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Amanda Robertson

Month: July 2023

Holidaying at home in the Gloucester region

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Holidaying at home in the Gloucester region

Our beautiful Gloucester region gives us so many reasons to holiday at home, it’s hard to know where to start. From stunning waterfalls and walks to the herb farm, wineries, gold rush history and much more, the Gloucester region is the full package. It’s why so many families keep visiting for years and then decide to move here.

In this article, I can’t cover every single attraction but you should get a good understanding of why we love the Gloucester region

Gloucester produce

Hillview Herb Farm

Hillview Herb Farm on the corner of The Bucketts Way (the second-oldest historic tourist drive in NSW) and Fairbairns Road. Offering spectacular views, the verandah is the place to be while enjoying yummy food prepared with fresh herbs.

Gloucester Farmers Market

Find locally grown and made, at our own farmers market on the second Saturday each month. This month, 12th August, Hats Lewis will be entertaining us at the markets.  On of our most popular entertainers, so come and join the crowd and have a bite to eat. September 30th is our second market that month, with our Mega Community Market. Then there’s the Christmas Twilight Markets and the big finale, the New Year’s Eve Festival Market with fireworks and entertainment. 

Faulls Ridge Winery

Organise a wine tasting, enjoy the garden and relax with a glass of wine while enjoying the view.

Getting active in Gloucester

Mountain Man Tri Challenge

Sydney has the City to Surf challenge; we have the Mountain Man Tri Challenge, with mountain biking, kayaking and running in the mix. This year, it’s on Sunday 10 September.Mountain Man Tri Challenge is the longest running tri-event in Australia so come along and see what all the action is about.

Horse riding from Camp Cobark

Ride mountain trails and cross rivers while following in the footsteps of Captain Thunderbolt.  Feel like getting your gal pals together? Choose a women-only ‘Chicks in the Sticks’ weekend.

Mountain biking at The Steps Barrington Mountain Bike Park

Take off from The Steps Mountain Bike Park, with 3.5 kilometres of cross-country trails. If you’re a novice and lack confidence, take advantage of the skills-building section.

Walking trails and waterfalls

Gloucester Tops Circuit

The Gloucester Tops circuit combines three scenic walks in Barrington Tops National Park into a seven-kilometre circuit. It’s not too long for a day walk and you might see swamp wallabies, grey kangaroos, bluebells, rice flowers and billy buttons.

Antarctic Beech forest

Walking in the Antarctic Beech Forest, you’ll feel you’ve gone back in time with tree ferns, mosses, sub-alpine snow gums and Antarctic beech. Look out for the rare and endangered rufous scrub-bird.

Barrington Tops

Enjoy amazing rock formations, waterfalls and picnic spots as you explore Barrington Tops. Keep an eye or ear out for lyrebirds, satin bowerbirds, wallabies and ‒ of course ‒ snow when it’s really cold.

Gloucester River Falls

Take the Gloucester River Falls track to the viewing platform for best views of the waterfall. If you’re up for a bit of rough terrain, you can get down to the river for a refreshing swim.

Cliff Face Track

Within the Woko National Park is this steep track from where you’re likely to see some of our special birds, including peregrine falcons and, on a good day, wedge-tailed eagles.

Polblue Falls

An easy walk from the picnic area, a track takes you to a viewing platform and then to another track that enables you to reach the waterfall.

Gold rush heritage

It isn’t every region in NSW that can boast a bushranger. Learn about our own Captain Thunderbolt at the Gloucester Museum or head to the Mountain Maid gold mine and be sure to take the tour.

More reasons to holiday at home in the Gloucester region

Even if you’re a local, it’s good to get away from the everyday. Spend a few days in the bush at somewhere like Carawa River Retreat where you can relax to the soothing sounds of the river. If being at the centre of things is more your style, check out Coppers Hill Boutique Accommodation, with newly renovated suites and only a few minutes walk to cafés and shops.

