Would you drive 4.5 hours for a good steak?! The Upper Hunter has to be one of the best road trips from Sydney. We took a trip through horse country for our anniversary.
An anniversary road trip:-
In the year the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy triggered the global recession, we got hitched! That makes it 10 years ago we said ‘I do’ which we thought called for a celebration. We wanted something genuine, value for money and that represented adventure! Friends recommended Graze at Willow Tree Inn, the best Country Pub steak in NSW. A four and a half hour journey north, we decided to take one of the best road trips from Sydney! Back in 2003, we drove 6 hours to feast on crayfish in Kaikoura, New Zealand, so it seemed fitting we took the 4.5 hour road trip for a steak!
Overnight in Singleton:-
Leaving for our road trip on a Friday night we took the quicker option of the freeway and stopped in Singleton. If you have more time the other option is the scenic tourist drive. You could even combine the road trip with a stay in the Hunter Valley – read about my favourite boutique wineries here. We had not booked accommodation on Friday night so had to wing it! I like to recommend places I’ve enjoyed staying, eating or visiting but I’m also not in the market for negative reviews. So I’ll leave it like this, we stayed in one of the independent motels in town and ate in a local family-run restaurant. Neither of which I would jump at the chance of returning to!
Motel options along the route are plentiful, all looking pretty similar from the outside. I pretty much think its a gamble as the one we stayed in had some really good reviews on both Trip Advisor and Booking.com?!! We did, however, end up in The Horse & Jockey for a nightcap. Here we stumbled across live music, a great atmosphere and a pub full of welcoming locals.
Brekkie in Scone:-
Not fancying breakfast at the motel (for many reasons!) we cracked on after stopping by one of the world’s largest sundials. Next stop on the road trip was Scone, breakfast at Kerv on the recommendation of a reliable source born and bred here. This cute little cafe is described as the thoroughbred of cafes in the horse capital! With artwork, cards, trinkets and deli goods for sale, it had good coffee and a great blackboard of brekkie favourites! I had the cranberry bircher muesli with fresh rhubarb and yoghurt, Tim had poached eggs on toast. The highlight was that we got change from $30, never heard of in Sydney!
Road trip beauty:-
The road trip through the Upper Hunter starts to get interesting north of Singleton. Until then it’s pretty much just freeway. Yet, post-Singleton it offers a true country road trip experience. If you want to get even a small idea of the expanse of the land down under this is as good a place to start as any. Most of the Upper Hunters 18,000 square kilometres is a national park, nature reserve and rural use. Think landscapes dedicated to grazing, cropping dairy farming and horse studs. Grey chiselled cliffs of Quarry landscape north of Singleton make way for large puffing chimneys of power stations. Evergreen gum trees and silver scrub land turn into perfectly square, wooden fenced horse paddocks north of Scone. Browns, reds and golds of autumnal leaf-lined streets turn to lush green farmed fields north of Wingen. The road trip for steak sure is a picturesque one!
An afternoon around Quirindi:-
After 30 seconds in Willow Tree, we knew we needed advice on how to spend the afternoon! A glass of red wine in front of the fire in the local was tempting but we could do that anywhere anytime! Apart from a couple of cafes, a gourmet grocery, Willow Tree Inn and the Tourist Information Centre, there isn’t much else! The lady in the TIC was very helpful and gave us suggestions for our afternoon.
We took the B51 to Quirindi and made our way to ‘Who’d a Thought it Lookout’ for absolutely mesmerising views. At the top of Ray Carter Drive, magnificent 360-degree scenes span Liverpool Plains, Great Dividing Range and the township of Quirindi.
Bobs Shed:-
We stopped off halfway down Ray Carter Drive and visited Bobs Shed. Be ready to be amazed! I wandered through this Aladdin’s cave with my mouth open!! Starting at 15 years old collecting long necks for cash Bob soaked off the labels and kept them (these are on show).
His collection is now open to the public and thank goodness it is. It’s too amazing not to be! At the general store, there are boxes (still full) from the 40s. The pub is full of bottles, cans and all things pub memorabilia. There is a ticket office, gas station and two rooms dedicated to Peter Brock. We were the only ones there so were lucky enough to have Bob host us on our journey through time. What a special hour and a half. This one is a must! Do not pass through Quirindi without going to Bobs Shed!
Driving to Wallabadah cross country we visited the wonderful Memorial Gardens dedicated to the First and Second Fleets. This incredibly informative monument needs time that we didn’t have as the sun was setting on what had been a wonderful day! We have Tamworth on the bucket list and this will be a good stop along the way. If you have a couple of hours, you are interested in Australian history and enjoy wandering around well-kept gardens I would highly recommend a stop here.
Steak in Willow Tree:-
This tiny country town has a population of just over 400 yet boasts the magnificent Willow Tree Inn. This was our road trip destination! Originally built in 1913, Charles and Cheryl Hanna bought the pub in 2009. Since then they have completely renovated it, maintaining all the old country charm by using similar products to the original. The place is beautiful, read about the Graze story here. With a small front bar, it’s the back bar that is perfect for an autumn evening. With comfy leather seats and a roaring fire, this room invites you to sample one of the stunning reds from the excellent wine list.
We stayed in a King Lodge which was heavenly and the epitome of luxury. Decorated elegantly the lodge was large with the comfiest king bed, gorgeous leather sofa, huge en-suite and the BEST shower I’ve ever experienced!!!
Graze is the bistro on-site and at 7.30pm it was time. The steak we had driven 4.5 hours for, and it didn’t disappoint! With 100% of staff from the area and 100% of the beef coming from Colly Creek, 2kms up the road, this place is what Community Back Pocket is all about! We shared a kilo of rib eye on the bone, cooked to perfection. Luckily for us doggy bags provided meant that the hubby had steak for breakfast!!
What I’d go back to The Upper Hunter for:-
As with all weekend road trips, ours was too short!
Hardly knowing it existed before our visit I would definitely return to The Upper Hunter. I’d like to explore Scone and learn more about the thoroughbred horse stud industry. Being in the town on race day or for one of the festivals would be fun. Taking some more time to explore off the highway I’d visit Jerrys Plains and explore some of the national parks. Tamworth is definitely on the Aussie bucket list so we’ll be sure to pass through again!
The Upper Hunter website is a great resource and one that I’ll be sure to use when I return to Upper Hunter Country.
