This was published 1 year ago
Maitland, NSW, travel guide and things to do: Nine highlights
Make your base at 200-year-old Morpeth, one of NSW's most winning though lesser-known towns that's actually classified as a suburb of Maitland.
THE ONE GATEWAY
Maitland, about two hours north of Sydney, is defined by the Hunter River that flows through it. Position yourself, therefore, at Coquun, a smart and stylish cafe overlooking the waterway and the area's luxuriant dairy farmland. The cafe, with a fine menu influenced by native ingredients, is part of the city's impressive Riverlink at the Levee. It's a bold sculptural gateway-cum-lifestyle quarter designed to connect Maitland's citizens and visitors to the historic riverbank, which in 1955 burst, leading to an epic flood (the resulting disaster was recreated in the Australian movie Newsfront). Maitland largely escaped this year's east coast floods. See coquun.com.au; maitland.nsw.gov.au
THE ONE GUIDED TOUR
Seriously not for the faint-hearted or for the cancel culturalist, this unvarnished 90-minute insider's tour of Maitland Gaol, decommissioned in 1998, both horrifies and illuminates. Not recommended for children under 15, the tour is run by no less than a former prison warder, and comes with its own adult themes, coarse language and drug and sexual references. But if you can stomach the shocking tales of daily prison life and strife, it's a compelling, if not harrowing, advertisement for prison reform. See maitlandgaol.com.au
THE ONE STAY
Make your base at 200-year-old Morpeth, one of NSW's most winning though lesser-known towns that's actually classified as a suburb of Maitland. By far the newest and chicest accommodation is to be found at River Haus, a converted cottage that's been lavished with the full Country Style treatment by a local scribe, Sheriden Rhodes. Perfectly located just a street or two from the main drag, the luxurious, immaculately restored and equipped River Haus draws on Morpeth's rollicking maritime history for its inspiration. See riverhaus.com.au
THE ONE CELLAR DOOR
Not only did local winemaker Boydell's cannily open a rustic timber and iron cellar door in central Morpeth it blended it with a rather terrific restaurant, opened for lunch and dinner from Thursday to Sunday. A short stroll from River Haus (above), Boydell's Cellar Door & Restaurant is discreetly tucked away on a quiet back street of town, offering wine tastings and sales, bar snacks and Good Food Guide-worthy, seasonally-based dishes teamed with the maker's top drops in cosy surrounds. See boydells.com.au
THE ONE GALLERY
A must-visit, the venerable Maitland Regional Art Gallery is located on High Street in a heritage building and site whose origins can be traced to 1830. With a collection of more than 7,000 international and domestic works, MRAG regularly hosts major exhibitions, such as the travelling Archibald Prize, as well as its own, often cutting-edge, shows featuring local and Indigenous artists. Open from Tuesday to Sunday, to boot there's a popular cafe with an appealing garden outlook and an excellent adjoining gallery shop. See mrag.org.au
THE ONE DINER
This overlooked part of the Hunter Valley is little match for the culinary firepower of the area's restaurant-rich, hat-heavy winery regions but, nor by the same token, is bereft of some decent dining options. A case in point is Duke's Restaurant and Bar, set in a gorgeous and atmospheric heritage building in East Maitland, close to the old prison. Snare a table for the simple yet sophisticated contemporary Australian cuisine served with the warmth of a superior neighbourhood restaurant. See dukesrestaurant.com.au
THE ONE LARDER
Back on High Street, Maitland, near to the gallery, the Cunning Culinarian, housed in one of this inland city's wealth of imposing antique premises, is cunningly difficult to define. Is it a cafe, a larder or even a florist? Let's settle on at least all three. A snug spot for breakfast, with Balmain's The Little Marionette the beans of choice, the Cunning Culinarian is also the place for sweet goodies, boxed prepared meals and even a boutique florist specialising in gorgeous dried floral arrangements, including designer wall wreaths, for back home. See thecunningculinarian.com
THE ONE PUB
For the best view of Morpeth, including its wonderfully antique white trestle road bridge spanning the Hunter River, head upstairs at the Commercial Hotel to Miss Mullen's Bar, named after this utterly unpretentious pub's original licensee way back in the late 19th century. After a feed on the verandah, head back downstairs to the in-house Morpeth Brewery, the brainchild of a friendly Canuck-Aussie, and sample some, maybe all, of his handcrafted "100 per cent natural living beers". See thecommericalhotelmorpeth.com.au
THE ONE BREAKFAST SPOT
Competing with the Commercial Hotel for the best scenic views of marvellous Morpeth is Common Grounds Cafe. Try and snare one of the coveted tables on the verandah-cum-terrace. From there you'll savour vistas of the Hunter River below, the aforementioned bridge which dates to 1898 and which remains fully operational. Set on Swan Street, Morpeth's lengthy main thoroughfare, Common Grounds are menus for vegans and kids with lunch also on offer. See thecommongroundsmorpeth.com.au
ONE MORE THING
LA has the Hollywood sign and Maitland has, well, the Dr Morse's Indian Root Pills ad. It's emblazoned and preserved on the side of a tin farm shed on the road between Maitland and Morpeth with verdant pastures as its backdrop. One of the most photographed sights in these bucolic parts, the US brand Indian Root Pills were popular from the 19th century for their purported blood cleansing properties.
Anthony Dennis visited Maitland and Morpeth as a guest of Destination NSW and River Haus. See visitnsw.com
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