It has been more than a year since Australia first locked down due to the pandemic. Australia couldn't be a luckier country. Coronavirus has mostly been squashed here. Life has (almost) gone back to normal. The country is open. We are now allowed to sing and dance! However, that overseas trip is still out of reach...
I suspect our 2020 trip to Singapore that we managed to squeeze in before the world imploded from the virus would be the last "normal" overseas trip for a while. Whilst it was nice to reminisce, it was important to make new memories. No better motivation to start organising a trip than a half price accommodation deal! And so here we are...embarking on our foodie road trip to the Central West of New South Wales. Mudgee had just been named as one of the top 10 "emerging destinations" worldwide. Chuck Orange in there as well and we got ourselves a worthy getaway.
Unfortunately, something called work had to be done in the morning by all four of us...a 1pm departure still gave us plenty of time to arrive at the picturesque town of Leura by the mid afternoon. The torrential, flood inducing, state wide, and week long rain had magically disappeared. We saw blue skies. Happy days! I was generously gifted Accor gold status by a friend and we received a free room upgrade at the Fairmont Resort & Spa. Even happier days! 10 second review of the Fairmont - phenomenal views and great access to walking trails. Resort is old although rooms have been refurbished. I can't speak for the golf course unfortunately as the golf playing member of the family did not come along. Would I pay top dollar to stay here...probably not. But it was still a lovely place to stay.
We dumped our bags and headed out for our walk. We had limited choice with walking trails as most were closed due to rain damage, but it didn't matter as it felt glorious to be out walking in the sun and worked up an appetite for our first foodie experience at Cinnabar Kitchen in nearby Blackheath. The dining experience has been described as "share plates offering tastes from around the world". It didn't disappoint, although we couldn't work out the representative countries for some of the dishes...
The food was pitched as fine dining in a casual setting. That was fairly accurate, the price was on the high side but the ambience was relaxed and the service friendly. The food was creative without being too crazy and the flavours fresh and tasty. The desserts were probably the only ones that disappointed somewhat. Both were just a touch too sweet. Nonetheless we drove back to our resort satisfied and ready to continue out west!
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| View from Sublime Point Lookout |
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| Our superior double queen room |
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| The resort's golf course |
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| Four happy women! |
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| Cheers to us! |
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| Complimentary zaatar crisp bread |
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| Wild scallop tatare. The standout dish in my view |
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| Jamaican spiced prawn pot with blackened lime and toum |
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| Balsamic mushrooms with whipped fetta and parmesan cappello |
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| The mains of yoghurt baked fish with almond macadamia pistachio fine herbs crust & braised beef cheeks with star anise, cinnamon and gremolata |
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| Scorched almond ice-cream and lemon curd meringue |
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| Happy days! |
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