Why you should make King Valley your next city escape
From its rolling hills and waterfalls to countless culinary delights, King Valley’s picturesque pocket of Victoria makes for a perfect escape from the city.
VIC News
Don't miss out on the headlines from VIC News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Holiday like royalty with a trip to food and wine hotspot King Valley as businesses in the region open their doors to visitors once again.
From its rolling hills and waterfalls to countless culinary delights, this picturesque pocket of Victoria makes for a perfect escape from the city.
While the region faced threats from bushfires with locals evacuated twice since the new year, King Valley is as beautiful as ever after being untouched by the blazes.
In the tiny town of Whitfield, it’s business as usual for John and Sue Remman, who run the Valley View Caravan but visitation has plummeted since the blazes.
Sue wants visitors to know that there’s nothing to be afraid of when visiting King Valley.
“It’s such a beautiful area, you’d have a wonderful weekend. It’s peaceful and quiet, the scenery is unbelievable,” Sue said.
“We’d love to see everybody – come back and enjoy our area.
“We’re a little picture perfect place that’s still becoming known but once people find out they’ll always come back because it’s just amazing up here.”
The couple have been running the caravan park for the past five years after leaving Melbourne behind to create a new life for themselves in the countryside.
“We went from the beach to the trees. We love it up here. I don’t think I’d be able to move back to Melbourne now we’ve lived up here, it’s a different lifestyle,” Ms Remman said.
Local woman Samantha Andersen has been running King Valley Glamping for the past three years and she admitted that her business has taken a hit since the blazes.
In a bid to boost bookings, she’s recently started up Alpine Valley Glamping servicing Bright and its surrounding areas, which have also been bushfire-affected.
Just a three hour drive away from Melbourne, Ms Andersen believes that King Valley is the perfect destination for city foodies looking for a weekend getaway.
“It would be amazing to just have people back in the area, shopping local and experiencing all we have to offer,” she said.
“We’re lucky we’ve got such a beautiful spot so close to Melbourne. It’s a nice and relaxing drive, especially for people who love their wine and food because we’ve got so much to offer here.”
The King Valley region is a melting pot for artisan food and drink producers, including family-run winery Gracebrook Vineyard.
Owner David Maples said that although losing out on January trade hurt, he’s confident that tourists will return to King Valley for the quality produce.
“We’ve been impacted financially but you’ve got to look at it in perspective. When you lose your house, your sheds, your stock – then you’ve got something to cry about. We’ve been lucky,” Mr Maples said.
“When you offer a good product, people will come back. We take it with a grain of salt and move on.
He continued: “We were closed for the three weeks but when we reopened, we had a big weekend with visitation and wine sales.
“The sun still shines, it’s still beautiful country. You could be anywhere else in the world, not thinking that this is our backyard.”
Brianna Munt, who runs King River Brewing with her husband Nathan, revealed how support from local communities gave the area a much needed lift over the Australia Day weekend.
But they’re now ready for city visitors to return.
Ms Munt said: “I noticed on the long weekend we had a lot of regional tourists come through – people from Albury Wodonga, from Beechworth or over Shepparton way.
“People are getting out and going where they can that’s close by to help out. It was lovely to see.
RELATED:
RAIL BRIDGE PUTS ORBOST BACK ON TRACK
CORRYONG FESTIVAL GETS LOCALS BACK ON THEIR FEET
TOURIST URGED TO MAKE TRACKS TO MALLACOOTA
“It was really nice to talk to people and ask them why they came – a lot of the responses were ‘We’re here to support you’.”
Brianna said people need to consider putting aside their foreign holiday plans for a while in favour of a staycation to support communities like King Valley.
“Having grown up here and starting our business here, I think if people were to postpone their international holidays and start travelling around their own doorstep I think they’ll be really surprised at what’s on offer here,” she said.
KING VALLEY
284km from Melbourne
Eat
Dal Zotto, Whitfield
Mountain View Hotel, Whitfield
Pizzini Winery, Whitfield
Stay
Chrismont Guest House, Cheshunt
Lusso King Valley
Play
Cooking classes at Pizzini Wines
E-bike hire from Dal Zotto to ride between wineries
Events
Feast High Country Festival – May
Weekend Fit For a King includes King Valley Balloon Festival — June 6-7