What brought you to Orange Grant?

We like it!: Grant Horrex and Gidget take in the views from Borrodell.

“It’s very picturesque,” says Grant Horrex, who was among the thousands of visitors to descend on Orange on the final weekend of the F.O.O.D. Week autumn festival.

It can be easy for us who live in Orange to forget what a beautiful city it is and just how much the district has to offer. So, when Orange City Life ran into Grant and his friends visiting from Sydney, we thought we’d find out just what’s brought them to our Colour City.

“My first impressions were of the trees. There's lots of nice established trees and the old buildings… a lot of people don’t expect inland towns to still have that heritage feel, with the block of terraces and all the old buildings, which is real pleasant surprise,” said Grant, who was in town celebrating the birthday of his brother-in-law.

“We’d always wanted to come to Orange,” said Grant’s sister Angela. “We’d talked about a trip here at some point, because I had heard about the restaurants and the food and the wine and it has been nice. We got the fire going last night and when you've had too much summer in Sydney, to suddenly come up here and feel the cooler weather and get the fire going… it is really nice.”

“And people have talked about F.O.O.D. Week being awesome,” added Grant.

Alison Green made her first trip to Orange for another friend’s birthday five years ago and it left her with a lasting impression — and brought her back!

“I was in a little house in Byng Street, and we got to know some of the cafes like Racine’s and it was such a nice spot to visit,” she said.

“I thought it was really pretty, a really comfortable place and friendly. We went to the pub and chatted with locals and obviously Orange is a real foodie destination! You can have people here doing lots of fine dining and big food experiences or you can have something simple, but still delicious.”

And after a busy day dining and wine tasting, to be able to retire to their accommodation in the apple orchard at Borrodell was a welcome break, said Alison, who normally calls Pott’s Point home.

“The views!” she said. “It is really nice to be here in middle of all the beautiful heritage apples. It is extremely beautiful.

“We've been here before, but it is a place we are coming back to and more than happy to drive over the mountains to come to Orange.”