Orange on the Radar

The postcard-perfect food and wine hub four hours west of Sydney is one of New South Wales’ best-kept secrets—but that won’t last much longer.

- SHAMILEE VELLU

Sydney native Matt Arthur thought he might have made a huge mistake when he moved to Orange seven years ago. The professional guitarist decamped to the country town to “quit the rat race” and enjoy its slower pace of life—the leisurely clip of which hit home one night as he was taking out the trash.

“It was only 9pm but it was so quiet that I could have fired a gun down our street, which is considered fairly busy,” says Arthur, who also runs Ferment the Orange Wine Centre & Store. “I went back into my house wondering: Have we done the right thing?”

But it is precisely Orange’s charmingly provincial, “in-its-own-time” ways that have proven irresistible to scores of Sydneysiders like Arthur, who’ve fallen hard for its rolling, sage-green hills, outstanding wines and fantastic heritage apples, cherries and truffles (the area isn’t called “Australia’s Food Basket” for no reason). Depending on whether you like your transfers scenic or efficient, you can get there via a four-hour drive from Sydney (breaking your journey in the Blue Mountains) or a 50-minute Qantas flight from Sydney to Orange. Sites such as visitnsw.com and www.orange360. com.au offer easy-to-use itineraries whether you have three hours or days to explore.

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