Lerida Estate winery

We all have moments of sheer genius. Probably my last of 2012 was deciding that lunch at a vineyard would be ideal on our trek to spend New Year’s Eve in the Blue Mountains. Even better, I thought to flick through the Canberra Entertainment Book and saw that there was a deal on wine for Lerida Estate (one of the Lake George wineries).  With just over an hour until we would arrive there, I also had the thought to book ahead for Cafe Lerida (which they seem to recommend). Like I said, sheer genius.

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Surveyor’s Hill winery

This past Saturday, the weather was atrocious. In Winter, we’re usually spared rain and just have to put up with chill-you-to-the-bone winds with the icy weather. But Saturday we got the cold weather, the biting winds and a whole heap of cold, cold rain.

I was desperate to go shopping, but knew with the weather that simply everyone in Canberra would be at the shops and if it wasn’t impossible to get a park, it would definitely be impossible to walk around. What to do in rainy weather when one doesn’t want to deal with crowds? Go to a winery, of course!

Brunch at Poachers Pantry

*This post was by T2, a co-author of In The Taratory from 2011-2013.*

So, I’m probably one of the very last Canberrans to try out the uber-popular Sunday morning brunch spot that is Poachers Pantry. It only took me four years of hearing about how wonderful this winery-smokehouse-restaurant-cafe was before I decided to finally venture out there and judge for myself.

It was yet another dreary summer’s day in Canberra (which I was rather disappointed about, because the previous day had been glorious – blue skies, fluffy white clouds, deliciously warm) and my housemate and I felt like doing nothing more than lazing around the house. But we’d already booked a table at Poachers Pantry and I knew how busy they would be – it would have been bad form to cancel at such a late stage.