Last weekend was a New South Wales getaway weekend! We rented a GoGet with our friends Esther & Andres and headed up to Orange, NSW.
Orange is about a 3 hour drive north and west of Sydney. It's a small little town, but it's becoming a bit well known for its wineries and vineyards. A lot of produce is grown there too, but ironically not oranges. It's a bit too cold for citrus, but they grow a lot of apples and stone fruit. So people from Sydney like to go up to Orange for food and wine, which makes for a pretty good weekend!
We traveled on Spanish time, so that meant we didn't actually arrive to Orange until around 1 in the afternoon Saturday. But it turns out that that was OK because there's not all that much to do in Orange! Most of the "things to do" lists center around wine tasting at cellar doors or visiting the parks in the town. We easily fit both of those things into our weekend. =)
The Orange wine region is "up and coming" so must of the wineries are pretty new, in winery terms. Our first stop was at De Salis wines, which was just started up in the 90s. It was located on the highest point in Orange, so it was a spectacular place to have a wine tasting.
De Salis also had a few cellar door doggies, who were happy to say hi and get a little attention. I tried telling them how good their lives are, but I don't know if they appreciated what I saying.
Orange is most definitely a small country town, and for both T and I, it felt a lot like home. Things like having to open and shut the gate to go down a drive added fun touches to our weekend.
After our first winery, we stopped by the local lake and had a picnic in the sun. It was much cooler in Orange than it's been in Sydney, so sitting in the sun felt so good. And with all the leaves off the trees and the quiet lake in the background, it definitely felt like an East Tennessee autumn.
Our next and last winery stop for the weekend was Ross Wines. It was also high up on a hill, and they had a cozy tasting room inside where the late afternoon sun came in perfectly.
We capped off our night in Orange with dinner at the Union Bank Wine Bar. It was, as the name suggests, in an old bank building, and it was a very cute restaurant.
We had a nice dinner in the courtyard under the heaters, and it was the perfect end to our wine-themed day!
In addition to the countryside, another thing about our weekend that really made us feel like we were home (and maybe just a little bit homesick?) was the little town itself. It was just a small country town with a broad main street.
We walked around the town a bit on Sunday morning before we drove back to Sydney. It was as quiet and deserted as could be, as all country towns should be on a Sunday morning.
The only action happening on the Sunday morning were the church bells. There were churches on every other corner, just like home!
Hands-down, the best part of Orange for us was the feeling of having a proper fall. In Sydney, most of the trees don't change with the season. They either stay green through the winter or the leaves die and fall off. But there is very little change in the colors, which is something we both miss a lot.
In Orange, though, the colors were spectacular! We took a walk through one of the big parks on Sunday before leaving, and it was just the best feeling. I couldn't stop taking pictures of leaves and picking them up!
I don't know what this tree is, but the berries/nuts on it were on theme too!
This tree was actually called "The Hugging Tree." We all gave it a go.
I mean it just doesn't get better than this!
Even though it was a short little break, it really made us happy! We felt like we'd had a taste of home over the weekend, and it was a great feeling. =)
