Explore the Hunter Valley alcohol-free
2.5hr drive south from 📍 Sydney to Polkobin
We acknowledge the traditional owners, the Ngarigo and Walgal people. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of the lands where we work, and travel through. We pay respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging.
Regional Explorer Reccos 🥾 Michelle Bates
Favourite coffee spot? The Sty at Yellow Billy restaurant in Polkobin is open Thursday through Sundays for coffee and the most insane toasties. IYKYK!
Favourite places for grab and go lunches? There isn’t much around in Polkobin so we stocked up on groceries and made a lot of our own meals from the Woolies in Cessnock on the way through from Sydney. It is about 30 mins drive to Polkobin from Cessnock.
Favourite place for a dine in dinner or lunch? Yellow Billy in Polkobin, an absolute must. We had the most delicious time being treated to multiple courses of locally sourced produce. They had plenty for the vegetarians in our group. We enjoyed a stroll through their gardens and they were kind enough to talk us through their history, their offering, and their fire cooking.
Favourite activities? My highlights outside of our Yellow Billy experience included relaxing at our accommodation (The Beltree) and having a spa, cheese board and honestly just relaxing with my Kindle and soaking up the country. My other favourite treat while there was indulging in the FANCY hot chocolate from the Cocoa Nib Artisan Chocolate Cafe in Polkobin. It has a gold chocolate ball that melts and explodes out marshmallows, and is made on their special cream milk… it was as much of a sugar high as you can imagine. It was AMAZING and very IG worthy. They sell stunning chocolates that look too good to eat, each piece is pure art.
Favourite time of year there, and why? I personally love the cooler months, but it is great year round. If you are going in summer or winter, make sure to book somewhere to stay that has cooling and heating.
How can people best support the region? Take home goodies for the pantry, stock up locally made and produced items to enjoy for the coming months.
About Mish Maree
Mish Maree (she/her) is the Founder and Editor of Regional Explorer. She has worked in media for the last 15+ years. She loves trail running and fire cooking. Mish is available for freelance travel writing. For enquiries, reach out to michelle@for-outsiders.com
Top picks for adventure
Beginner adventurers | Learn to fly an airplane over the Hunter Valley! 30 minute sessions for $170. Apparently it is a bit cheaper if you contact AeroHunter Adventures directly. Though they didn’t have a page listing for this experince.
Top picks for accommodation
Our top rated accomodation : 1 - 2 people 👥 | Families 👨👧👦👨👨👧👦 👨👩👦👦 👩👧👧 (TBC) | Groups 👯♀️👯♂️ (TBC) | Accessible 👨🦼🧑🦯 | Pet friendly 🐶 (*I went and checked out the accessible cabin myself to make sure it is appropriate, their accessible cabin is excellent. Yellowbilly Restaurant just down the road is also accessible.)
Quick links for while you are there ⚡️
Regional Explorer loves 🫶
Coffee & breakfast | The Sty at Yellow Billy (open Thurs - Sun)
Grab and go lunch | We didn’t grab and go on this trip, there isn’t much around in Polkobin. We instead enjoyed a beautiful fire cooked lunch at Yellow Billy in Polkobin
Food | Stock up at Woolies in Cessnock which is a 30 minute drive to Polkobin
Butcher | The Pickled Pig Butchery in Cessnock (Google Map)
Bakery | Gigi & Chix Bonbon in Polkobin (Google Map)
Dinner spots | Yellow Billy restaurant