Maitland Markets

A 45-minute drive out of Newcastle into the Hunter will take you to Maitland, where on the first Sunday of the month (plus occasional extra Sundays) the showgrounds’ 84 acres of open fields and old corrugated-iron pavilions are given over to markets. This is a centre for country crafts ranging from the elegant (handmade wooded toys) to the eccentric (lamps made from teddy bears). Produce includes locally farmed oysters for just $8 a dozen, apples from an orchard where the farmer reportedly sings to them, ugg boots, golf balls, babywear, jewellery and a shed full of hardware. Nursery plants sell for a fraction of Sydney prices and you won’t find a better bacon-and-egg roll for miles around.