We have some great eateries in Gloucester: Full O’ Beans serves the best Campos coffee along with a great selection of food. Roadies is a big attraction for all the motorbike riders who stop in town on their country touring rides and it can be fun checking out the variety of cars and motorbikes. We have two pubs in town, one just getting ready to re-open after being refurbished, plus the Gloucester Club, The Bowling Club and The Country Club all offering a variety of food choices. 

Other musts are a visit to Uptown Country for stylish clothing, décor items and jewellery, and that country hat or belt you’ve always wanted. Check out Forest of Play for the most wonderful selection of children’s books, toys and clothes, plus the many other stores offering a selection of superb choices. For a dose of the arts, head over to Gloucester Gallery and the monthly change of exhibitions. You’ll find the gallery within the historic Gloucester School of Arts building in the heart of town, right next to the Visitor Centre, where you’ll find the best staff with all the local knowledge on what to do for your holidays in your own backyard, right here in Gloucester.

Need advice on selling your Gloucester region property? 

As a proud local, I’m here to guide you through the process of selling your home. I specialise in lifestyle, rural and residential properties. I’ve done it myself and helped many families over my career. So give me a call; I’m here to help.

Soup: Gloucester region soul food

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Soup: Gloucester region soul food

Who doesn’t like soup? Well maybe those people who ‘don’t like hot drinks’ but most of us will happily scoff soup, especially in the colder months. Soup is versatile, a great way to get vegetables into your kids (Hint: use a blender) and perfect for recovering from illness or those who work outdoors.

Easy-peasy soups

Traditionally, we make soup on the stove in a large pot. You just throw in your vegetables, meat if you like, add stock and seasoning, then let the soup simmer until everything is tender and the flavours have developed.

Those of you with a slow cooker have it even easier; you can put it on in the morning and your soup will be ready for serving to the family for dinner.

If you’re pressed for time, get out the old pressure cooker and you’ll have soup in minutes.
Pressure cooking also enhances the flavours; you’ll be delighted at how tasty your soup will be.

Use up ingredients you have on hand

Making soup also allows you to use up the ingredients that you have hanging around waiting to be eaten. All those vegetables that are taking up space in your crisper can be thrown into a soup. Hint: If you don’t think you’ll get to those vegetables before they go off, put them in the freezer. They’ll be fine for soup.

You can also add other ingredients from your pantry such as pasta, rice, noodles, chickpeas or lentils to thicken up the soup and make it extra hearty.

We like to experiment with different flavour combinations, like using coconut milk.

Take your tastebuds tripping around the world

Most countries around the world have their own signature soup so why not treat your tastebuds to the exotic flavours you might experience only when travelling overseas.

Revisit Vietnam with the signature soup called Pho (‘Fuh’) – rice noodles and beef or chicken with some added greens such as bok choy.

Thailand’s Tom Yum is quite spicy when made to a traditional recipe but you can tone it down so it’s suitable for kids. The lemongrass makes this yummy soup fresh and light. Other ingredients include prawns, mushrooms and vegetables. To ensure you get as close as possible to the real thing, use a good-quality shrimp stock (available in most Asian supermarkets) and a Thai chilli paste.

Of course, you must be familiar with French Onion Soup, a low-budget soup because it uses only onions, beef stock and butter (to caramelise the onions). Traditionally, this is served with a slice of thick crusty bread with melted cheese on top. I love how this soup transcended class with both the workers at Paris’s fresh food market and nightclub revellers returning home and in need of hangover food delighting in this delicacy.

In Italy, you’ll find one of the heartiest soups that you’re ever likely to eat ‒ minestrone. Combine vegetables, beans and pasta and a tin of diced tomatoes and you can not only use up leftover vegetables but also, your family will love it.

