5 reason to travel for cheese

How far would you travel for oozy brie, sizzling haloumi or fourth-generation cheddar? These cheese restaurants, shops and cafes are seriously worth a dairy day-trip.

1. Melbourne’s fab fromage trio

Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder is one of the most authentic fromageries around, stocking a pungent variation of European stars such as the soft Langres (from the Champagne region).

Bespoke picnic cheese hampers are a great idea and for the devotees its Cheese Club sends your favourites straight to your door. (48-50 Bridge Road, Richmond).

La Latteria in Carlton is mozzarella central – the fiore di burrata and buffalo are worth the trip alone. There’s an abundance of (daily) hand-stretched fresh cheeses; the likes of the versatile baby smoked provolina is a good starting point. (104 Elgin Street, Carlton).

Milk The Cow has been around for a few years now and the specialist (and importantly) licensed fromagerie on St Kilda’s trendy Fitzroy Street is well on its way to becoming a Melbourne classic. 150 cheeses enough for you? And every one with a story to tell. (157 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda)

2. Tassie’s cheese islands

Forty-five minutes by boat south-east of Hobart takes you to foodie oasis Bruny Island, where you will find local producer Bruny Island Cheese Company .

Among the eight varieties (plus cheesecake) made by Nick Haddow and his team is the awesomely oozy brie ‘Saint’.

Inevitably, while you’re on Bruny, you’ll gravitate towards the most southerly winery in Australia, Bruny Island Premium Wines , too.

On an isle off the arguably even more isolated north-west coast of Tassie is Australian cheese-making institution King Island Dairy . Its cheese shop has plenty of tasters, but you may want to start with the delectable double brie.

Once you’ve had your fill of cheese, it’s time to explore the other fresh produce opportunities on King Island, from its heavenly crustaceans, king crabs to crays, to the slightly more challenging kelp chutney.

Back on the Tassie mainland, there are a plethora of cheesy choices. Where to start?

The Holy Cow Café on the grounds of this country’s oldest producer, Pyengana Dairy Company (in the north-east) is as good a place as any, for its fourth-generation cloth-bound cheddar and cheese toasties with a twist.

3. Valley of the Kings

In the middle of Victoria’s King Valley gourmet belt, among local stores, farm gates and just around the corner from Brown Brothers vineyard, is the former butter factory, which is now thankfully Milawa Cheese Company .

The cheeses from this rather large producer on the cusp of the High Country are simply delicious; start with the subtle flavours of washed-rind King River Gold, and move on to eight more cow cheeses and six goat cheeses, maybe the Mount Buffalo Blue, if blue is you.

For cheese disciples, there are cheese-making courses and you can even pre-order your cheese ‘wedding cake’.

Round off your visit with a Milawa Blue pizza (prosciutto, pumpkin, fig & pistachio paste) from the restaurant. (Factory Road, Milawa)

4. This Kangaroo prefers ewe

Kangaroo Island producers have a reputation for doing things their own way and none more so than Island Pure Sheep Dairy .

Just a hop, skip and a 10-kilometre drive from KI’s largest settlement, Kingscote, this dairy is all about the sheep, proudly embracing the Spanish proverb: ‘Cheese from the ewe, milk from the goat, butter from the cow’.

You can meet the dairy’s 1200 grain-fed ‘girls’ on your visit and, of course, gorge on the ewe-milk cheeses, from feta to kefalotiri.

Island Pure’s fresher than fresh yogurt is also worth leaving space for – both in your stomach and car boot.

Watch the process of hand making labneh or ricotta, then take a wander down to the banks of the Cygnet River to walk off your rampant sampling.

5. The Stinking Bishops

Boutique cheese bar The Stinking Bishops in Sydney’s bo-ho hub Newtown certainly knows how to put a cheese board together.

There is a strong representation of artisanal Australians as well, as French, Italian and UK varieties, among its 40-plus-cheese fromagerie. But the Bishop is no one-food-group pony.

There are also cured meat boards, ploughman’s lunches, mac ‘n’ cheese, house-pickled mussels plus more substantial dishes, such as the whole roasted spitchcock, served at lunch and dinner.

Beware, the Euro bread here is more than moreish.

And, naturally, you can choose from a rustic list of wines, beers and whisky too.

Slow down and find your rhythm on a Murray River journey through time and place.

Trust is a funny thing. It seems not that long ago that my mother was insisting on pouring the milk into my cereal bowl, because she didn’t trust me not to slosh it over the table, and yet here I am on the Murray River at Mildura in far north-west Victoria, being handed the keys to a very new and very expensive luxury houseboat.

After a crash course in how not to crash, I’m at the wheel of the good ship Elevate – pride of the All Seasons fleet – guiding her upstream past red-ochre cliffs as pelicans glide above the rippled river and kookaburras call from reedy banks. There’s a brief moment of breath-holding while I negotiate a hairpin turn around a jagged reef of skeletal, submerged gum trees, before a cheer rings out and calm descends as the timeless river unfurls in front of us.

The Murray River winding through Yarrawonga. (Image: Rob Blackburn)

Setting sail from Mildura

Murray River birds — Home to a large number of bird species, including pelicans. (Image: The Precint Studios)

A journey along the Murray River is never less than magical, and launching from Mildura makes perfect sense. Up here the river is wide and largely empty, giving novice skippers like myself the confidence to nudge the 60-tonne houseboat up to the riverbank where we tie up for the night, without fear of shattering the glass elevator (the boat is fully wheelchair accessible) or spilling our Champagne.

