Glass of shiraz in hand and sunset in his eyes, Joel Gibson finds it easy to imagine life here as an off-duty winemaker.

Self-contained accommodation appeals to the voyeur in us all. A luxury hotel room is a treat but self-contained lodgings - like a house-sit, only better - allow you to sing along to someone else's music, cook on their stove, sleep in their bed and drink their cellar for a couple of days.

Sunrise Lodge is a pre-eminent example of the genre. Built last year by Bob and Barbara Tyrrell, about 100 metres from their house, above a Megalong Valley vineyard: it's a microcosm of their idyllic tree-changer lives making wine in one of the prettiest parts of the Blue Mountains.

As a guest at Dryridge Estate, you can have the weekend lifestyle of a boutique winemaker without having to shoo away grape-loving native birds or plod around the vines, fighting off the frost.

They called this place Sunrise Lodge because the golden orb rises over the distant escarpment and - if you forgot to close the venetians - straight into your eyes just after 6am. But the best time of day, for me, is when its shadows stretch away to the distant red cliffs at the end of the Megalong and an orchestra of magpies, frogs and kookaburras starts to tune up.

It's not an easy place to make wine but about 5pm on a Saturday it's easy enough to imagine yourself as an off-duty viticulturist and oenologist as you stand on the lodge's three-metre-wide wooden balcony, glass of Dryridge riesling in one hand and tongs in the other, cooking a fillet steak from the Blackheath Butchery as the sun sets behind you.

Each realisation that you have forgotten an essential barbecue item - vegetable oil, locally bottled olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, black pepper - is followed by a wave of relief upon finding said item somewhere in the new kitchen, along with bottles of Dryridge shiraz (better in the mouth than on the nose, in my view), riesling (beautiful in both orifices) and rose{aac} (a perfect means of transition from white to red without jarring the hypersensitive palate), all for sale.

The relief doubles when you're woken early by the sun next morning, hungover and having forgotten to shut the blinds, and find Italian-style bread from the Blackheath Bakery, coffee, tea, orange juice, butter and Bonne Maman jams in the kitchen, too.

There are other small touches that mean a lot when you're a half hour from civilisation, such as a CD collection and a DVD classics library that begins at Kurosawa and ends at crim-turned-author Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read. It's particularly handy once you realise that the TV reception is not very good.

On day one we tackle the seven-kilometre Grand Canyon circuit on the other side of Blackheath - a 30-minute drive away and a stunning bushwalk through wet sandstone canyons and fern gullies. Again, it is made easier by a $25 picnic hamper we booked with the Tyrrells containing ham-and-cheese baguettes, fruit salad and - most crucially, Bob advised us - an insulated wine-bottle holder.

On day two we wander down the Six Foot Track, so-called because it was cut to let two horses pass each other easily, which now hosts thousands of human ramblers each year. The track runs right through Dryridge Estate and past a private waterfall and swimming hole.

The lodge itself has high wooden cathedral ceilings, heated floors, a Jetmaster log fire and new appliances - including a neurotic fridge that beeps every time you open it. But, kitsch as it is, a jacuzzi in the main bathroom more or less makes the place, lending it a hint of luxury above and beyond the average mountains hideaway.

The tub's range of pink, blue and purple underwater lighting effects is more bordello than Bordeaux but look out the window and you have a beautiful bathscape, if there is such a thing: rows of vines running down to the valley floor.

They've even foreseen your brilliant idea to open a bottle of wine while taking it all in and provided plastic wine goblets to avoid the most unromantic of outcomes: broken glass on bare bottoms.

At just shy of $300 a night, the bill is close to what you would pay for a four-star hotel room but there's the benefit of having so much space - and so many condiments - to yourself. There's also a second bedroom with ensuite, making it good value for three or four guests.

Weekends Away are reviewed anonymously and paid for by Traveller.

VISITORS' BOOK

Sunrise Lodge

Address: The Six Foot Track, Megalong Valley, Blue Mountains.

The verdict: Self-contained luxury in a stunning setting, ideal for doing plenty or nothing at all.

Price: $290 a night on weekends, minimum stay of two nights.

Bookings: Phone 0408 256 949 or see http://www.dryridge.com.au.

Getting there: A two-hour drive from Sydney. Arrive in daylight if possible, as the serpentine drive through rainforest to the valley floor is stunning but not easy in the dark.

Perfect for: Romance or a two-couple getaway.

Wheelchair access: Yes.

While you're there: Take a hike. There is a range of walks nearby, each with a different bush symphony.