Galleries & Shopping
Shopping
There are a number of great shops in the Hunter. I have listed a few that are my favorites.
Pickled and Pitted is located just across the road from Maranda and around the corner from Bonn Abbey on Wollombi Street which is the main street in Broke. They have a superb range of olives, oils, cheeses, preserves and other specialty items all prepared locally with seasonal produce. You can also buy a selection of wonderful locally made olive oil soaps. If you are staying midweek then ring Marion and she will often open up for you to browse.
Pickled & Pitted - Store
67 Wollombi St Broke Phone - 02 6579 1063 Mobile - 0409 791 063
Open Fri-Mon 10am-4.30pm
Hunter Valley Macadamia Farm -- Coffee & Cake, Light Meals, Macadamia Nuts, Macadamia Oil, Citrus Fruit & Jams, Macadamia Skin Care, Gourmet Chocolates, Aussie Produce, products & gifts. Blood Oranges, Mandarins, Tangelos, Navels -- available from June to September. Enjoy their native gardens & view of the valley. Watch the friendly alpacas as they peacfully graze
Open from 10.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Friday to Sunday & Public Holidays (Closed Christmas day & Boxing day)
118 Milbrodale Road, Milbrodale NSW 2330
Phone/Fax: 02 6574 5443
Mobile: 0408 634 618
Hunter Valley Garden Village is known as Pokolbin's town centre, Hunter Valley Gardens Village features a variety of boutique specialty shops, restaurants, attractions, a beautiful Chapel and free entertainment in the Village rotunda on weekends. Enjoy the beautifully landscaped gardens of the Village and make the most of the picnic facilities, located right next to the fully enclosed children's playground. This is also where the Aqua golf driving Range and the 18 hole Putt Putt Golf is located. The shops at the Hunter Valley Garden Village are:
Bliss Coffee - wide range of coffee brewing equipment, accessories and gifts. Relax and enjoy a delicious sweet treat and a blissful cup of coffee.
Candelabra - the Candle Emporium - Their beautiful candles are mostly Australian made and their huge collection includes over 40 fragrances and 30 shapes & sizes.
Christmas In The Vines - Christmas in the Vines is open all year round for your Christmas treats. Specialising in table ware, gift ware, decorations and Lemax Collectable Villages.
Country Farm Delights - a wide range of preserves and relishes from their Hunter Valley Gardens Village kitchen.
Flaschengeist is a small liquor shop stocking specialist liqueurs, and an olive shop stocking all things olive; olive products, vinegars and bottles.
Hunter Valley Chic Come and create the centrepiece of any room with floral designs and unique glassware. Fresh flowers and Silk flowers are ready to adorn your settings with many surprises from our own range of giftware.
The Waiters Friend - An extensive range of professional quality barware and kitchenware. Everything from waiters friends to fish bone tweezers! A must see for wine enthusiasts, chefs, hobby cooks and gift buyers.
Wilson & Hunter Style to wear for men & women. All the essentials (and some irresistible no-essentials) from Lisa Ho, George, Spencer & Rutherford, Mossimo Mens and Mossimo Womens, Jets, Sea Folly Girls and Endless Spirit. Plus an exciting range of handbags, shoes & fashion jewellery sourced from all over the world.
The Village Book Cellar - The Village Book Cellar is a treasure trove of books and gift items for all tastes and ages.
The Twig - A visit to The Twig is an absolute must! A popular shopping spot with the locals, The Twig carries a boutique selection of fine linens, home furnishings and giftware quite unlike anything else on offer in the valley.
The General Store - In the heart of the village is the Pokolbin Convenience Store a genuine general store servicing the Pokolbin area.
The Antique Shop at the Gardens - An exquisite array of fine and antique jewellery set amongst our collection of beautiful antique furniture and tapestries, collected from the four corners of the world.
Peppers Creek Village is a Tuscan inspired village in the heart of the Hunter Valley Vineyards. The relaxed surroundings and provincial character is manifested by the unique and eclectic sandstone buildings. As well as housing the wonderful Cafe Enzo the village has some great shops. Amble along the paths past the courtyard fountain to find unique homeware boutiques.
Les Indiennes de Provence specialises in unique fabric and products from the south of France.
Monsoon Living imports exotic furniture, soft furnishings, fashion accessories and oriental curios from all across Asia in the spirit of the Silk Road.
Peppers Creek Antiques is a haven for rare, European antiquities. As well as antique furniture, chinaware and silverware, the long jewellery cases display an extensive range of precious jewellery. Hand-woven tapestry’s drape the stone walls framing the collection of gifts and treasures below. By investing time to browse through this beautiful gallery environment, you are assured of finding objects of your desire.
Other places to shop include
Simply D'Vine - much, much more than a nursery . . . A well established garden centre for over two decades and continuing to flourish. Their vision of providing beautiful gardens, homewares and water features to fit any budget, has become a reality. The nursery now boasts new and exciting ranges of high quality plants at more realistic prices. Why buy one when you can now afford two?
“Water features are one of our major drawcards”. “Buying something beautiful for your home or garden should be an enjoyable experience”. At Simply D’Vine we want people to fall in love with a piece, take it home, plug it in and add water. Simple.
The gift gallery has a breathtaking and ever changing display of pots, plants, statues, bird baths, furniture, gifts, jewellery, accessories and homewares to complete the picture. Add to this the happy and friendly staff and qualified designers and horticulturalists only too willing to assist, and you have a team second to none.
