Reviews: What the Critics Have to Say

Below are some reviews of Old Wallinga from Australian newspapers.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Never having been there, I'd always thought the best thing about Mudgee was the name, which lent itself to myriad rhymes. If you'd bought your pet bird there, it'd be the budgie from Mudgee. How's the river in Mudgee? Kinda sludgy. And aren't the locals invariably pudgy?

OK so we won't get top billing at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, but it did keep us amused during the four-hour drive from Sydney to "Bushranger Country" (whoa, bushrangers - cool!).

We arrived at the Old Wallinga Country House on a Friday evening, with a pair of grumbling stomachs. Our hosts, Inga and Richard Holmes, who will happily cook a lavish dinner if you phone ahead, directed us to the Red Heifer Grill and Carvery (not far from Shearer's nightclub - is there a theme here?) at the Lawson Park Hotel.

In most small towns, walking into a pub can be frightening, as banjopickin' locals respond to your urban attire with killer looks. Not at the Red Heifer. The Friday night atmosphere was relaxed and the food (mainly steak, steak, or steak) was excellent (even though we did have to cook it ourselves). And cheap - just $10.

After a satisfying meal washed down with a satisfying Mudgee white, to bed. A firm, comfy bed, in a well-appointed room in the main house "built by an early pioneering family in the 1860s". The Wallinga homestead is a happy marriage of old and new: the house has two wings, one built only recently, but they are lovingly joined.

Then, 50 metres from the homestead, are the stables (again divided in two), each with a queen-size bed downstairs and a loft upstairs with two single beds. All guests have access to log fires, TV, swimming pool, tennis court, library and, as we discovered on waking, a hot breakfast cooked by Inga herself.

We said our thanks, then ducked off to the vineyards. (It may have been early, but we weren't about to skimp on research.) Mudgee wine has become the region's premier tourist attraction, with more than 20 fine local plonkeries including Seldom Seen, Craigmoor, Montrose and Botobolar.

The wine was largely the reason we were here: on Saturday night we celebrated the winter solstice at the inaugural "Jazz in the Shed", a celebration of grooves and grog at Craigmoor Winery. The event - which the promoters hope to make an annual affair - was a resounding success, with heady wine straight from the barrel, a circle of bonfires and energetic dancing to keep the cold at bay.

Apparently Mudgee means "Nest in the Hills" in the local Aboriginal tongue. The region - particularly the Cudgegong Valley, where Wallinga stands seven kilometres south of the centre of town - is picturesque and peaceful, all green, insectbuzzing grassland ringed by blue hills.

Once you've been there, you'll agree that the town's name is probably the region's least appealing feature.

What to do: Savour breakfast, take wonderful walks, explore wineries, read by the fire and (in summer) lounge by the pool. Failing that, tennis anyone?
Pluses: Agreeable hosts, agreeable environs, agreeable breakfast. Electric blankets, port decanter in each room, and, just up the road, Mudgee itself is pretty agreeable.

The Sun Herald

The de-stressing effects of a weekend in Mudgee became quickly apparent when my partner, who had sworn about every traffic jam and red light during the journey over the Blue Mountains, suddenly relaxed back in his seat and began driving along the wide country streets at 40km an hour. It must have been the appearance of the gentle rolling hills, grazing cattle and Old Wallinga, the beautifully restored 1860s homestead where we were to stay for the weekend.

Run by Richard and Inga Holmes, Old Wallinga (despite its name) features all the modern-day comforts, including a cosy guest lounge with fireplace, television and video as well as a pool, tennis court and barbecue facilities. During the day we visited the nearby vineyards and the old goldmining town of Gulgong, and in the evening we enjoyed lnga's fantastic cooking and the Holmes' warm hospitality. All in all, it was the perfect escape. A double room at Old Wallinga costs $140 including full cooked breakfast; dinner (by arrangement and highly recommended) costs $30 per head.

The Land

A Mudgee pioneering family homestead, in danger of becoming a ruin 10 years ago, is now restored and thriving as a popular B&B. Richard and Inga Holmes left their respective careers and home in Sydney's eastern suburbs to breathe new life into one of the district's grand old homes. "We started coming to Mudgee 25 years ago when a friend of ours worked here as a locum for the chemist and used to ask us up at weekends,' Richard said. "After that a dentist friend of ours moved here, and one way and another we spent a lot of our spare time here and got to know a lot of the locals. "When we finally decided to move here we had the advantage over a lot of other new Mudgee-ites that we already felt part of the place." With retirement looming and Mudgee beckoning, the Holmeses decided in 1988 to start looking for a property in the area.

An important criterion was that the place had to have some heritage merit. "We didn't want just any place. We wanted something different, with a bit of history, and characteristic of the district," Richard said. The search took more than a year before they bought "Old Wallinga" - a 26 hectare subdivision of "Wallinga". At that time, the "Old Wallinga' homestead was a shell, unlived in since the war and used as a hayshed. But Richard and Inga recognised the homestead's potential.

"Wallinga" was established about the 1860s by two brothers, Frederick and Alexander Cox, sons of George Cox of "Burrundulla". Having bought "Old Wallinga", the Holmeses then had to work out what to do within constraints; the property is heritage classified by the Mudgee Council. They engaged a Sydney architect for the redevelopment, which included not only renovating and extending the main homestead, but refurbishing the old stable building as additional guest accommodation. "Our plans involved knocking walls down and putting in windows where there weren't any, but we managed to convince the council that we were as keen as they to preserve the character of the place, while making it habitable," Richard said. It is now a gracious country homestead in the style of the pastoral age, complete with wide verandahs, grand entrance hallway, stately dining and living rooms with fireplaces, polished floorboards and rich cedar woodwork. Inga moved into "Old Wallinga" in 1995 and opened the premises as a B&B, while Richard continued to work at his marketing business in Sydney until July this year.

The house, which accommodates 12 guests, is booked out most weekends, and as many guests elect to eat in, Inga is kept busy catering. Evening meals are served in the grand dining room, where guests sit around a huge dining table with candelabra, surrounded by period furniture and paintings evoking an earlier era.

Extracted from The Land; "Country Life - Travel", Thursday October 2, 1997.