Camp at Old Bara

Clink those glasses in celebration and raise a toast to Mudgee: you’re in wine country now. There are more than a dozen wineries within 35 minutes’ drive of Old Bara, so butter your designated driver up by telling them most serve food as well as booze, and keep things zesty with the promise that you’ll stop at the di Lusso estate long enough for a game of bocce. For the non-wine drinkers, you don’t have to pass your hols completely on the dry (unless you want to): head to Baker Williams Distillery for tastes of gin, limoncello, schnapps and liqueurs. Give your liver a rest with a poke around Mudgee: dig into the past at the Colonial Inn museum, fulfil your cultural needs on the Mudgee Sculpture Walk or take a ride on the miniature railway. Want to get back out into the bush? Munghorn Gap and Avisford nature reserves are within 45 minutes of the site. If the kids are starting to tire of Mudgee, pile into the car for a jaunt to Dubbo (two hours), where you can visit the observatory, stroll around the botanic gardens or meet the animals at Taronga Western Plains Zoo.