Found that special gift? The SDV team will wrap it beautifully while you enjoy a cup of tea, coffee or lunch in our café overlooking the KOI pond. So for a breath of fresh air, come and explore the wonders of Simply D’Vine at the gateway to the Hunter Valley’s famous vineyards and Wine Country only 2 minutes north of Cessnock 2 hours from Sydney and 50 minutes from Newcastle . . . and prepare to be amazed.
151 Wine Country Drive Nulkaba NSW 2325 - Telephone: 02 4990 4291
The British Lolly Shop - The British Lolly Shop sells a range of quality confectionary and gourmet products from the UK. They supply Chocolate Sweets & Bars, Crisps, Snacks & Biscuits, Boiled Sweets, Blackpool Rock, Liquorice, a range of of Sweets in various packaging as well as Toffee & Nougat. Our gourment range includes Marmite, Yorkshire Pudding mix, Bisto gravy a range of Colmans sauces and a range of Teas just to name a few. Brands of products include Walkers Crisps, Mars, Cadburys, McVities, Trebor Basset, Maxons, Nestle, Walkers Nonsuch and many more Shop 1A, Hunter Valley Gardens Village, Broke Road POKOLBIN NSW 2325
Paul OToole -Tables and woodcraft - If your in the market for a custom made recycled timber table (seen in many local accommodation houses and local restaurants) then why not contact Paul or Mellisa and pop along and look at what they do. Wonderful serving/cheese board made from French wine barrels are also available. Visit local craftsman Paul O'Toole located behind Pickled and Pitted (Wollombi Road BROKE) ring 0408 400651.
Galleries
Galleries are abundant in the Hunter. Here are a few that may interest you
Brokes Promise Gallery - Fine Arts Gallery features glassware by well known Blue Mountains artist Keith Rowe and ceramics by Lyn Hart, also from the Blue Mountains. We have beautiful timber carvings and paintings by local artist Rebecca Rath and of course our resident sandstone sculptor Samuel Re. Sam, has his unique, handcrafted sculpture studio at Broke's Promise Vineyard and is already making waves in the local community. 2006 Sam won Best Sculpture Exhibit Award in the annual Art in the Vines Exhibition, as well as People’s Choice for his beautiful ‘Tree Frog in Lily Pond’ (pictured). 2007 he was feature artist at the Singleton School Art Show and November 2007 exhibited with artist Rebecca Rath at the Wollombi Arts Centre and it was the most successful exhibition ever held there. Open at weekends only 10am-5pm Millbrodale Road Broke
Greg Wilson Gallery - Greg Wilson - Rebel of the Art World
Greg Wilson’s artwork is no longer a secret! After a number of highly successful and extended exhibitions in Sydney, he has already sold works in the United States, and has been approached by several galleries in New York.
Critics at home have dubbed him the Rebel of the Art World, but he is a rebel with a cause. At age 24 he was involved in a near fatal motorcycle accident in Paddington, severing the main artery in his neck and being pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene before they were able to bring him back to life.
During a traumatic four-year recovery period, plagued by depression, anger and confusion, he called upon previously acquired skills in woodwork and carving to begin sculpting and painting. It was the beginning of an exciting and rewarding journey. The fragility of life, the joy of simply being alive, a newfound awareness of the beauty of nature, as well as reflections on his near-death experience became the inspiration for his work. “My work is more than a work of art; it is a work of the heart,” he says.
Possessed by a new zest for living, he refused to confine himself to a single theme or medium - and his creativity is expressed in a wide range of paintings and sculptures. They can be viewed at his gallery in the picturesque Hunter Valley, which he now calls home and where he derives further inspiration from the magnificent Hunter Valley Gardens nearby. Hunter Valley Gardens Village- Broke Road
Ken Duncan Gallery - Ken Duncan is one of Australia’s most celebrated landscape photographers. His superb panoramic images, capturing the ever-changing moods and wild diversity of Australia’s natural environment are featured in an outstanding range of Ken Duncan products. His success is demonstrated by the popularity of his books, the record prices fetched by his Limited Edition Prints and the number of his national and international awards. Ken, however, describes himself as “an average photographer, with a great God ... merely an interpreter of God's creation.” The art, he says, “is in seeing, capturing and presenting these images to others.”
Now his work has come to the Hunter Valley in the form of a magnificent new Ken Duncan Gallery at Hunter Valley Gardens Village, showcasing the very best of Ken's Australian and overseas Panographs.
Hunter Valley Gardens Village - Broke Road
Butterflies Gallery - With changing exhibitions of original art and displays of the finest contemporary, traditional and decorative work from Australian artists and crafts people, Butterflies Gallery is a peaceful place to browse.
Broke Road Pokolbin.
Pokolbin Gallery and Mistletoe Sculpture Garden - Mistletoe Vineyards is proud to host the Pokolbin Art Gallery and Mistletoe Sculture Garden where you will view some unique art works. The Mistletoe cellar door houses Pokolbin Gallery where we have on display and available for purchase an ever changing display of paintings, ceramics, glassware, specialist woodturnings, sculptures and other works of art.
We have a close working association with Cooks Hill Fine Art Gallery in Newcastle as well as other fine talented local artists. The exhibits change approximately every 8 weeks, so there is always something fresh and interesting to view each time you visit.
Mistletoe Wines Hermitage Road.