Wolgan Valley, NSW, Australia: Activities

March 2013

One advantage over Wolgan Valley vs. some of the other luxury accommodation we've stayed at was the included activities. It was easy to choose daily from a list or simply do nothing.

Horse riding: You have the choice of arena riding, trail riding or a carriage ride depending on your experience. We chose the carriage ride as I'd injured my arm on the Thursday night before leaving.

Bike riding: I'm not much of a rider but DH loved his early morning guided bike ride

Nature Walks: Not too strenuous but takes you through the valley with some fantastic views

Wildlife tour: Occurs at 5:30 pm. The main attraction is the wallabies, wallaroos, kangaroos and the famous albino wallaroos (there are five in the area, we saw 2, one up close)

Night wildlife spotting: Leave at 9:30 pm. The main attraction is the wombats. We saw at least a dozen. It with the albino wallaroo above was one of the highlights

Hang by the pool/spa (or swim in it): Once again each chair has a great view, it gets sun most of the day and even with kids around was a quiet place to chill.

Go for a private run/walk/bike ride: We choose a run by ourselves one afternoon, the view was again stunning

Lounge in your room: Its spacious and does have the plunge pool after all

Wolgan Valley, NSW, Australia: The Food

March 2013

As mentioned in a previous post, all meals are included and they are fabulous. Service was friendly, and if they got it wrong they fixed it ASAP no questions asked. Breakfasts were a casual affair with a cold buffet and hot meal options from the menu.

The pancakes

Smoked trout with potato rosti

Omelette with a little bit on the side from the buffet

Lunch was out in downstairs cafe by the pool, where you could mix and match from the menu and there was always some tasty treat for dessert.

The menu changed daily, with some items consistent

Tempura soft shell crab

Lamb rump

Pecan pie with vanilla bean ice cream

The view at lunch

Dinner was a more formal affair, on two of the three nights it was a five course menu.

The dinning room

One of the menus

The view as the sun was setting

Seared scallops

Beef fillet

Palm Island Mulloway

Peanut butter parfait

The cheese, wine and chocolate room, the decisions that had to be made each night in here!

Wolgan Valley, NSW, Australia: Accommodation

March 2013

One of the attractions of the Wolgan Valley Resort is its rooms. There's three types, 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms in basic terms, but there's nothing basic about them. Each one has it's own private plunge pool, a delightful king size bed, a bath with a view and an amazing walk in cupboard.

The living room, with balcony and plunge pool

The living room fireplace

Your private plunge pool

The delightful king size bed

The shower with the skylight

The bath with the view

The gigantic walk in cupboard

Some of the inclusive minibar

The rooms nestled into the scenery

Wolgan Valley, NSW, Australia: Overview

March 2013

I'm usually a very organised traveler  I have our trips planed out usually a year in advance, I have anticipated trips thought through and semi-research many more months than that in advance, but I was busy with a new job, Waikiki and well just life, so by time we got around to booking airfares were outrageous and we decided maybe a location within driving distances might be an okay compromise and we could spend the flight money on better food and a better bed.

And that's the story of how we ended up staying at The Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort, in the Blue Mountains region. I've created this post as an overview, and then I'll break down the below three components as separate posts, so if you want more details just hang on a bit longer!

Stay
At The Emerites Wolgan Valley Resort in one of there Heritage Suites.

Eat
All meals are inclusive and fabulous

Do
Two activities are included in the daily prices, including mountain biking, horse riding, nature walks, history tours and wildlife spotting.

Long weekends of the past

I always avoided travelling over long weekends, prices were higher, airports were busier, it was generally school holiday time and more screaming kids, but a few years back I decided we could be wasting a good free three or four days and have tried to travel each Easter and October (Labour Day in NSW).

Easter 2012 - Wilson Island, Queensland

Easter 2011 - Bay of Fires, Tasmania

Easter 2010 - Daintree/Great Barrier Reef, Queensland

October Long Weekend 2012 - Hobart, Tasmania

October Long Weekend 2011 - Lord Howe Island, Australia

Or we use the public holiday to extend an otherwise already lengthy trip, such as:

Australia Day 2013 - Waikiki, USA

Australia Day 2012 - Tahiti, French Polynesia

I'll keep you posted in a few weeks where we spend Easter 2013.