We have a couple more months left on our NSW TrainLink Discovery Passes, so we decided to spend last weekend in Orange, NSW. We’d driven through Orange many years ago (on the way back from our Christmas trip to Dubbo twenty years ago that got disrupted by the MURDERER), but neither of us had ever spent any time there. I asked Mastodon for recommendations on what we should do there, and I was very excited to hear that the Orange Show would be happening! Rodd found us some accommodation, and I booked us in for a half-day wine tour. And early Thursday morning, we hopped on the train at Central for the five hour journey to Orange…

The scenery was very pretty, especially once we got over the misty Blue Mountains and past Katoomba.

We pulled in just at lunchtime, and to our delight we were only a few minutes’ walk from one of the eateries Rodd found: Elwood’s Eatery at the Smoking Brothers. Some American-style grub was exactly what we needed! I went for the Tater Tot dog, while Rodd had the Cheeseburger.

It was still too early to check in for our hotel, but we were pleased to discover that we could leave our bags at the train station. After dropping them off with the nice attendant, we headed out for a walk down the main drag, Summer Street. We were really happy to see that we hadn’t missed all the Autumn colour!

We were pleasantly surprised by the Orange CBD. I expected it to be like Mudgee – aka very oriented towards tourists – but it didn’t feel that way at all. There were loads of shops, restaurants, pubs, cafes, and parks. We walked all the way down to Cook Park, which had been specially recommended on Mastodon. I’d picked up a brochure about it so we circled all around checking out the highlights, including this massive Bunya pine.

We also said hello to the ducks at the pond.

Mr. Snook decided to try out the swings.

The park also has a beautiful avenue of elms at one entrance. Even with many of the leaves already fallen, it was still stunning.

Eventually we headed back to the station, collected our bags, and checked in to our accommodation. The Mac is a new “apartment hotel,” and we got the last room available – the accessible room closest to the street. It was spacious and comfortable, and it was really useful to have a kitchenette to make our breakfast in the morning. We had a rest for a while before heading out to meet our friend Jane for dinner.

Jane moved to Orange from Sydney several years ago, and we hadn’t seen her since before the pandemic. She had booked us a table at Mr. Lim, and we spent several hours catching up and working our way through six shared plates of tasty Japanese and Korean food. I only managed to remember to get a photo of the king fish sashimi, which was excellent.

We eventually tottered off back to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep before our wine tour the next day…

In the morning we had a late breakfast at a local cafe, trying to line our stomachs a bit. Our driver picked us up around 1pm, and there were only two other women (with a dog) on the tour. The ladies were actually on an all-day tour, and they went to have lunch while we were at our first stop – Rowlee Wines.

This was a lovely tasting room with views out over the vines. Our host poured us tasters of 8 different wines, including some varietals we’d never tried before like Arneis. For a couple of them, he served us both the “single vineyard” and “estates” version so we could compare. Rodd took the tasting very seriously, writing notes on his phone and only trying a tiny bit of each. Me, I drink them all. 😄

We ended up buying two bottles to bring home with us – the Arneis and the Shiraz. I took a photo out over the vines as we waited for our driver to return.

Our next stop was Heifer Station, a rustic property with lots of seating outside as well as chickens and cows to visit. It was a little cool outside though, so we settled ourselves near the fireplace inside.

We tried six different wines at this stop. We were reusing glasses, so Rodd had to actually drink all of them! We were both getting pleasantly tipsy, and thankfully the young man brought us a cheese plate for sustenance.

It was all so good. I particularly loved the goat’s cheese, and the marinated Persian figs. (I bought some to take home with me!) We also particularly liked their rosé and bought a bottle of that as well.

Our third stop and final stop was Orange Mountain. It was billed as the world’s first “digital wine tasting,” with a mounted tablet for each person with details of each wine on it. That made it very easy to just hit “add to cart” for anything you liked as you went along. We tried eight different wines, including the two dessert wines.

We had a great time listening to Terry’s stories, and we ended up getting a bottle of the Mountain Ice Viognier to take back. The sun was just setting when we left to head back to town!

That night we went for dinner at Badlands Brewery. Food comes from the nearby hotel, so we had a couple very nice burgers while we sampled their brews. Then back to the Mac for a nice long sleep…

The next day we had breakfast at the apartment and then headed to the Orange Regional Gallery to check out their Brett Whiteley exhibition. We also checked out the permanent collection. It’s a small but excellent little museum!

