A family’s five-year love affair with a rural Victorian escape
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In this new series called My Happy Place, Traveler’s writers reflect on the holiday destinations they cherish most in Australia and around the world.
In the early weeks of the pandemic, I suffered a bout of cabin fever that made me dream of escaping to north-east Victoria and the river country where I grew up. Lured by Airbnb’s rock-bottom prices at the time, I booked a summer getaway at Tea Garden Creek Cottage in the Milawa Gourmet District.
It was to be a balm. After eight months of inner-city isolation, homeschooling and curfews, the escape to rural Victoria was a land of fresh country air, big blue skies, long horizons, river swimming and farm fresh produce; a simpler life that city people often dream of.
Over the five years since then, the cottage and the area have become a happy place where we travel in and out as a family for Christmases, summer holidays and long winter weekends.
The cottage itself is a characterful centuries-old weatherboard, beautifully renovated by owners Ann and Ray, who live next door and own the surrounding 40-hectare farm. It’s furnished with cute storytelling pieces that Ann and her son Alex have collected over the years: a set of Eames chairs around the dining table, two vintage printer blocks in the kitchen, a beautiful hallway light fixture found at a Paris market. The view from the back porch ranges from grassy meadows to sheep to alfalfa crops to huge, gnarled gum trees shading the stream.
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During our first visit, we found ways to connect despite social distancing most of the time. With Ann’s permission, a loaf of local cornbread or a jar of olive oil from the farm’s own garden would be waiting for us. On the days when Ray would disappear on a river adventure, we would be treated to fresh trout smoked in his back cabin. We would repay this favor as much as we could; A bottle of gamay from my uncle and aunt’s Pennyweight Winery in nearby Beechworth was always welcome as a treat.
Then, as now, our days revolved around food and the farm. The children would take our kitchen scraps to the chickens in the pasture and return with fresh eggs, still warm and stained with barn soil. Ann and Ray’s garden was filled with wild rosemary and thyme, kumquats, rambling tomato plants and oversized carrots. The grandchildren who came to visit became playmates for our children.
There was no better place to forage beyond the farm than the Milawa Gourmet District, which includes the small towns of Oxley, Milawa, Tarrawingee, Markwood and Whorouly. During the first Covid summer, the community found ways to live in the ‘new normal’. Roadside stalls sold seasonal cherries and eggs, and small farmers’ shops had opened. Cottonwoods in Markwood had a socially distanced honesty box so we could pick up zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, and whatever else was harvested that day. Cafes and produce stores have also found creative ways to stay open for business.
Some have come and gone over the years. Just this year, we were saddened to see the closure of both Milawa Bread and The Olive Shop, purveyor of local pickles, jams and other products. Similarly, Milawa Organic Beef also closed its doors to farmgate customers. But the community’s foodie reputation remains. Milawa Cheese Co. still supplies some of Australia’s best cheeses, from nine-month Aged Milawa Blue to epic hard-shell tomme. The store’s long glass counter also displays local spreads and charcuterie, biscuits, butter and farm eggs. Down the road, in the old red-brick butcher’s shop, Milawa Mustards continues to sell delicious seeded mustards, jellies and chutneys. Hurdle Creek Stillhouse continues to produce delicious anise gins.
These days the area remains a popular stopover for travelers heading to the snowfields and Bright, so there are plenty of places to eat out. Classically famous wineries Sam Miranda in Oxley and Brown Brothers of Milawa are favorites for prosecco and pear platters on pears under big old shady trees. Located in a historic building on Milawa’s main street, Henleys has a grassy social garden serving wood-fired pizzas and a selection of wines from the north-east.
In the evenings, Ava’s upscale Euro menu attracts both fine diners going out for a special occasion and those like us stopping in after a sun-soaked day swimming in the River Ovens at the nearby Pioneer Bridge.
On most holiday visits, we bike the spectacular Pedal to Production railroad and visit the neighboring King Valley wine region for wine tasting at family-run Red Feet and La Cantina wineries or drinking craft beer on tap at King River Brewing. On our latest visit we finally made it to the Mountain View Hotel, an excellent gastro pub with al fresco dining run by Pizzini Wines. The rope swing over the King River in Moyhu provides a fun place to stop before veering off the dirt road on the way home.
Having booked the lodge several times, I treated myself to a five-star stay at the Lancemore Milawa, a gorgeous, newly renovated hotel nestled amidst the vines. Another time, the family pitched a tent at Edi Cut Reserve, a campground along the King River. But the place that keeps calling us is Ann and Ray’s cabin, a sanctuary in COVID times and now the place we call home.
