The Northern Daily Leader

Banalasta is Aboriginal for “land of the healthy waterholes” and the property certainly lives up to its name, featuring a number of dams, as well as a different kind of waterhole – a winery.

The property combines wine, lavender and eucalyptus as well as a visitor centre, shop and coffee shop on the 6,000 ha of land situated northwest of Bendemeer.

The Blickling family has owned the cattle and sheep property since 1979. The property sits just off the New England Highway on Green Valley Rd.

Blickling Estate Wines features four white wines – the 2003 Wooded Chardonnay, Unwooded Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc – and one red, the 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon.

The vineyards encompass 20,000 wines and specialises in high altitude wines that are slow ripening grapes.

Banalasta is also home to the world’s largest eucalyptus radiata Australiana oil plantation with one million trees and 40,000 more trees to be planted in spring.

Visitors can tour the plantation and the eucalyptus oil distillery, where “there is discussion about the business”, Banalasta’s manager John Wynan said.

“Visitor’s can take a tour or the distillery and we encourage open discussion of the process and business during the tour.

“It is just a few minutes off the highway and visitors can have an experience with a difference.

“There area the views, wildlife with wallabies, wallaroos and more, wedge-tailed eagles flying over often, the vineyard, lavender, and eucalyptus.

“Visitors can also visit the shop and sample Banalasta’s products and have a coffee, bring a picnic or have a barbecue on the property.”

Banalasta also has the appeal of being open everyday expect Christmas Day.

Another attraction at Banalasta is the 2,000 ha of forest set aside for World Forest 2000, which is an environmental initiative conceived jointly in Australia and Germany and promotes increased environmental responsibility.

Only native trees are planted as part of the initiative and each tree and shrub planted on Banalasta is dedicated to a Paralympian who has won a gold medal.

The Banalasta planting was the first in the initiative.

John said the plants in this community project would never be harvested and Banalasta was part of this simply to support the project.

John is keen to promote Bendemeer and suggest that visitors take a tour through the area, visiting the buildings of historic significance and the village, then travelling up to Banalasta.

There are also many driving trials accessible from Bendemeer, travelling over the Moonbi Ranges via the trials, instead of down the highway, and visiting nearby villages including Watson’s Creek and taking in the scenery.

Being a short drive from Bendemeer, visitors to Banalasta can make a whole day out of their visit.