Other favourites around the world include:

  • Lohikeitto (Salmon soup) from Finland
  • Gumbo ‒ African inspired
  • Miso from Japan
  • Sundubu Jjigae from Korea
  • Pozole from Mexico
  • Mulligatawny soup that combines English and Indian food culture
  • Corn or clam chowder from the USA
  • Borscht from Eastern Europe
  • Cock-a-leekie from Scotland
  • Laksa from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore

And remember favourites such as a hearty lentil soup or pumpkin soup that is so easy to make. I tend to use Queensland Blue pumpkin for colour and Butternut pumpkin for flavour and texture. For a delicious twist, try coconut cream and a dash of chilli powder in this rather than normal cream ‒ and add a carrot for more colour.

Need advice on selling your Gloucester region property?

As a proud local, I’m here to guide you through the process of selling your home. I specialise in lifestyle, rural and residential properties. I’ve done it myself and helped many families over my career. So give me a call; I’m here to help.

Is off-grid living in the Gloucester region for you?

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Is off-grid living in the Gloucester region for you?

Many of us have dreamt of being self-sufficient but have been daunted by the work involved. So let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of ‘going off the grid’. In going off the grid, not only can you reduce your impact on the environment by off-grid living, you can also live a more affordable, calmer lifestyle.

What does going off the grid in NSW mean?

In simple terms, it means you aren’t connected to public or private utilities like mains electricity, sewerage, town water, gas…in fact, anything where you rely on an outside source.

You can also choose to go partly off the grid while retaining what you might consider essentials like your phone and internet.

How can you start off-grid living in and around Gloucester?

First, you’ll need to own your property, whether that’s a home in town or some land in the local Gloucester region. You will need to consider any local council planning requirements. And to help you on your off-grid journey, you’ll want to take advantage of any government incentives. So I recommend you:

What do you need for off-grid living?

Depending on whether you go the whole hog or just partly off grid, you’ll need:

  • Water: Water tanks aren’t prohibitively expensive and even low rainfall will help to fill your tank. If you have no town water available, you’ll need to consider your family size and water usage ‒ around a minimum of 25,000 litres is a starting point. To have water for emergencies like bush fires, you may be required to maintain an additional amount of water, and a Storz coupling fitted, so check with your local RFS. Remember: To work out how much water you could harvest, 1 millimetre of rainwater falling on 1 square metre of roof yields 1 litre of water.
  • Power: The obvious solution is solar with a battery. These systems, known as solar PV systems, are expensive but if you’re serious about living off the grid, you’ll need a battery. You could also consider a generator as an additional back-up power source. If your home is in a particularly windy area, you could investigate domestic wind turbines. Note that most wind turbines are NOT suited to urban areas.
  • Sewerage: You have several options including composting toilets (that don’t smell, by the way) or an incineration toilet. Alternatively, you could install an eco-septic system that converts waste water into usable grey water. However, check council regulations.
  • Food: Over the past few years, many of us got the ‘grow your own food’ bug. Add some chickens or livestock (depending on your zoning regulations) and you could lessen your reliance on the weekly supermarket shop.

Join an off-grid living community

If you’re unsure about how or where to start, I recommend you join an off-grid living community.

You’ll find loads of information out there explaining off-grid living, plus you can connect with communities reaching for greater off-grid living options. Most communities are great backstops when you need help. I found a few that I’ve listed below:

Ecovillages

Australian off-grid living

Living off grid Australia

off the grid Australia

Lillifield community, Wadeville NSW

Living off grid is achievable, even in a town

Michael Mobbs, back in the early 2000s, proved to Australia and the world that he could live off the grid in a busy city. Michael’s home is in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Chippendale. Check out his video of the sustainable house.

You’ll need to plan well up front but once you have your plan, you can get ready to go off the grid. We are in the midst of going completely off the grid on our farm. Going off grid takes a lot of planning but it’s exciting and makes you think a lot more about how you use your resources.

Need help selling your Gloucester ‒ Barrington Coast property?

As a proud local, I’m here to guide you through the process of selling your home. I specialise in lifestyle, rural and residential properties. I’ve done it myself and helped many families over my career. So give me a call; I’m here to help.