Taste of Mildura life

IT'S Gondola on the Murray country, a piece of the Mediterranean in the Australian bush, and the living is decidedly easy on a houseboat called Sheer Indulgence.

Sheer indulgence ... a weekend on a houseboat on the Murray River. Picture: Jenny Stevens

IT'S hard to believe Mildura was founded as a temperance settlement.

There we were, berthed in front of the Trentham Estate winery with other like-minded boaties, with nothing more pressing on our minds on a lazy Sunday afternoon than whether to eat in the restaurant, or detour to the cellar door for a tasting.

Temperance was the last thing on anyone's minds, as the wine was flowing, the restaurant was packed, and the outside tables under the tangle of grape vines filled to capacity.

Satisfied customers in shorts or sun dresses were spilling out on to the expansive lawn to stand under the shade sails and giant red gums, wine in hand, to watch the river meander by, while children let off steam on the green lawns leading down to the water.

It was an idyllic scene.

This is Gondola on the Murray country, a little piece of the Mediterranean in the Australian bush, and the living is decidedly easy.

In the cellars under the Grand Hotel in Mildura, the former Coffee Palace of temperance times, flamboyant celebrity chef Stefano de Pieri offers an Italian degustation menu every night at the award-winning Stefano's restaurant.

Matched with local wines, it's a set-price taste of Italy . . . Sunraysia figs and gorgonzola, pork sausage cooked in marc on wet polenta, cacciucco (fish stew), slow-roasted rib eye. But book in advance and don't eat anything for hours beforehand.

Stefano has become a product in Mildura -- his books and produce are sold everywhere -- but he's just one of many Italians who call Mildura home. The Mediterranean influence is everywhere: wine boxes are stamped with Italian words we've come to know like "famiglia" and stocked with new varietals we're learning about like sangiovese, viognier, petit verdot and pinot gris.

Cafes compete to make the best espresso; restaurants to showcase their menus, wines and beers.

Good food stores, like Stefano's 27 Deakin, stock the finest local produce, from olives and table grapes to the in-demand Mildura pink salt. For an Australian rural city, it's an eye-opener.

Even our houseboat, the Sheer Indulgence, seemed to fit right in with this la dolce vita.

We were amateurs, no doubt about it, and Sheer Indulgence was one of the biggest on the river, but we returned the boat unscathed, helped immeasurably by rear cameras for reversing, push-button controls, a responsive wheel and the camaraderie of the river, which brought fellow boaties or passers-by to grab a rope when we nudged the bank at popular spots like Trentham or the Gol Gol Hotel (which also has a good restaurant and expansive views).

Our snatched conversations with strangers probably haven't changed much from horse and buggy days: "G'day. Need a hand? Where're you going? Where're you from?"

A massive 22m long and eight metres wide, Sheer Indulgence was designed for lazy enjoyment at a measured 8km/h.

Powered by two 75 horsepower Mercury engines, she carries six queen-sized bedrooms with plasma screen TVs, DVDs, air con and heating; two bathrooms; a lounge and dining room big enough for 12; a gourmet kitchen; and two barbecues, jacuzzi and gym equipment in the shaded entertainment area on the top deck.

But the biggest attraction was the Murray, visible through every giant window or glass door.

At Mildura, it's wide, green and deep, thanks to the lock and weir system.

Water skiers and power boats thrashed up and down, but we got used to it, they avoided us, and it hasn't discouraged the birds.

Black swans cruise the quiet inlets; cormorants dry their wings on logs; and pelicans and ducks patrol the reeds and shallows and keep an eye on the houseboats in case anyone has bread for them.

Get away from the town and you can be alone. Just you, the river, the bush and the birds. Bliss.

The writer travelled courtesy of Tourism NSW and Tourism Victoria.

The Sunday Telegraph