Welcome to part 3 of my guide to Mudgee! So far I’ve covered all the delightful eating and drinking opportunities this town has to offer, and now we finish with my guide to shopping and sightseeing in Mudgee, rounding up the perfect weekend away.
After a hearty breakfast, we meet Olivia Morgan from @morganandscout for a shopping tour of Mudgee. Mudgee’s main shopping precinct is located along Market and Church Street and features an array of small boutiques, op shops and chain stores.
Georgina Goldsmith Upholstery – 56 Market Street, Mudgee
Established by Georgie Goldsmith in 2012, GGUP is a furniture upholstery service and maker of leather goods. Georgi’s dedication to producing high quality, well-designed pieces that will last the test of time was clearly evident in our tour of her studio. It was a great insight into the process she goes through to produce her items, from revamping an old chair to embossing a customer’s initials in gold onto a handmade leather tote bag.
Juliet Horsley Homewares – 86 Church St, Mudgee
Our next stop was at Juliet Horsley Homewares, a store that wouldn’t look out of place in the trendy inner city suburbs of Sydney or Melbourne. Juliet stocks a great range of handmade timber pieces including lamps, tables and chopping boards and complements them with a carefully curating range of homewares and accessories.
Deer Mudgee Boutique – 13b Lewis St, Mudgee
If you need to get your fashion fix, then Deer Mudgee store stocks a huge array of great Australian and International designers including Bassike, Camilla and Marc and Hunter gumboots. This place can do some serious damage to your credit card!
Mainly Mudgee Gifts – 78 Church St, Mudgee
Mainly Mudgee stocks a carefully selected range of products sourced from Mudgee including local olives and oil, jams, honey, home made sweets, craft, jewellery and natural timber products. It’s the perfect place to pick up gifts for those back home.
After dropping all my shopping bags off at the hotel, we regroup to meet with Mudgee Farm Walks for a walking tour of regional producers. These tours are put on by Mudgee Fine Foods and depending on the season, you may get to experience anything from olive oil production, free-range pork, a fig orchard, or a working winery.
I love being able to meet the farmer and hear how passionate they are about what they produce, and seeing the hard work that goes into the final produce. Plus you often get to sample the produce direct from the farm gate. You can’t get fresher than that!
Our first stop was Karabool Olives, and we got to meet the owner David Sergeant. He led us on a walk around the olive grove and we learned all about the processes involved in growing and producing award winning Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Their grove has over 3500 trees of Tuscan and Greek varieties and it’s important to them to use sustainable agricultural practices. This includes using compost fertilisers and limiting the use of herbicides and pesticides.
We got to sample a range of their award winning olive oil, infusions and olives and they have all these products for sale at their small shop as well as a range of olive oil products including soap.
Karrabool also runs a small herd of cattle and Blue Shed Retreat, which is self-contained accommodation located on the farm. They are busy people!
Australian Gourmet Hazelnuts – 21 Putta Bucca Rd, Mudgee
Clem and Vanessa greet us warmly to their farm which is home to over 3000 hazelnut trees of the Tokolyi Brownfield Cosford hazelnut variety. They’ve been in the hazelnut business for years, and are making their mark on the Australian hazelnut industry with their high quality and fresh produce.
Did you know that the majority of hazelnuts in Australia are mostly imported from Turkey? Whilst the hazelnut industry here is still relatively small, Clem and Vanessa are slowly educating locals with regular appearances at farmer’s markets and in stores around Mudgee.
The processing shed is onsite and we got to see how the hazelnuts are treated and prepared for different ranges, such as raw kernel, roasted hazelnuts, nut meal and flavoured nuts. Their Mudgee Hazelnut dukkah was absolutely delicious and I had to buy 2 jars!
We were followed around the property by their loyal dog Tacca, who was always on high alert for the occasional dropped hazelnut – he loves them!
If you want to experience farm life in Mudgee for yourself, don’t forget to check out Mudgee Farm Walks and book yourself in for one of their tours. It’s a great day for the whole family.
Until next time Mudgee!
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