Mudgee

View of sweeping hills from the Mudgee Guesthouse

The 7th of October stamped the day that Mark and I had been together for 10 years, and the 8th was my birthday, so we decided to stay somewhere a bit fancy for the weekend. We stayed at Mudgee Homestead and thoroughly enjoyed Sean's and Karen's hospitality. This was the first time we stayed at a bed and breakfast (B and B) and after this experience we will do it again. There were a few other couples staying who we met either by spotting each other kangaroo watching on the wide sweeping veranda, or at breakfast which was enjoyed in the dining room.

We arrived on Friday afternoon after already visiting a vineyard on our way in to town. Mudgee town centre wasn't what I expected, but it was still nice. For dinner we went to Blue Wren winery; named after the beautiful small blue birds that can be seen and heard singing throughout Mudgee. Blue Wren had the added bonus of a courtesy bus that picked us up from the homestead and dropped us back after dinner, which meant we could enjoy a lovely bottle of wine.

On Saturday morning we went to the Mudgee markets which have a lot of room for improvement, the good part was that the RSPCA takes dogs that need adopting there, so Mark and I tried to make up for missing Jet and Baxter by giving two old dogs and two puppies a good tummy rub.

We then headed off to Gulgong, an old fashioned town that is known for its high quality clay and clay artists, this was a great town to visit and purchase some useful souvenirs to remind us of our holiday. By then it was late enough for us to start tasting wine, so we visited many wineries including Leaning Oak winery and dairy farm where I cuddled a goat, see post here, and Mudgee Honey Haven where we tasted Mead; a delicious liqueur made from honey.

Gulgong Museum-there are many original buildings in Gulgong

For my birthday lunch we sat outside overlooking the lake at di Lusso where we enjoyed a delicious antipasto plate and wood fired anchovy pizza that we watched being made and placed in the outdoor pizza oven-we want one! Then dinner was a four course meal put on by the Mudgee Homestead, and enjoyed with all the other guests, it was a great night, so great that our departure for Dubbo the next morning happened a little later than planed.