Road trippin to Mudgee - Day 2

Annie and Ted's house in Mudgee

After an awesome night sleep with no aircraft noise, truck horns or night tomfoolery, we awoke in Mudgee to a beautiful clear day.

Our day began with some kid friendly activities - duck feeding and park time at Lawson Park in town. Totally awesome park, with cycle tracks, playground, undercover areas, electric BBQs and good toilet facilities.

Ducks

Feeding the ducks

Then we hit the wineries. First stop, the Cellar Door at Burrundulla (of course!)

Burrundulla Cellar Door

Burrundulla wine selection

My picks from Burrundulla were the Merlot Rose and the Heritage Sangiovese, Hubby's pick Cabernet Sauvignon, so of course we bought some. We also picked up some gluten free fig jam, chutney, caramelised balsamic vinegar, blood orange vingear and honey mustard sauce, as well as some honey that was collected from hives on the property.

Our next stop was Botolar as I wanted to try some organic, preservative free wine. I have to admit we weren't blown away with any of these wines, so left empty handed. But the scenario was another story.

Botolar winery

Lowe was the next winery on our list. It was a great place for kids and adults. The kids ran off to the animals, donkeys and chickens and the adults ran off the cellar door. We were greeted very enthusiastically by a jolly man for some wine tasting.

Lowe winery

My absolute fav at Lowe was the Organic Sparkling Merlot, Hubby's pick was "Block 8" Organic Shiraz, once again a purchase was made. 

During the evening on Day 2, I took Hubby to see Crushed (the film shot at Burrundulla by Sarahs friend Megan), which was its Mudgee premiere so was a complete sell out. 

Day 3 and final coming soon....

Do you have a favourite wine? or winery?

Road trippin' to Mudgee - Day 1

Ah, the country. Wide opens spaces, clean crisp air, trees, wildlife. I can't remember the last time I was in the country. In fact, I can't remember ever being in the country for more than a fleeting pass through on the way to somewhere else. How much I have missed out on!

Our good friend has a property in Mudgee, named Burrundulla. It was established almost 200 years ago by the Cox family and is about 2000 acres. Today, our friend Sarah's, mum and dad, Annie and Ted Cox run a vineyard and Cellar Door on the property, aptly called Burrundulla.

This past long weekend we packed up the car and headed out to Mudgee with Sarah and her little miss to take in all the sites and soak up the country life.

The drive from Sydney to Mudgee is three and a half hours (on a good day), so we broke the trip up and stopped at Memorial Park at Blackheath for a picnic lunch and so the kids could burn off some energy.

Memorial Park was great, it had three different play equipment areas and lots of wide open space to run around. But if you need to use the "facilities" be prepared for a hike.

Memorial Park @ Blackheath

Tree adventures

Next stop, Mudgee!

We arrived at Burrundulla mid afternoon and were warmly greeted by Annie and Ted. Two more hospitable and accommodating people you will not meet.

Ted has two older brothers who are also involved in the property. His brother, Mike raises sheep and cattle.

Ted mentioned that Mike was shearing his sheep so we trekked off through the paddocks to the shearing shed. As sheep are only shorn once a year this was a real treat for us. These sheep were still lambs, at only 7 months old and this was their first time getting a hair cut.

The sheep's wool	The sheep waiting their turn
The sheep pen	The "shaun" the sheep
Mark, shearing the sheep

We spent the rest of the afternoon wondering around the property. Burrundulla is an amazing place, filled with lots of available adventures - the kids had made a rocket ship out of various things they had found around the property. The clean crisp country air was also a delight as was the amazing amount of space.

Burrundulla property	Burrundulla property
Sheep skull
And a rainbow	Annie and Ted's house

For dinner we headed into town to the Lawson Hotel, an awesome venue for kids. There are two old wooden boats sitting in a pile of dirt next to the beer garden and the kids were entertained for 3 hours, stopping only for food and the occasional drink of water! The food was good too, with options to cook your own steak.

Mudgee Day 2 will follow soon....

Have you been to Mudgee? 

Been to the Burrundulla Cellar Door?