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PUBLISHED:
The Illawarra Mercury (Wollongong) 23 February 2008
Central Western Daily (Orange) June 2008
The Epoch Times (National) 18 June 2008 ACCOMPANYING IMAGES Accompanying images were taken by Sandra Burn White, a freelance photographer whose work forms an essential backdrop to John Rozentals' travel stories. She has also built an extensive album of images which are available for purchase and can be perused on her site: www.sandraburnwhite.com.au
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NSW SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS When JOHN ROZENTALS embarked on a five-day exploration of the Southern Highlands he didn't expect to find such a vibrant and sophisticated food-and-wine experience — and he certainly didn’t expect to finish his visit in a disused railway tunnel on the outskirts of Bowral. Noel Arrold’s tunnel isn’t on the Southern Highlands tourist circuit. Indeed, it hides, completely unheralded, behind an anonymous cyclone-wire fence on the northern outskirts of Bowral. But its produce — a dazzling array of shitake and other exotic mushrooms — is very much part of a thriving foodie scene that is adding significantly to the Highlands’ tourism appeal. Not that the area has ever lacked in tourism appeal. It has long been a magnet for visitors drawn by lush pastures, magnificent very-English gardens, flower festivals, quaint tearooms and antique shops, the spectacular Fitzroy Falls at the northern end of Morton National Park, and, of course, Bowral’s Bradman Museum, iconic enough to escape even the keen anti-inflationary razor of the new Government. And that traditional appeal is still there in spades. Even on a sullen, drizzly day, the short trek to Fitzroy Falls is worthwhile, with the swirling mist adding an eerie touch to the dripping foliage and offering tantalising glimpses of the falls and the chasm below. The visitor centre at the Falls is an excellent one and provides not just ample evidence of the appeal of the huge Morton National Park but also fascinating insights into the lives and work of the district’s pioneering conservationists — people such as Janet Cosh, after whom the herbarium at the University of Wollongong was named. Every town seems to have its museum, but there was only one Bradman and Bowral’s memorial to our greatest cricketer is an exceptionally splendid one, with evocative audio-visual presentations and an array of memorabilia that would leave Channel 9’s commentary team humbled and grasping for superlatives. For an appreciation of Bowral’s gardens, take a drive east of the town centre along Kangaloon Road, past the golf course towards the famed Bong Bong Racecourse, turn left into Horderns Road and take some time to explore Milton Park, surely the Bradman of gardens. Milton Park was owned from 1910 to 1960 by the Hordern family — of Sydney retailing fame — and what started as a formal, geometric, Edwardian-style garden at the front of the mansion was gradually expanded to include a series of terraces, pools and quite magnificent garden beds and fine old trees. The property was initially purchased by Anthony Hordern, who renamed it after the South Coast town of Milton, which had been established by his grandfather John Booth. It’s quite easy to spend an hour or two wandering around the gardens, taking photos and discovering delights such as the three oldest weeping beeches in Australia and the oldest variegated tulip tree in the southern hemisphere. These days, Milton Park is run as a guesthouse and spa resort and offers extremely fine dining in Horderns Restaurant, where new executive chef Joel Bickford is doing great things with local produce and provided our first experience of mushrooms from “The Tunnel”. Accompanying perfectly seared aged, grain-fed beef, they provided a veritable explosion of earthy flavours. A drive over the mountains for lunch at Horderns and a stroll around Milton Park, with perhaps a diversion to Fitzroy Falls, would certainly come highly recommended as a daytrip out of Wollongong. It’s also ideal if you want to get away from it all for a couple of days and pamper yourself in absolute luxury — large, well equipped rooms, many of them opening out on to the gardens; heated swimming pool; complimentary use of the spa pavilion (treatments are extra); tennis courts; perhaps pre-dinner drinks and a game of snooker on the full-size table in the magnificently decorated bar. Milton Park is obviously a popular spot for Highlands weddings, and facilities include the free-standing Carriage House, which features seven bedrooms, large lounge and a balcony. And if you’re interests include a round or two of golf, consider a night or two at Links House, just across the road from the Bowral Golf Club. It dates from 1928 and offers very comfortable motel-style accommodation. It was purpose-built for golfing enthusiasts and, incidentally, was the first motel in Australia to offer ensuite facilities. It is managed by the owners, who take great pride in the lush gardens, sheltered courtyards and the cosy lounge and library areas. Links House incorporates Vida Restaurant, where Noel Arrold’s mushrooms are also a feature. Chef Phillip Whitton uses them in his signature dish — duck confit with “tunnel” mushroom terrine, with pomegranate and pinot noir glaze — and that was enough to inspire some further investigation and eventually, on our way back to Sydney, a meeting with Noel and a quick tour of “the tunnel” and his laboratory in Mittagong. The tunnel in question once carried the single railway line between Sydney and Canberra, but when the line was doubled in 1919 a new tunnel was excavated and the original one became disused — at least until the 1950s when Edgells began using it for growing mushrooms for canning. Noel, a microbiologist by training, took over the lease of the tunnel in 1987 and his company, Li-Sun, has become Australia’s biggest producer of exotic mushrooms, turning over more than $1.5 million worth of product annually. He finds the constant 16-70ºC temperature and 80-90 per cent humidity in the 650-metre-long tunnel ideal for growing a range of mushrooms that started with Swiss browns and has been expanded to include shitakes and shimajes from Asia and king browns and chestnuts from Europe. Li-Sun mushrooms are part of an expanding list of Southern Highlands produce gaining international renown — farmed barramundi, raspberries, pork, beef, honey, cheese and wine. The wine industry is growing particularly quickly, with a bevy of small wineries being led by a couple of larger producers such as Centennial Vineyards and Southern Highlands Wines, who obviously see their cool climate as ideal for making fine wines and their proximity to Sydney, Wollongong and Canberra as perfect for generating cellar-door and restaurant traffic. We enjoyed an excellent lunch at Centennial — they use tunnel mushrooms, too — but you can also find satisfying dining in Bowral’s town centre. Onesta Cucina provides top-class Italian fare that goes way beyond the regulation spag bol — and there’s direct access to the cavernous Antiquariat Fine Books which offers ample opportunities to flick though some classics. The books are even closer at the Elephant Boy Cafe, where proprietor Claudia Le Duc has managed to combine browsing with grazing on hearty pies and sensational curries based on the renowned products of the associated Rangoon Racquet Club. And you can fiddle with a jigsaw puzzle while you wait. As we were checking out of Links House, I mentioned to chef Phillip Whitton that scoring five top meals out of five attempts was pretty unusual for a country town. “Just remember, though, Bowral ain’t you usual country town,” came the reply. And he was quite right. |
