Selling up in Sydney; making the move to Mudgee

This couple didn’t dare to dream that they would make their weekend getaway their forever home, but after the first COVID lockdown, Emma Baker and husband Jim made the move to Mudgee.

Purchasing 20 acres just outside of town, Emma was able to leave her fashion job in Sydney, doing away with a six hour commute, and instead opened a lifestyle business, Good Day Lifestyle Co. in an historic music hall in the heart of the town.?

The treasure trove of handpicked, eclectic fashion and homewares has spread its bright cheeriness throughout the region, and as the name suggests, is in favour of a Good Day for all.?

Emma says Mudgee’s sense of community has captured her heart.?

“I have never felt more part of a community,” she said.?

“In Sydney, you might be living literally metres from someone, but I didn’t know their name or what they did. But here in Mudgee, I feel like I am part of ten different communities and then one big one, all together.”

For former Sydney caterers Nick and Sophie Storey, making their move to Mudgee was also fast-tracked by the onset of the pandemic.?

Originally from a country background, Sophie always harboured a desire to return to her regional roots but a thriving catering business kept the couple in Sydney’s inner west – until it didn’t.?

When the pandemic brought it to a sudden stop, the couple looked west and came across Blue Wren Farm in Mudgee, purchasing it in October 2020.?

They’ve spent the last few years renovating and reviving what was primarily a wedding venue that now offers a popular produce-driven restaurant and accommodation.?

“I think Mudgee is a really exciting place to be for people in the hospitality industry,” Sophie said.?

“It’s also a really evolving place. When we first moved here there wasn’t a good sourdough bakery or a bakery where you could get a decent croissant, and now there are two. I think it is constantly changing and there are a lot of young people trying new things.”

In the thriving food and wine region, nothing says Mudgee more than award winning winery, Yeates Wines. Edwina Yeates, whose parents own the winery, recently decided to return to her roots after spending several years overseas.?

Edwina embraced Mudgee’s tourism boom, establishing more accommodation at the winery where guests can enjoy a night overlooking the vineyards, shiraz in hand.?

“I think the influx of the people from the city has really lifted the standard for the locals. It has also brought an energy to the town that we need to be a bit more competitive,” Edwina said.?

“We have always been the underdogs compared to the bigger wine regions like the Hunter Valley, but it’s never been about the money. Here it is more about a labour of love because it is mostly smaller-run family operations.”

“I think when you are in the city you are never talking to the person who made the product, and what people love in Mudgee is that you talk to the person who owns the vineyard or produced the product or grew the food, or is the chef who also owns the business.”