The Royal Mail Hotel get’s it right in so many ways. For a country hotel with on site luxury room accommodation and also operating a fully working sheep station with luxury homestead and renovated shearers cottages available for accommodation , this operation has made the small farming town of Dunkeld a gastronomic destination for foodies around Australia and internationally.

It was a brave vision of the Dunkeld pastoral operation to have the belief that they could turn this hotel, 3.5 hrs from Melbourne into a viable up market fine dining and luxury retreat destination. The Homestead above is awesome, for more detail reador scroll down below and the views of Mt Sturgeon are unrivalled.

With 3 levels of dining options, starting from public bar with limited menu, but with an outstanding Wagyu corned beef that was sublime in it’s succulence and great authentic curries,

Bistro dining, where the catalan version of the crème brulee was a fantastic way to finish the dinner.

The staff at the hotel are very friendly, be warned though, the public bar is the only country public bar in this town ( with some gastronomic influences.) you may hear some very colourful language as it is frequented by local shearers and farm hands amongst others. So if you are relegated to the public bar for food (as the bistro and fine dining can book out up to 8 weeks ahead) and you are accompanied by young children, suggest using the public bar dining room, adjacent to the bar.

I was accompanied by my wife and 4 year old daughter, looking a little spooky above, which precluded us from the fine dining degustation experience (and rightly so) I believe this is also a sensation,  I suggest that families with young children avail themselves of the rustic fully refurbished shearers quarters on the Mt Sturgeon estate.

We simply cherished, no TV and no Phone. For someone who is constantly tied to these instruments of business, this was one non inclusion that was very welcome. They are fully refurbished but still retain much of their original fittings, these are highly reccommened for those who want to really relax, they are also very private.

With great leather couches, large kitchen table, stone floors with great fireplace and sumptuous breakfast provisions including dried and stewed fruit from the Mt Sturgeon homestead orchard accompanied by local Grampians sheep yoghurt and modern bedrooms this was more than we expected.

Waking up to the awesome views of Mt Sturgeon, the start of the Grampians ranges was a sight to behold. One of the most intriguing aspects were the really old trees, liberally scattered around the property.

Reminding me of the old ‘Ents” from Lord of the Rings, they truly added a sense of mysterious history.

Above the tree outside the “Singlemans” shearers quarters where we stayed. My daughter was kindly invited to watch a mob of sheep being rounded up by the dogs, for some care and maintenance, this was not planned and also very welcome.

The homestead itself is also available for private accommodation and certainly is luxurious in appointments and the 2 master bedrooms were simply superb. With a supporting suite of another 3 double bedrooms, the homestead is suited to around 8-10 pax.

Huge verandas again overlooking the Mt Sturgeon hills and gigantic gardens suite relaxation and outdoor games. With a very modern kitchen and 2^nd modern lounge, it’s a sensational destination for groups and multiple families.

The royal mail hotel provides complimentary transfers to the dining rooms from the homestead. I rang reception for one of these transfers from the shearers cottages and was told sorry not available, so plan ahead for this service with them as it’s around an 8 minute drive on a patrolled highway, for those who want to fine dine and enjoy their degustation experience and wines, i’m told local baby sitters are available to come to the homestead, so it’s all doable with young family. Older kids will obviously be suited to the bistro dining.

Great walks and other attractions including a small fauna reserve top off this great spot. There is abundant birdlife, wild and farm animals around the cottages, homestaed and estate.

Heli Experiences and Jet experiences provides helicopter and also private jet, twin engine and vinatge DC3 gooney bird air transfers for small to medium sized groups to the Royal Mail Hotel and Mt Sturgeon Estate on a  charter basis. Our larger aircraft land at Hamilton airport. Its around 30 mins flight time in a jet, helicopters take approx 90 mins but can land directly outside the homestead. For further details simply contact us.

After landing your touring starts at Rymill winery. Famous for it’s grand entrance (below) and also one of the oldest wineries in the region. The rich history of the region combined with elegant cellar door and informative visual tour of a working winery, it’s a must do. A grand start to the day!

Above the grand entrance to Rymill winery, below one of the tasteful historic displays within the facility. We also highly recommend the Rymill sparkling wine range, a real coonawarra surprise!

The weather on the day was simply superb, South Australia really turns it on for it’s visitors and all the locals in the coonawarra region are just so friendly. Below, the famous Rymill label horses.

The citation private jet which we flew to the coonawarra in was such a great experience. With robbie williams playing on the onboard entertainemnet system , sipping on some early morning sparkling and cruising at 30,000 feet where the sun always shines, you can see below by the smiles on idals that this is an experience you will never forget.

Lunch at Hollick winery and restaurant is a must do and lends to some unforgettable fine dining moments. With menu items such as “twice- baked gorgonzola souffle” and “crispy skinned local pork belly with pancetta and vermouth;orange and star anise glaze” combined with their barrel tasting experience with the wine maker, it’s a special lunch at a very special winery. Gotta add, our host, kate hollick was a delight. (see below our lunch group and entrance to the restaurant.)

Above, heli experiences founder guy maine talks with kate hollick from Hollick Coonawarra.Below so much attention to detail at this immaculately presented winery and restaurant, a credit to the hollick family and the coonawarra region as a whole. With unique views over the famous terra rossa strip, this is a “must do” when in the region.

We all loved this lunch and most definitely will be back for more. many thanks to kate hollick and her team for a fantastic lunch.

You simply cannot visit the coonawarra without taking the obligatory postcard snap at the old railway station. saved from the wreckers ball just recently, it’s a south australian icon and who knows one day, they might get the train going again. Now that would be something. below our private jet pilot with happy guests.

next stop is the ultimate in wine destinations for all purveyors of the red drop. Wynns coonawarra is a household name both here in australia and around the world. Their iconic label and distinctive wines make this one of the other highlights of the tour. Their tasting room and staff are engaging and happy, you can also do a mixology class, where you get to mix your own personal wynns coonawarra red mix, now thats something to take home with you!’

Much fun was had in the wynns cellar door, i believe we walked out with a truckload of wine! A very historic and attractive building welcomes guests to this great australian winery.(see below)

For any enquiries about this or other fantattic jet experiences please contact us using the contact page. You can also visit our dedicated jet experiences website, just click here.

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as we unveil 4 destinations in the luxurious hawker series of Jets. For more information simply contact us and we will keep you informed about launch dates et