CLOCKWISE TOP
LEFT: The white
crescent of Mollymook
Beach, South Coast
NSW; If you like your
towns cute then Berry
(NSW) is for you;
Bowral’s (NSW) star
is rising thanks to outlets
like Dirty Janes.
OPPOSITE
(clockwise from top
left): Come to Coffin Bay
(SA) simply to sample its
world-class oysters;
Wollombi in the Hunter
Valley is seemingly a
period film set; Explore
the rolling hills around
Mudgee (NSW).Merricks. Another non-starter in 2009, the location has
been much referenced in the past two years thanks to the
arrival of Jackalope Hotel just to its north, a sleek design
hotel filled with interesting art (the entrance is presided
over by a seven-metre-tall shiny black jackalope sculpture
created by artist Emily Floyd) and boasting the
award-winning restaurant, Doot Doot Doot.
By the time Pt. Leo Estate, a boutique winery with
a stunning cellar door and restaurant, and extensive
sculpture park overlooking Phillip Island in the distance,
opened down the road, Merricks’ elevation into the ranks
of towns on the rise was assured. Now the Melburnians
who flock there on weekends to drink in the atmosphere,
as much as the locally produced wines, are increasingly
rubbing shoulders and competing for tables with
interstaters and international visitors alike.
Putting a focus on food and wine has affected the
fortunes of quite a few previous entries on the Best
Towns list. Mudgee is a perfect example: over the last
decade the regional NSW town of just over 12,000
inhabitants a scenic 3.5 hours’ drive north-west from
Sydney, has earned a reputation as a foodie hotspot,
with its annual Mudgee Wine + Food Festival, held every
September, increasing in popularity on an almost yearly
basis and drawing visitors from all over the country to its
long list of culinary events.
The buzz created by festivals like this, teamed with
a healthy local economy offering up job opportunities in
agriculture, tourism, mining and viticulture, affordable
housing prices and a gracious country lifestyle has also
made the town an attractive prospect in the past 10
years for city dwellers looking for a tree change.
The blissfully situated West Australian town of
Yallingup was also a no-show on the 2009 list, but its
transformation in the past decade from an under-the-radar
beach town with a reputation that hadn’t spread much
further than the surfing community to a destination
attracting worldwide attention has been spectacular.
Case in point: Margaret River and the South West was
named as the number one must-visit destination in the
Asia-Pacific region by Lonely Planet in 2019.
The seaside hamlet of just over 1000 residents,
according to the last census, has benefitted from
the continuing popularity of a good food festival too.
The internationally renowned Margaret River Gourmet
Escape has attracted a rollcall of celebrity chefs since its
establishment in 2012, including the likes of Rick Stein,
Nigella Lawson, Curtis Stone and Heston Blumenthal (this
year’s festival, from 8–17 November, will be the first under
the new banner of Western Australia Gourmet Escape,
staging events in Perth and the Swan Valley as well as the
Margaret River region). It also has the allure of its natural
attractions and a very decent local wine industry that
casts its glow on the nearby towns of Dunsborough and
Margaret River, which featured at number 10 on the 2009