Five Aussie oyster experiences worth the drive
There has never been a better time to plan a road trip weekend getaway around some local homegrown produce. The sea is calling!Oysters are salty, fishy, wobbly and slippery so as Jonathan Swift famously said, it was a brave man who first ate one. Australia grows some of the world’s best oysters, so how about tasting them straight from where they are grown? Oyster producers are opening up their beds to enthusiasts willing to taste and learn, so jump in the car and check these out.
Coffin Bay, South Australia
If standing in waist-deep water, sipping a glass of wine while an oyster farmer guides you through the growing process sounds tantalising, the location only improves the experience. Coffin Bay produces some of Australia’s best-loved oysters and the farm tours cover spawning to harvesting and the table. Coffin Bay is on the Eyre Peninsula, almost 700km from Adelaide so enjoy it over a couple of nights. Don the waders and listen to tales from Ben the oyster grower while he shucks a few briny beauties.
Smoky Bay, South Australia
SA Premium Oysters has every oyster experience covered: from an oyster shed land tour and tasting, to the extended barge trip three kilometres out to their specially-built shucking and dining platform in the middle of the oyster-growing lease. Sit a few metres above the water, learn how the oysters develop, slurp them from the shells and some matching wine either during the day or on one of the special sunset tours. Smoky Bay is close to Ceduna and the main Nullarbor road and makes a wonderful diversion from the desert crossing.
Coles Bay, Tasmania
This tour starts in Coles Bay on Tassie’s wonderful Freycinet Peninsula but heads straight to a location with the gold-standard name for oyster tasting. Great Oyster Bay is home to Freycinet Marine Farm, where head guide Declan helps you don waders, wander out to the racks and immediately learn how to shuck some oysters and hoover them down with some local Riesling. The farm also grows mussels so you’ll enjoy a bowl of them as well. It’s educational, but also bliss for seafood groupies.
Broken Bay, NSW
Mooney Mooney Oyster Farm Tours on the Hawkesbury River just north of Sydney can take you on the oyster adventure of a lifetime. Top of the tree is their Oyster Elegance trip that includes a boat ride out to the leases where you’re guided through the shucking process as a prelude to a white-tablecloth lunch on a secluded beach. You can also do just the boat trip and shucking experience; while a separate tour looks at pearl farming. Both Sydney Rock and Pacific oysters are grown, they’re all delicious and the scenery is as delectable as the shellfish.
Pambula, NSW
NSW’s south coast is a maze of inlets that are the natural home to the Sydney Rock Oyster and Captain Sponges Magical Oyster Tours leaves no shell unopened in its quest to share them with guests. The tour boat meanders down Pambula Lake and you’ll gather oysters from their beds, shuck them on board and start eating them as fresh as can be. Learn about the husbandry process, the ecology of the estuary and after two hours or so you’ll have fallen in love with this truly magical area.
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