What I enjoy writing, more than anything else, are trip reports. I'd like to think that I've come a long way in terms of the production value of my reports, and strive to get better with each and every trip.
While some of my earlier works are just painful to read, my first mega-trip report from 2013 which detailed our 3-week round-the-world honeymoon to Australia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Dubai is one of my favorites.
We stayed at some truly phenomenal hotels, including the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island and Amangalla in Sri Lanka. But my absolute favorite of the trip was the Emirates Wolgan Valley Spa and Resort near the Blue Mountains in Australia, which is outlined in the post below.
Here are the other portions of the trip in case you're interested, and for all the future honeymooners out there feel free to reach out for advice or questions on how to make that once-in-a-lifetime trip truly special.
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Part 1 - Getting There and Arrival/Check-In
As we were planning out the Australian portion of our honeymoon
itinerary, we were very interested in visiting a hotel/resort in a
picturesque setting that would also allow us to be active. I looked
into resorts that are primarily considered beach destinations (Qualia,
Sothern Ocean Lodge, etc.) but since I had already booked a stay at the
Conrad Maldives with my Hilton points, I focused instead on finding a
non-beach setting. I actually hadn't heard of Wolgan Valley before, but
after seeing a trip report in this forum it was exactly what we were
looking for (was also considering Tea Trails in Sri Lanka). I worked
with
DavidO who took care of all of the booking/reservation details for me.
We left SFO and flew direct to Sydney where we spent a couple of rainy
days before leaving for Wolgan Valley. After spending a few minutes
figuring out how to drive on the "wrong" side of the road, for the most
part the drive up to the hotel was pretty easy and took us a total of 4
hours. We were slowed down due to heavy rain and also made a couple of
stops along the way to check out some of the vantage points near
Katoomba. We weren't too impressed by Katoomba as it was absolutely
flooded with tourists and the whole town just screamed tourist trap.
View from Govett's Leap
Kangaroo and wombat crossing
The final 30 minutes of the drive to the resort is quite steep and
windy, and I had to do my best to not drive too recklessly fast as I
could barely contain my excitement. The entrance to the property is
marked by a pair of gates which lead up to the main gate which is
staffed with a guard. After checking-in with the guard, the gate opens
up into a small parking lot where you leave your car. We were shown to a
small waiting room until another staff member came to get us and take
us back to the main resort.
It's a brief 5-minute drive to get to the main resort building where we
were led inside to check-in. The main building is also where the
breakfast/dinner restaurant and Country Kitchen for lunch are housed.
After arriving we were provided with warm towels and a glass of bubbly,
and felt completely relaxed while enjoying the amazing views. The
check-in process is a breeze with just a credit card taken for
authorization, and then we had a brief overview of the property, the
facilities and activities, dining options, and confirmation of Virtuoso
benefits (60-minute spa treatment up to $185 AUD value, other standard
benefits such as upgrade/free breakfast not really applicable here).
After checking-in, we headed down to the Country Kitchen for lunch
before heading to our suite.
Resort entrance off of highway
Main gate
Small waiting area at main gate
Rotunda at main buildling
Check-in area/lobby
Part 2 - Our Suite and the Surrounding Property
As we finished lunch and walked over to
our suite, it was impossible to not feel completely relaxed. The
property is absolutely stunning and the views really do take your breath
away.
Morning fog rolling in
View of the property
Main building
The 40 villas form an S-shape around the property, and we were assigned
suite #36. We found our suite to be extremely private as it is after
the main walkway and therefore got very little foot traffic. The resort
was at less than 50% capacity which also contributed to the feeling of
privacy. My recommendation would be to request one of the suites #32-40
as these are at the end of the S-shape and away from the walkway
leading to the main building.
The 1-BR suites have a "cottage" feel and felt very welcoming. Upon
entering there is a small foyer which is also where the mini-bar is
setup. There was a fully-stocked fridge with wine, soda, juice, and
water along with a tea and coffee machine. There is also a snack drawer
filled some chocolates and cookies/biscuits should you desire a snack
in between meals. Everything is inclusive aside from a few bottles of
hard alcohol.
Our suite #36
Front porch with our mountain bikes
Snack selection
The suites are quite large and definitely more than enough room for a
couple. There is a living room area which is separated from the bedroom
by a fireplace. Off of the living room is an entrance to the private
pool and outdoor deck area. To be honest, we barely utilized the
private pool and actually only used it for the novelty of it. It
actually felt a bit claustrophobic and the water was quite chilly. We
spent most of our time at the main pool and spa area.
The bedroom is equipped with the most comfortable bed I have ever slept
in, as well as a large walk-in wardrobe with a sitting area. Past the
bedroom is the bathroom which features double sinks, a large soaking
tub, and a rain shower with a skylight. There is also a deck area which
looks out over the property and has a couple of rocking chairs.
Living room
Fireplace and desk
Amazingly comfortable bed
Wardrobe
Bathroom
Shower with skylight
View from the tub
Private pool
Part 3 - Resort Facilities and Activities
The resort's facilities included
everything that we were looking for, but were definitely not the
highlight of our stay. But to be fair, it's hard to top the natural
setting and views around the property.
The upstairs of the main building houses the lobby, a small gift shop,
and the bar and dining room where breakfast and dinner is served.
Downstairs is the Country Kitchen where lunch is served.