Then it was time to hike a couple kms over to the Showgrounds to check out the Orange Show. First stop, of course, was the craft exhibit…

I was charmed, people! You could tell how much work people had put into their pieces. I was surprised to see so much crochet though, and in fact I couldn’t even spot any knitting. Maybe I somehow missed it?

Mr. Snook was very interested to see the prize-winning cakes.

I was a bit surprised to see that Lego was a whole competition category with several prizes! Never seen that at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

We also checked out the prize-winning gourds and pumpkins, as well as the scarecrows(?!).

I couldn’t decide if these little guys were creepy or charming.

I like this nod to the District Exhibits at the Sydney Royal. It was interesting to see the scoring sheets on how the wool was judged.

We were getting hungry, so I grabbed a hotdog and Rodd got a lamb roll. We parked ourselves on a hay bale to enjoy the sunshine…

…and to watch the woodchopping! The fine fellows of the Mid West Axemen’s Association put on quite a show.

Except they weren’t all men! I was really excited to see this young woman competing. She finished in the middle of her heat, but it was thrilling to see her out there competing.

I got an ice cream and we walked around the midway checking out all the rides and exhibits.

I signed a petition for the local car collectors’ club to help them get a clubhouse. I think this is a Chrysler Valiant Charger.

“Hi Kids My Name Is BOZO The CLOWN Why Dont You Come In And Have Fun” *shudder*

Rodd convinced me to peek inside the poultry hut. This goose was LARGE and SCARY.

They had a small pen of sheep with some working dogs, and apparently throughout the day they’d show the dogs herding the sheep.

Clydesdales! They were huge.

We went into the Farmyard Nursery (aka petting zoo), where they had rabbits and goats and sheep and the usual. I was amused though to see these two alpacas!

Rodd petted one of the little goats.

The Show also had a ute competition! “I wonder when they start doing circle work,” Rodd joked.

I was excited to see the Bluey Bounce House, but oh my goodness – $10 to go in!

We’d had enough of the Show at that point, so we trekked back to town to the hotel for a rest. That night we headed across the railroad tracks to Parrot Distilling Co. where we availed ourselves of some fine cocktails.

We’d heard from someone on Mastodon that the wood-fired pizzas there were phenomenal, and I really agree. We went with “The Butcher.”

Alongside the pizza, we decided to do a tasting of a couple of their different gins.

We had the Foragers Blend, Triple Juniper, and Slo Gin. I enjoyed the latter so much we bought a bottle of it to take home!

Mr. Snook couldn’t resist snapping a few photos of their still. I think he wants to branch out from beers into spirits…

Our final stop was the Mad Hatter Drink Lab, where we tried a couple brews from Canobolas Brewing and chatted to the friendly locals.

Sunday was our final day, and unfortunately it’s the day where the weather turned crappy. It was gray and cold and windy right from the get-go! We checked out of the hotel and had breakfast at a local cafe before dropping off our bags again at the station. Then we headed to the Orange Regional Museum, and on the advice of a Mastodon friend, climbed up onto its grass roof.

For once, Mr. Snook remembered to bring his binoculars on a trip!

The Museum was small but did a good job of conveying the history of the region through objects owned by the citizens. I particularly liked this Lace Making Loom that was owned by a local woman circa 1910.

We then walked up Byng Street, checking out some of the historical sites. We ended up at Dirty Janes, a huge antique shop/mall.

I was entranced by this child’s sewing machine. I didn’t dare look at the price, because I would’ve bought it and I really didn’t have any space left in my bag at this point.

I also really liked this “Framed Patriotic Crochet.”

At this point the rain really started to come down, so we took shelter in a local historic pub. Soon it was time to head back to the train station for our journey back to Sydney.

One of the fun things about the XPT is that they offer lunch and dinner service! We had the choice of a few meals, and they were all were very cheap ($9-15). I had the vegetable lasagne, and Rodd went with the corned beef and vegetables. You make your selection and get a little slip of paper, and when they announce they’re ready, you head up to pay and collect. We also had some “WIAG” (aka Wine in a Glass) to accompany.

I couldn’t resist making a dining car post!

We got in to Sydney about 9pm and thankfully managed to get home from Central without getting rained on. Can highly recommend a visit to Orange in the Autumn. Beautiful town, lovely food and wine, and an easy distance from the city. 🩷