My friends and I spend three days on the water, swimming and fishing, sitting around campfires onshore at night, and basking in air so warm you’d swear you were in the tropics. The simplicity of river life reveals an interesting dichotomy: we feel disconnected from the world but at the same time connected to Country, privileged to be part of something so ancient and special.

Stop one: Echuca

19th-century paddlesteamers — A historic 19th-century paddlesteamer cruises along the Murray River. (Image: Visit Victoria)

The six-hour drive from Melbourne to Mildura (or four hours and 20 minutes from Adelaide) is more than worth it, but you don’t have to travel that far to find fun on the river. Once Australia’s largest inland port, Echuca is the closest point on the Murray to Melbourne (two hours 45 minutes), and you’ll still find a plethora of paddlesteamers tethered to the historic timber wharf, a throwback to the thriving river trade days of the 19th century. The PS Adelaide, built in 1866 and the oldest wooden-hulled paddlesteamer operating in the world, departs daily for one-hour cruises, while a brand-new paddlesteamer, the PS Australian Star , is launching luxury seven-night voyages in December through APT Touring.

The town is also a hot food and wine destination. St Anne’s Winery at the historic Port of Echuca precinct has an incredibly photogenic cellar door, set inside an old carriage builders’ workshop on the wharf and filled with huge, 3000-litre port barrels. The Mill, meanwhile, is a cosy winter spot to sample regional produce as an open fire warms the red-brick walls of this former flour mill.

Stop two: Barmah National Park

Just half-an-hour upstream, Barmah National Park is flourishing, its river red gum landscape (the largest in the world) rebounding magnificently after the recent removal of more than 700 feral horses. The internationally significant Ramsar-listed wetland sits in the heart of Yorta Yorta Country, with Traditional Owners managing the environment in close partnership with Parks Victoria. Walkways weave through the forest, crossing creeks lined with rare or threatened plants, passing remnants of Yorta Yorta oven mounds and numerous scar trees, where the bark was removed to build canoes, containers or shields.

The Dharnya Centre (open weekdays until 3pm) is the cultural hub for the Yorta Yorta. Visitors can learn about the ecological significance of the Barmah Lakes on a 90-minute river cruise, led by a First Nations guide, or take a one-hour, guided cultural walking tour along the Yamyabuc Trail.

Stop three: Cobram

Continue east to Cobram to find the southern hemisphere’s largest inland beach. Swarming with sun-seekers in summer, the white sand of Thompson’s Beach is shaded by majestic river red gums and dotted with hundreds of beach umbrellas, as beachgoers launch all manner of water craft and set up stumps for beach cricket. But the beach is at its most captivating at sunset, when the crowds thin out, the glassy river mirrors the purple sky, and the canopies of the gum trees glow fiery orange.

The region is also home to some fine resorts and indulgent retreats. Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort has two riverside championship golf courses, luxury apartments and self-contained villas. While not strictly on the Murray, the historic wine town of Rutherglen is rife with boutique (and unique) accommodation, including an exquisitely renovated red-brick tower in a French provincial-style castle at Mount Ophir Estate. Fans of fortified wines can unravel the mystery of Rutherglen’s ‘Muscat Mile’, meeting the vignerons and master-blenders whose artistry has put the town on the global map for this rich and complex wine style.

Stop four: Albury-Wodonga

First Nations YindyamarraSculpture Walk — First Nations Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk is part of the Wagirra Trail. (Image: Carmen Zammit)

Follow the river far enough upstream and you’ll arrive at the twin border cities of Albury-Wodonga. The Hume Highway thunders through, but serenity can be found along the five-kilometre Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk – part of the Wagirra Trail that meanders through river wetlands just west of Albury in Wiradjuri country. Fifteen sculptures by local First Nations artists line the trail, conveying stories of reconciliation, enduring connection to culture, local Milawa lore and traditional practices. It feels a long way from Mildura, and it is, but the pelicans and kookaburras remind us that it’s the same river, the great conduit that connects our country.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

New Mildura motel Kar-rama. (Image: Iain Bond Photo)

Kar-Rama is a brand-new boutique, retro-styled motel in Mildura, with a butterfly-shaped pool and a tropical, Palm Springs vibe. Echuca Holiday Homes has a range of high-end accommodation options, both on the riverfront and in town.

Playing there

BruceMunro’s Trail of Lights in Mildura — Bruce Munro’s Trail of Lights in Mildura. (Image: Imogen Eveson)

Artist Bruce Munro’s Trail of Lights installation, comprising more than 12,000 illuminated ‘fireflies’, is currently lighting up Mildura’s Lock Island in the middle of the Murray. Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA) is a hub for contemporary art, with a rotating roster of exhibitions, and is a major outlet for young and First Nations artists.

Eating there

Mildura’s diverse demographic means it’s a fantastic place to eat. Andy’s Kitchen is a local favourite, serving up delicious pan-Asian dishes and creative cocktails in a Balinese-style garden setting. Call in to Spoons Riverside in Swan Hill to enjoy locally sourced, seasonal produce in a tranquil setting overlooking the river.

5 heavenly reasons to travel for cheese