Main dining room
Just outside of the main building are the remaining facilities which
include the spa, gym, indoor steam/sauna and cold plunge pool, and
outdoor pool and hot tub. Being the good husband that I am, my wife got
to use the complimentary massage as part of the Virtuoso benefits and
she reported back that the spa facilities and massage were fantastic.
We actually wanted to get a couples treatment, but they were fully
booked over the duration of our stay and couple only accommodate one of
us. So if you are interested in utilizing the spa, I would definitely
recommend booking ahead of time.
The outdoor pool area had approximately 15-20 lounge chairs and actually
got quite crowded during mid-day. I can imagine when the resort is at
full capacity that this area would be very crowded. The thing we
enjoyed most was actually the indoor sauna/steam room and the cold
plunge pool. At least a couple hours during the trip were spent going
back and forth between hot and cold. The gym looked like it was seldom
used and was pretty basic.
Pool
As part of the inclusive rate, two free activities are available per
day. There are several other activities that can be purchased at an
additional cost, but none of them looked appealing enough to us to
purchase. We ended up participating in only 3 of the 6 activities that
were available to us, which were the wildlife safari, night
safari/stargazing, and horseback riding. We enjoyed all 3 of the
activities, but our favorite was definitely the night safari as we were
able to see a ton of animals (kangaroos, wallaroos, and wombats). The
guides were very knowledgeable and we actually learned a good amount
about the history of the property and the wildlife that inhabits it. We
found that horseback riding was by far the most popular activity, and
we were lucky to grab a time slot on our last day. Again, if this is
something you're interested in would recommend booking prior to arrival.
Wildlife safari vehicle
Mob of kangaroos/wallaroos
1 of 5 albino wallaroos on the property
Wallaroo with joey in pouch
Wombat spotted during our night safari
Horseback riding
The activity that we enjoyed most was actually mountain biking around
the property. There are two main bike trails - one is a 7KM trail to
Platypus deck, and the other is a 16KM loop around the entire property.
Both of these trails are very easy to do unguided, and we were able to
stop at several of the designated viewing points along the way to enjoy
the views. It also allowed us to get up close and personal at times
with the kangaroos/wallaroos. We considered doing some hiking but the
flies were constantly swarming and stopped that from happening.
Overall, we definitely felt like it was an active holiday and really
enjoyed all of the activities.
Part 4 - Food & Beverage
Our favorite part of the trip! Every
single meal we had was delicious and very high quality - the resort
takes pride in using ingredients from their on-site garden as well as
from other local farms. For the most part there was a good variety to
choose from, for both lunch and dinner there would be specials that were
changed each day, along with "classics" that did not change for the
duration of our 3-night stay. We didn't partake in any of the
additional cost options, but heard that the in-suite Australian BBQ was
one of the popular choices.
Breakfast
Breakfast is available from 7-10am (11am on weekends/holidays) in the
main dining room. There is a buffet with pastries, meats, fruit,
yogurt, and juice as well as a menu with available hot options. The hot
options did not change for the duration of our stay. Each of the hot
entrees alone is plenty of food, and on the first day we made the
mistake of eating too much at the buffet before getting our entrees.
The breakfasts are definitely on the hearty side, which makes sense
since most people are off to activities in the late morning.
Breakfast menu
Buffet sampling
Eggs Ormiston
Valley Breakfast
Lunch
There are a couple options for lunch - one is have a picnic basket
packed for you to bring out to the destination of your choice, but this
was not an option for us due to the swarming flies. The other option is
to eat at the Country Kitchen in the main building, which serves lunch
from 12noon-3:30pm each day. Because guests are on different schedules
at this part of the day, there was never more than a couple tables
occupied at any given time. We're actually not used to have a 3-course
lunch and found that in general 2 courses (appetizer/main or
main/dessert) was more than enough, especially after a big breakfast.
The food we had during our 3 lunches were fantastic, with the duck
confit being one of the big highlights.
Sample lunch menu
Sample picnic lunch for 2
Duck confit
Tempura soft shell crab
Burger
Gnocchi
Deconstructed passion fruit cheesecake
Pistachio mousse
Dinner
Dinner is served in the main dining room from 6:30-10pm each night.
Since the resort was not at full capacity, the dining room never filled
up at any point in time, but during busier periods of the night we did
find that the service could be spotty. I can't imagine how it would be
if the resort was at full capacity, unless there are additional staff at
those times to handle the crowd. Dinner was very enjoyable and each
night would be approximately 2-3 hours from start to finish. There is
an extensive wine list with a page dedicated to local wines that are
inclusive, and several pages of foreign wines that are an additional
cost. Overall we absolutely loved the local wines and even wrote down
the names of a few for purchase later on.
Prior to dinner, for those that would like to enjoy the sunset, the
outdoor terrace was available for drinks and canapes. Similar to lunch,
each day there was a "classics" section that did not change, as well as
a daily tasting menu. For the most part we stuck to the tasting menu,
with the exception of the last night where I went with the classics
section. The tasting menu also has suggested wine pairings which we got
each time. Also, each night there was a completely different selection
of cheeses to choose from which were delicious.
Pre-dinner canapes
Table setting
Sample "classic" dinner menu
Sample "Taste of Wolgan" tasting menu
Oysters
Poached scallops
Sorbet palate cleanser
Main course- barrumundi
Special ice sculpture with ice cream to celebrate our honeymoon
Chocolate cake dessert
Cheese selection
Sample tasting menu #2
Sweetbreads
Sashimi
Trio of pork
Pineapple "ravioli"
