Everywhere you need to go in Shoalhaven: Best winery, eats and dolphins

Sponsored by Shoalhaven Tourism

We were lucky enough to be invited on a tour of a lifetime. It included Whale watching, wining and dining. 

Paul and I were wisked away to Shoalhaven which is 2.5 hours away from Canberra.

Once we arrived, we were picked up by Wine Knot Tours, they are a local family business that run a wine and food tour business based in Mollymook.

In the Morning

They drove us to Jervis Bay to go Whale watching with Jervis Bay Wild on a boat to see Humpback Whales. It was beautiful... then I got unwell (remember to take seas sick tablets!) With perfect blues skies and fresh air, unfortunately we didn't see any BUT it was nice to sail out on the water and watch the waves crash.

The afternoon

Cupitt's was an absolute stand out! With green, rolling hills that reminded me of a little winery we went to in Chianti, Italy, minus 18 hours of travel oh and COVID-19. You can visit slice of heaven 2.5 hours away. 

If you want to fully un-wine (see what I did there). Start at Cupitt's early, say 12pm (when they open and graze all day, enjoy a wine tasting, have lunch and then order a platter with more wine.

They had so many Italian wine and cheese, style flavours. I was hard to believe that this was 2.5 hours away from Canberra! I felt like I was a minion limes away, it was just what we needed given the CRAZY times we are living in. You can easily do this on a weekend.

Since we can't travel O/S or to our usual hot spots, Sydney, Melbs or Brissy. This is where its at!

My favourite the 'Little Red', pictured below. With flavours of caramel, berries and (in my pallet) hazelnut it's high n my list which is why I bought a couple of bottles.

For dinner 

We ate at The Ruse, it's a bar and casual dining venue overlooking Ulladlla Harbour with some serious Central American vibes!! If you can give them a call on (02) 4454 0894 to book ahead this will guarantee a table, however walk-in welcome.

Their tasty menu is inspired by Central American flavours - quite unique and a bit of a surprise. I watched all the beautiful and delicious looking cocktails come out. While I admired each of them, I finally made my choice. Paul was happy to see the Pale Ale by Capital Brewing & Co on the list!

To eat

I highly recommend:

• crunchy fried prawns tacos 
• marinated skirt steak with Argentinian style salsa
• ceviche tostadas

Make sure you save some room for one more cocktail and ask to go downstairs. The space down there is beautiful and has a really nice sexy vibe about it. The moon light bouncing off the water was so dreamy...

The down stairs bar

The next day

Going to lunch at Bannisters by the Sea was my highlight! Such an iconic place in Mollymook and Australia, it is an absolute MUST. There's no need to book (the Pool Bar), they only accept walk-ins. It's not as busy as you would think either. By the time we finished our lunch by the Dolphin window, others had left so we took their seat for a different view.

While Paul and I were feasting on pizza's we saw a pod dolphins. That made up for the fact we didn't see and Whales the day before.

This is the Dolphin viewing window. Sit here if you can!

As you can see from this spread, to compliment the sea - we ate seafood! Which to no surprise was FRESH! 

We had an absolute blast. It’s important now, more than ever to support local. Head up to Shoalhaven, it's only 2.5 hours away from Canberra.

There is so much to see and fall in love with (all over again). It’s really cool to see the trees sprouting again as you drive down the Clyde, seeing it regenerate will make your soul happy!

If you do decide to travel, travel with care and be smart! Check the forecast too!

Not ready to finish reading yet? Read about the first Afternoon Mingling event I hosted with The CBR Woman, Jaimee.