New luxe lodge where you can go on a koala safari before dinner

Koala safaris, stunning food and a new $8 million showcase homestead are on the menu at Spicers Hidden Vale.

The new homestead building at Spicers Hidden Vale

WE’RE ALL looking for Dave, who is proving rather elusive. “Where are you Dave?” we call, wandering around a eucalypt-studded paddock, squinting skywards. We’re trailing in the wake of Ezra, a University of Queensland student carrying a signal-producing, TV-antennae-like tracking device.

However it seems as if Dave may have thrown his tracking collar and we only have the faint signal from his back-up ankle device to offer us clues as to his whereabouts. Then, one of our party, Graham, points to the top of a very tall tree.

“There he is,” he calls. And no, Dave is not an electronically monitored criminal shimmying up a trunk, rather a koala, perched as high up the tree as possible and not looking at all interested in making our acquaintance. Earlier, we’d located Martin in an ironbark and Karen and her joey, also rather vertiginously situated.

Skroo, one of Hidden Vale’s koalas.

We’re on a koala safari, one of the activities offered at Spicers Hidden Vale, a luxury resort an hour’s drive southwest from Brisbane near Grandchester in the Lockyer Valley. It’s a glimpse into the work of the koala tracking program run from the onsite Wildlife Centre, a joint venture with UQ to breed and study threatened native wildlife.

As well as this out-of-the-ordinary eco-tourism excursion, the bush resort’s idiosyncratic array of offerings includes a 100km network of mountain biking and walking trails, a mix of accommodation including old Queenslanders that have been made-over to a luxury level as well as newer options and an impressive paddock-to-plate dining experience.

The new bar at Spicers Hidden Vale

Hidden Vale, a 4860ha working property, one of Jude Turner’s portfolio of Spicers Retreats in Queensland and NSW, is celebrating this month’s opening of its $8 million resort centrepiece building, replacing the 99-year-old homestead that burnt down in April 2018.

The building, an ode to Queensland craftsmanship and materials, has views from its wide back veranda past an infinity pool, down to the valley and the blue peaks beyond.

Inside, three heritage brick fireplaces are ready to warm the building in winter.

The interior of the new homestead at Spicers Hidden Vale

At one end, near the bar, are groups of elegant fabric and leather lounges, while at the other, the dining area features a more open view of the carpet resplendent with wattle, banksia and eucalyptus.

Homage restaurant at Spicers Hidden Vale

Dining is at the heart of the operation, with Homage, helmed by head chef Ash Martin, staffed by 11 chefs covering three meals a day, seven days a week.

The menu stars regionally sourced meat, fish and cheese accompanied by fruit and vegetables grown in the 89-bed kitchen garden. There’s also honey from the resort’s beehives, pickles made on site, goods from the garden smokehouse and eggs from the chooks.

Ash Martin, head chef at Spicers Hidden Vale

A 3000-bottle cellar filled with Australian wines features Queenslanders including a Ravens Croft tempranillo from Stanthorpe that we enjoy with a foray into the a la carte menu.

Standout dishes include suckling pig (which we’d seen cooking over coals near the barn earlier) teamed with Davidson plums as well as a beef fat crumpet, drizzled with caramelised honey and perfect for dipping into an accompanying chunk of wood-roasted marrow.

Barcoo grunter (a freshwater fish) cooked over fire, with a profusion of tomato served in various ways, is inventive and bold.

The next night the seven-course tasting menu unlocks treasures such as large wafer topped with little pieces of yabby meat, smoked yolk and citrus from the orchard.

It’s quite fabulous, as is the “lasagne”, which is a long way from something nonna might make but is a standout combination of marble score 9 Wagyu beef, smoked cheddar emulsion and tomato “paper”.

Our accommodation at Spicers Hidden Vale

The interior of Room No 9, the former homestead’s one-time kitchen, Spicers Hidden Vale

Our accommodation is in a stand-alone 1908-built cottage that was once the kitchen in the original homestead, and is now blinged up with an inordinately comfortable bed, sofas, a spa bath, fireplace and a deck.

If walking and cycling don’t appeal, there’s a tennis court, 4WD tours, or in-room massages. Or there’s the excursion to koala colony. After all, Dave’s not going to tell anyone where he is, so the trackers need all the help they can get.

The writer was a guest of the operators

 

BOOK IT NOW

Spicers
Hidden Vale

617 Grandchester Mount Mort Rd, Grandchester;

Rooms from $379pn;

Homage: Two courses $75, three $85, tasting menu $115.

spicersretreats.com/retreats/spicers-hidden-vale