Coffs Harbour Trike and Private Tours operators to take on Raleigh Winery lease near Urunga
Australia’s most easterly vineyard, in a picturesque riverfront location on the NSW Mid-North Coast, is set to reopen its doors with a twist.
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Australia’s most easterly vineyard, in a picturesque riverfront location near Coffs Harbour, is set to reopen its doors with an unusual twist.
The Raleigh Winery, on the Bellinger River between Urunga and Bellingen, has been closed for the past few months, but now the operators of an award-winning tourism business have signed up to take on the Mid-North Coast venue.
Brent and Belinda Watson operate Coffs Harbour Trike and Private Tours.
For years, they’ve been harbouring dreams of one day operating the winery Mr Watson describes as “iconic” to both locals and visitors alike.
“We thought about buying it last time it came up about five years ago,” he said.
Now, with the lease up for grabs, they jumped at the chance.
“It’s a lease-to-buy type of arrangement and hopefully by this time next year we’ll own it,” Mr Watson said.
The Watsons currently run their trike business out of the Urunga Information Centre, another venture into which they injected new life.
The centre had been closed for years after the town was bypassed, but the pair now take turns fielding information requests from tourists and taking clients on their trike.
Established in 2021, the business has won several accolades, including the “tourism, experience and events’”category at the 2024 Coffs Coast Business Awards.
“We beat the Big Banana,” Mr Watson said.
“Others in the category were The Butterfly House and the Clog Barn.”
Their trike is available for everything from sightseeing tours to wedding processions.
But according to Mr Watson, their star client is Coffs Harbour local Kaitlan.
“She’s our favourite. We’ve just fallen in love with her,” he said.
“She’s an angel. She’s got all the problems in the world but she’s always happy. It gives you a different outlook on life.”
Mr Watson was a dairy farmer for 30 years before venturing into the tourism sector.
While his previous experience will come in handy operating the vineyard, he and Ms Watson plan to study viticulture.
They plan to start with the basics, offering a cafe-style menu from the restaurant which previously featured things like activated charcoal prawns and stuffed zucchini flowers.
One of their first purchases was a good coffee machine.
“There’s a lot of coffee snobs around so we want to get that down properly,” Mr Watson said.
They will have a soft launch of the cafe in January and trial special events like barbecues and wine tastings in coming months.
The winery also has a bed and breakfast on site and the plan is to establish a wedding venue, with hopes it will be up and running by March.
Got a news tip? Email: janine.watson@news.com.au
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