5 of the best Gourmet Experiences in Australia

Globetrotting media personality Lyndey Milan has taken viewers on a culinary journey around the country with her television series Taste of Australia. Here, she shares some of her favourite foodie experiences

1. Mud-crabbing in the traditional way with delightful indigenous guide Dom Matsumoto who works out of Eco Beach Resort south of Broome.

It’s 30 minutes by 4WD to Jack’s Creek from Broome. You’d never find it on your own. He was taught how to mudcrab by his father and is respectful of tradition, the land and the wildlife. When he catches a male mudcrab of sufficient size, he semi-smokes it over driftwood on the beach – it’s a taste experience you will never forget.

2. Foraging for wild mushrooms in a secret forest location near Oberon, NSW, with Bella and Katriina.

They draw on their Finnish and Polish heritage and go in search of exotic saffron milk caps (or pine mushrooms) and Slippery Jacks. The forest is eerily quiet – walk slowly but look quickly. If you see a little mound, push the needles away gently and there will be a mushroom, if not a pine cone! If you find one, look nearby – it will have neighbours. Check out their new website for more.

3. Jindabyne’s award-winning Wild Brumby Distillery to taste the raspberry schnapps made from estate-grown raspberries.

Brad Spalding and his Austrian wife Monika run an immaculate café with distillery on-site, Wild Brumby and make a wide range of schnapps, ideal for the alpine lifestyle. Try their Pink Lady schnapps, too! Here the bugs are kept away by companion planting of tansy, horseradish and garlic.

Wild Brumby Distillery Jindabyne — Mountain-style nightcap: Wild Brumby Distillery, Jindabyne.

4. Venison and truffles in Orange, a fabulous destination for food, wine or art lovers where you’re spoilt for choice.

Book in for a Mandagery Creek Venison farm kitchen lunch, a cooking demo and farm tour or search for truffles then dance the night away at the Borrodell on the Mount annual Black Tie and Gumboots truffle forage and dinner.

5. A foodie fiesta at the Margaret River Gourmet Escape.

Rub shoulders with more than 25 of Australia’s and the world’s best chefs, winemakers and food characters at the Margaret River Gourmet Escape. Visit the Gourmet Village, attend the classes and dinners, hang out on the beaches and drink world-class wines like Cullens.

Beach-side foodie festival Gourmet Escape Margaret River — Beach-side foodie fest, Gourmet Escape, Margaret River.

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.

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

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).

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.

5 of the best Gourmet Experiences in Australia

Globetrotting media personality Lyndey Milan has taken viewers on a culinary journey around the country with her television series Taste of Australia. Here, she shares some of her favourite foodie experiences

1. Mud-crabbing in the traditional way with delightful indigenous guide Dom Matsumoto who works out of Eco Beach Resort south of Broome.

2. Foraging for wild mushrooms in a secret forest location near Oberon, NSW, with Bella and Katriina.

3. Jindabyne’s award-winning Wild Brumby Distillery to taste the raspberry schnapps made from estate-grown raspberries.

4. Venison and truffles in Orange, a fabulous destination for food, wine or art lovers where you’re spoilt for choice.

5. A foodie fiesta at the Margaret River Gourmet Escape.

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

A quick history lesson on Buchan Caves