in front of the fireplace, or allowing you to have your own privacy, which includes your private outside shower (in addition to your inside shower), if you’d rather. We’d absolutely recommend Inspiring Views, Artisan Homestead in Huon Creek to anyone, of any age. You’re sure to enjoy it!

—————————-

On to the 50year old trip highlights…. Wine, small country towns, beautiful countryside and devonshire teas!

Saturday saw us start the morning at the Albury/Wodonga Farmers Markets where we were very jealous of the locals as they have an amazing selection of great food to choose from. Following which we day tripped out to Rutherglen where the very helpful couple in the visitors centre put us onto some hot winery tips to test our tastebuds on the regionally famous Durif wines. Having tasted and not enjoyed a Barossa Durif in the past, we were interested in seeing how the Rutherglen wines stood up. We weren’t disappointed. Starting at Campbells on the way out of town, we enjoyed their Durif and broke our personal promise not to buy any more to bring home, putting 6 bottles in the car. From Campbells we drove out to the Warrabilla winery (again on the advice of the visitor centre) and loved and bought another 6 bottles…. Weak as piss we are, but hey, you only live once.

Looping back into town, we stopped at the Wicked Virgin Cafe for a hearty lunch, chatting to Charlie the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo who was ex-communicated from the Sydney zoo for swearing… The other cool fact about Charlie is he was born in 1941! Yep that’s right, Charlie the cocky is 78 years old and not looking too bad for an old fella. Next we visited the old gold battery which you can self tour if you pick up the access code from the visitors centre, before finishing the day by driving back to Huon Creek via the historic town of Chiltern.

After a lazy start to Sunday, we drove south east this time, passing through Mytleford, with morning tea in Beachworth, lunch in Bright and then afternoon deavonshire teas in Yackandandah. Lovely day, great food and scenery all within a 200km loop.

And that was it! Long weekend coming to an end, however, rather than drive straight home we took the backroads, meandering home via Wagga Wagga, having a pub lunch at Junee, driving the backroads out to Gundagai and then back home via Yass. Again, once you get off the Hume Hwy most of the countryside is stunning.

All in all a fantastic weekend and we now have another trip we’re planning on coming back for, to do properly with the goldy.