On Holidays… with Rick Stein

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Rick Stein is a prolific celebrity chef with 22 cook books and a 25-year TV series to his credit. But what does the seafood master do when he gets some time to himself?

How do you unwind?
I love nothing better than having about 20 or so family and friends over to our beach house, Rick’s Place, in Mollymook, NSW, for an Aussie barbecue.

I love cooking whole snapper with a layer of fennel between the bars of the grill.

Opening a few cans of VB, I have been a fan since my first voyage in 1967.

Listening to The Whitlams – and the ocean, perfection.

What were your impressions on your first visit to Australia?
It was in 1967, I arrived by ship at Woolloomooloo but soon found the Northern Beaches and the Newport Arms, Aussie hamburgers, chocolate malted milkshakes.

I was only 19 and wouldn’t have recognised fine dining if there was any, but gosh I loved those burgers and shakes.

What’s your favourite place in Australia to holiday?
Mollymook in New South Wales, it’s my wife, Sas, childhood memories of idyllic summer holidays by the sea, which have so coloured my own experience of this beautiful part of Australia.

Must-pack item in your suitcase? 
I always take a book of poems called By Heart compiled by Ted Hughes.

The point of the book is to learn them all, by heart. I’ve been working on that for 15 years

Beach, mountains or country?
Apart from occasional skiing trips to Switzerland or Austria – when I say to myself , “we must do this every winter" – it’s always the beach for me.

It doesn’t matter what country because I love to swim, particularly in cold but not too cold water.

A hotel that makes you feel at home?
Our friends Alistair and Athena McAlpine own a convent in Marittima, Diso (in Puglia), which they have converted in to a nine-bedroom hotel.

It’s filled with art from Australia, India, Africa and Mexico. The food, local cooking from Puglia, is so good that we never leave the convent or its lovely gardens to eat out elsewhere.

I love it so much that my wife, Sas, and  I have been going every July with her children for the last 10 years.

Your favourite holiday bottle of wine?
I was introduced to a delicious provençale rosé called Chateau Miravale in St Tropez. Much hyped locally because it’s made by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie .

How often would we get to see you at Bannisters (Rick’s restaurant)?
I come to Bannisters between five to six times a year. I love to go into the kitchen for a hour and just start at the pass (where the dishes are finished off). Just enjoy the atmosphere, while making a few pertinent comments.

Also great sitting at the bar with a gin and lime sorbet cocktail so people can come up and chat.

 

Rick’s latest book India: Search for the Perfect Curry is available through Random House and his memoirs will be released in October 2013.

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This geological wonder is hiding in the heart of Victoria

    Michael Turtle Michael Turtle
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    Mythical, historical and most of all, spectacularly beautiful, Buchan Caves demands you take your time – and a tour. 

    In the pools of water, so still they could be mirrors, the reflections of the stalactites make these limestone towers seem even taller. Almost 400 million years ago, an underground river carved through the rock to create the Buchan Caves. Now, artworks created by dripping water adorn these subterranean galleries: stalactites hanging from the ceiling, pillars connecting some to the ground, even curtain-like wave formations clinging to the stone.

    Caves House
    Visit the caves for the day or stay onsite in the campground or at the self-contained Caves House. (Image: Ben Savage)

    “This is called the Fairy Cave because it’s full of fairy dust,” a guide tells visitors as they enter a cavern glittering with “calcite that’s solidified into thousands of tiny little diamond shapes”.  Buchan Caves is Victoria’s largest cave system, but Fairy Cave is a highlight and, along with nearby Royal Cave, is accessible only by tour. Naturally cold, naturally dark, these caverns deep below the surface light up as the local experts tell their stories. 

    couple walking in cave
    You’ll need to book a guided tour to see the caves. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    Among the hundreds of caves, some can be easily accessed from the surface. For instance, a casual stroll along the FJ Wilson Interpreted Walk, as kangaroos watch on from beneath acacia trees, leads into the 400-metre-long Federal Cave and its natural steps of white limestone. A slightly longer track, the Granite Pools Walk heads through soaring forest down into moss-covered gullies where the calls of lyrebirds trill through the leaves. 

    A quick history lesson on Buchan Caves 

    Buchan Caves
    Buchan Caves are a must-visit attraction in Gippsland. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    Among the geology and the nature are millennia of history. This part of East Gippsland connects the high country to the coast and was long a place of refuge for the local Gunaikurnai people on seasonal migrations to the mountains. Archaeological studies show humans lived here up to 18,000 years ago, with artefacts such as small stone tools found around the site. But not too far into the caverns – oh no! The Gunaikurnai didn’t dare venture deep into the dark at Buchan Caves, telling stories they were inhabited by gnome-like nyols (small grey-skinned creatures that could steal memories). 

    Buchan Caves Hotel
    The Buchan Caves Hotel was rebuilt after burning down in 2014. (Image: Jess Shapiro)

    By the early 1900s, more people had started to hear about these incredible caves and so the Moon family set up home at the site and started to run tours below ground for intrepid visitors. More than a century later, their historic residence is available as accommodation, with the three-bedroom house sleeping up to eight people and now equipped with modern amenities the Moons could only have dreamt of. 

    But whether you stay overnight or just spend the day here, it’s worth taking your time to explore more than just the main caves, to get a deeper understanding of one of Victoria’s fascinating geological attractions. 

    On Holidays… with Rick Stein - Australian Traveller