Mortels Sheepskin Factory

Mortels is the oldest continuously operating ugg boot factory in the world, started by Dutch shoemaker Frank Mortel in 1958 and moved to the Hunter in 1978. The premises at Thornton are built in the style of an Australiana shearing shed, and a guided tour walks you through the working factory from raw sheepskin to finished boot, ending in the shop where you can buy what you have just watched being made. On site as well are the Cafe @ Mortels for coffee and lunch and The Sheep's Back Museum, which covers the history of sheepskin and wool in Australia.

The factory opens weekdays from 8.30am and keeps shorter hours on weekends, with the boot shop the reason most people call in. Worth knowing where it sits: Thornton is at the Maitland end of the region, a fair drive from the Pokolbin cellar doors, so it fits a trip in or out of Newcastle more naturally than a day among the vines.