After falling in love with the beautiful scenic beauty of the New England area 26 years ago, Rolf Blickling put his money where his passion lay and bought that magnificent 6000ha local property, Banalasta, on the new England Highway, just north of Bendemeer.

Even though at the time he was still living in his native Germany, Rolf said he always wanted to buy a large property where he could ride and he and his family could enjoy nature at its best.

“People told me at the time I was crazy but I loved the scenery, the roos jumping around, the trees, the wildlife and everything to do with this great area, it was complete freedom, something you would never see in Germany,” he said.

Rolf said for the next five or six years, he came out to Australia every year to spend time on his property.

While he was here he talked to local farmers, who only spoke about not enough rain or too much.

“So I told my manger to build a large dam, which now has turned out to be a great benefit to the property,” he said.

Eleven years ago Rolf and his family moved to live in Australia for good.

Living on Banalasta, the next thing Rolf had to do was to decide what he wanted to do with the property.

“I was keen on sheep or cattle, but what I did learn was that 90 per cent of eucalyptus oil used in Australia was imported,” he said.

This gave him a great idea, and soon he had his own eucalyptus plantation up and running.

It is now with more than one million trees, it the largest eucalyptus radiata Australian oil plantation in the world distilling only the best quality eucalyptus oil possible and in great demand throughout the nation and overseas.

“Not only that, while I was living in Germany, I was the largest importer in the country of Australian wines, but at that time Australian wines were not as popular on the world market as they are today,” he said.

So Rolf next decided to put in grape vines, which again he did wholeheartedly, starting with 30 vines.

Next Rolf planted French hybrid lavender, which has also turned out to be very popular.

With a large eucalyptus plantation, a wonderful vineyard, plus lavender fields, Banalasta opened its Visitors Centre and coffee shop, which displays and sells the whole range of the property’s produce including a cosmetic range made from their natural products.

In 2005, in the inland NSW Tourism Awards, Banalasta was voted the best New Tourist Attraction and runner-up in the Tourism Development sector and runner-up in the New Cellar Door awards.

Banalasta is open seven days from 9am to 5pm and have introduced live entertainment once a month.

A helicopter flight over Armidale’s gorge country is a spectacular experience in itself but mix it with stops at three wineries and you have the perfectly indulgent day.

Armidale-based Fleet Helicopters has just created the ‘Cool Climate Vineyard Crawl’, a five to seven hour tour that takes in flights over the spectacular Dangars and Gara Gorge, along with visits to three wineries in the area. They are: Merilba Estate, Blickling Estate and Petersons.

James Rainger, Pilot and Tourism Operations Manager for Fleet Helicopters, said the idea of the itinerary is to provide a unique experience that combines two of the region’s main features: good quality, cool climate vineyards and world-class helicopter flights.

“It also gives people the opportunity to explore a number of vineyards within a timeframe that would normally be prohibitive,” he explained.

Fleet’s most popular tour is the one-hour gorge country tour, which takes in six gorges, at a cost of $330 per person. The new tour offers the highlights of this tour, with some extravagances thrown in. Departing from Armidale Airport, it’s a 15 to 25 minute flight to Merilba Estate in Uralla, where you’ll stop for a tour, tasting and morning tea.

First planted in 1998 with the first harvest in 2001, Merilba produces five varieties of wine and supplies to towns all around NSW. It is open for cellar door sales by appointment only.

From there, it’s another 20 minutes flying to Banalasta near Bendemeer for a tour, tasting and light lunch at Blickling Estate.

Banalasta is the world’s largest Eucalyptus radiata Australiana plantation. It grows and distils its own organic eucalyptus and lavender oils which are then incorporated into its extensive range of therapeutic and skincare products available to try and buy at their Visitor Centre/Cellar Door. The wine is made under the Blickling label, named after the property owner Rolf Blickling, who when living in his native Germany, imported Australian wines. At 950m, the vineyard is one of the highest altitude vineyards in Australia.

The final stop is Peterson’s, another 30 or so minutes away, for a tour, tasting and Cheese platter.

With over 30 years of experience producing some of the Hunter Valley’s most awarded boutique wines, Petersons are the first recognised wine producers to establish in New England and are confident the area will become one of Australia’s most premium cool climates for growing grapes.

Peterson’s vineyard in Armidale grows eight varieties of grape. Its first harvest was in 2002 and the wine produced from this vineyard has already won show awards in major wine shows. The Cellar Door is situated in restored horse stables, which create a unique location for wine tasting.

The Cool Climate Vineyard Crawl costs $660 per person with a minimum of two (this does not include vineyard costs) or $720 including flights over two gorges.