A few years ago took a little holiday away for the weekend and drove about four hours west inland from Sydney into beautiful country New South Wales - to a town called Orange
Over the years, it's a place many people have told me they thought I would love due to its notoriety as a food haven. So I decided to bite the bullet and head over for a few days away.
I stayed at a fantastic place located an easy straight drive 9km west of Orange town in the Black Sheep Inn. I was surprisingly taken aback at the size of Orange itself, having for some reason thought it to be a much smaller, sleepy little village full of tiny galleries, restaurants etc., but it's home to now approx. 40,000 people and a much larger town than I was expecting.
It's set on the slopes of Mount Canobolas amongst orchards and vineyards. It is ideally located for basing yourself at accommodation from which you can quickly drive around and sample the food and wine for which the region is renowned and also, in turn, meet the super friendly people who run said orchards, wineries, farms, olive groves and such...
The Black Sheep Inn is a unique, unique, award-winning venture. Owned by the incredibly helpful and welcoming Helen and Andrew Napier, who two years ago took over the running of the property from Andrew's folks, Dee and Rob - I met the latter on Sat afternoon by chance, and what a charming guy, there's a fantastic sense of a close-knit family at this place.
Helen herself popped over to say hello on Friday morning. Overall, Helen just couldn't have been more friendly and accommodating. The Black Sheep Inn is an original 100-year-old iconic shearing shed converted into unique and modern accommodation. Traditional and contemporary elements have been cleverly melded into one stylish whole.
Black Sheep Inn has five guest suites and is a perfect place to rent out with a group of mates if you want to get away for a weekend together. In addition to the central converted sheering station, they also offer a self-contained cottage - which would have been the original sheep shearer's quarters; Whispering Moon Cottage ~ which has an option of one or two bedrooms, each with an en-suite and a living area with cosy fireplace. I chose this option and had an absolutely brilliant relaxing stay.
The critical elements of the main shearing building have been painstakingly conserved, such as the timbers hand-cut from the property, the galvanized iron, the flooring and sheep chutes, the wool table, the red Sunbeam shearing machines, the wool baskets and the enormous Koerstz wool press. But the accommodation facilities of Black Sheep Inn provide a distinctive twenty-first-century charisma and a unique rural experience".
Weekend breakfast is served in the main sheering shed, cooked by Helen, who uses only local, fresh and seasonal produce.
was blown away when we went to the converted sheering shed for a look-see on Friday morning. It oozes stylishness and serenity. There are two communal sitting areas, but one, in particular, is hidden to the left with an adjoining balcony that overlooks stunning countryside views. Guests dine at a communal table - the original wool sorting table- now cased with a glass top. It was so easy to envisage yourself sitting on the terrace in the summer or by the adjacent roaring fire in the winter months, enjoying a bottle or two of good Aussie red which you'd buy on a day tour to the local wineries. It's a total escape from the city/daily hum-drum and one I highly recommend if you get the chance.
One of the surrounding villages outside of Orange I drove over to on Friday was the beautiful heritage town of Millthorpe. A charming little village boasting award-winning restaurants, arts and antique stores, a museum and boutique shops. The town had a real sense of style and prettiness and was full of quaint, well-kept cottages with rambling wildflowers and rose gardens. The town offers a gorgeous array of design-led boutique accommodation options and restaurants - esp. the award-winning Tonic and a funky little coffee shop called La Boucherie, which stocks alongside great coffee and pastries, a range of books, cards and artwork.
Small Acres Cyder is run by Gail and James Kendell, who operate their business on Arkhurst Road, just off Borenore Road (about 15 mins west of Orange). We decided to take a trip over to their orchard and cellar door on Saturday to taste their range of locally grown, locally made artisan cider. After 20 minutes of tasting the ciders, guided by James' expert knowledge, I quickly walked away with a mixed dozen case.
I'm not a huge cider drinker, mainly because I associate most cider with being served in a pint glass. It is generally very sickly sweet (think Bulmers/Magners etc./the general run-of-the-mill pub variety found in most Irish pubs/bars - which was the last time I encountered cider in the broad sense). However, the offerings at Small Acres Cyder are a million miles away from this mass-manufactured style I have been more familiar with. I started the tasting with a glass of their Somerset still dry and Norfolk Still medium dry varieties, moving up to their Sparkling varieties and an extraordinary and unusual Dessert style cider. All I can say is it has changed my thinking of cider being a cheap-ish pub option to a serious premium drink offering you could enjoy with a good meal (in particular roast pork) over the usual white wine.
Their direction is driven by older-style UK traditional alcoholic cider made from authentic cider apples. James is one of the few cider apple growers in NSW (most other local apple producers grow only an eating apple variety). James' apple trees are sourced from England and France. He chose Orange as a perfect location to base their venture due to the ideal climate, soil conditions and established food and wine industry.