Exploring the Southern Highlands

We are now booked in to Kendalls Beach Side Caravan Park at Kiama and we will be here until Friday.  The reason we chose Kiama was because of its location.  It gives you easy access to the Southern Highlands and forms part of the Grand Pacific Drive.  Yesterday we decided to explore the Southern Highlands.

We decided to ascend the mountains via Macquarie Pass.  The drive up the mountain is not for the faint hearted and we would never tow the van up or down this road.  It is both steep and two sections are single lane.  But....the views!  They are truly spectacular but sadly there is nowhere to pull off the road to take any photos.  Once we reached the highlands we were gobsmacked.  It is just so lovely and we timed our trip here at the right time.  The autumn colours are spectacular.  

Our first stop was at the Centennial Winery at Bowral.  We had a wine tasting here and particularly enjoyed the Pinot Grigio and the Bong Bong Sparkling.  The cold climate, where they do on occasion get snow, is especially good for  Riesling, Sparkling and Pinot Noir. 

By the time we purchased our wine it was almost lunch so we headed to Mossvale where the Bistro at the Mossvale Hotel is renowned for its chargrilled steak. We were very hungry by the time we arrived there and the steaks were as good as their reputation. After our hearty lunch we had a wander around Mossvale to walk off our lunch and also a spot of photography.  Mossvale is one of the older towns in the area and we thoroughly enjoyed wandering around the streets.  It is also very pretty with its autumn hues.

Next place on the list was Robertson where a stop at the Robertson Pie Shop is a necessity.  We stocked up on a variety of pies for the freezer and indulged ourselves with apple turnovers while we sat outside in the sunshine.  Their Portuguese Tarts also come as a recommendation but sadly they were sold out of them.

It is not very far from Robertson to Fitzroy Falls that was next stop on our road trip.  Everything is in close proximity on the highlands and it was only a ten minute drive to the falls.  We were surprised at how many people were here but then we remembered it was a long weekend.  The walk to the falls is part of the West Rim Walk that is about 3.5km.  We didn't do the whole walk but a fair majority of it.  First stop on the trail was the suspended lookout over the falls.  My hands are sweating as I recall standing on the platform as I tried looking out and not down.  It was scary.  I tried getting a few photos but the height just defeated me.  The Southern Highlands have an elevation of around 800 metres and the Fitzroy Falls plunge 81metres into a very deep ravine.  We continued on the track and came to another lookout that gave us a splendid view of the falls without standing on a suspended platform!

By the time we made it back to our vehicle it was time to once more descend the mountain range this time via the Jamberoo Mountain Road.  A few kilometres down this road we saw a small sign pointing to Jamberoo lookout in the Budderoo National Park.  It was a very sharp turn into the lookout and you would miss the sign if you were driving too fast.  I'm so pleased we stopped here as the views from the viewing platform were spectacularly expansive from the rolling hills 800 metres below us to the Pacific Ocean.  

The drive down the range was also not for an inexperienced driver. The road was windy and narrow.  We meet a vehicle towing a trailer coming towards us on one tight corner and thank goodness Philip stopped because the trailer missed us by inches.  No caravans or vehicles over 10 metres allowed on this road, understandably.

It was a perfect day albeit a little cool.  The temperature didn't rise above 16 degrees however the sun shone for most of the day.  The Southern Highlands are a place I would like to explore more in depth another time. The little towns have a village feel and Philip commented that if you shut your eyes you could imagine yourself in the middle of the UK. It is such a picturesque area with its cattle paddocks fenced with giant conifers and cattle grazing happily in those paddocks.  The Southern Highlands have stolen my heart.