PICTURESQUE Brigadoon Cottages, just outside Moe, are surrounded by two hectares of rolling lawns, cottage gardens, natural bushland and even the occasional wallaby. Sounds wonderfully idyllic, although all we can see is the black, black night.
Driving down the dark, windy and appropriately named Haunted Hills Road, it feels like the dead of night when we arrive at the Newborough property, even though it’s only 6pm. Thankfully, owners Michelle and Edward Barraclough are on hand to direct us to our cottage by torchlight and we’re welcomed by a beautiful fire that makes us instantly feel at home.
It’s a theme that runs through our entire weekend in the Latrobe Valley; who would have known there would be so many homely hidden gems in Moe, Morwell, Traralgon and surrounds? For an area known for its coal-fired power stations and open-cut mines, there are also top-class restaurants, boutique wineries and beautiful accommodation spots – perfect for some mother-daughter bonding.
There’s little time to enjoy our warm cottage, as we need to jump back on the freeway to Morwell for dinner at Gazbar Grill. Morwell couple Sue and Gary Fraser have run Gaztronomy restaurant for 27 years, but the cosy Middle-Eastern Gazbar Grill next door is a relatively new venture.
Tonight we’ve chosen the tasting menu of food that just keeps coming. The garlicky dips, boreks, tasty chicken and date balls, crunchy lamb and pine nut cigars and tender lamb and chicken kebabs are all delicious.
The next day, after breakfast in our cottage (admiring the views that were so absent the night before) we step back in time to 1850 for a quick visit to Old Gippstown historic township, Latrobe’s answer to Sovereign Hill.
But if you’re more interested in pinot noir than history (hands up here), there are two great wineries just out of Traralgon. At Narkoojee Vineyard, in Glengarry, Val Friend is happy to talk us through their list, which includes three drops named after their grandchildren. I particularly love the 2009 Sparkling Harriet, which is as lovely as it sounds.
When Val retired from her job as a school principal in 2005, she thought she would spend the rest of her days being a retired grandmother. Seven years on, Val and husband Harry are busier than ever preparing cheese platters at the cellar door and organising regular wine-matching functions at some of Melbourne’s top restaurants.
Down the road, it’s picking day at Traralgon Vineyards and all hands are on deck in the vines while the restaurant is taken over by a christening celebration. Owner Marg Hammond is another retired school teacher who loves the flexibility of her new life, especially when her former students return to get married at the property’s onsite chapel.
After a few wines in the sunshine we’re ready for a little rest before dinner at our next accommodation spot. Once a family home, the impressive Montfort Manor is now a luxury, four-suite bed and breakfast run by Melinda and David Wilson and was even visited twice by Julia Gillard, who stayed at the house when she was deputy PM.
Revived by a cup of tea and slice of chocolate cake in the manor’s sitting room (which feels a little bit Downton Abbey) we bump into David, who offers to drive us to Neilsons Restaurant and back, a gesture we graciously decline.
Almost three hours, eight courses and a couple of wines later, we regret that decision. Neilsons, housed in a Californian bungalow, is one of the region’s top restaurants and has won rave reviews – and with good reason.
The innovative dishes, described by my mum as “photo food” and expertly explained by waitress Alice, are almost too beautiful to eat. And to finish, a Heston Blumenthal-esque liquid nitrogen-infused meringue had the whole restaurant blowing smoke in hysterics.
After a blissful night’s sleep in a bed so high I needed a stool to get into it, we have one more stop to make the weekend complete.
The world-class Morwell Centenary Rose Garden, created in 1992, is an impressive labour of love for the 70 members of the Friends of the Rose Garden group.
Over the years the one-hectare park has burst its seams, leaping across the road and engulfing what must be the most picturesque and fragrant bus stop in the world. I am definitely no green thumb, so the idea of visiting a rose garden didn’t really appeal. But, again, I was pleasantly surprised and another preconception was smashed. Just add it to the list.
Joanne Sim travelled courtesy of Destination Gippsland. Details: visit inspiredbygippsland.com.au
