Didn�t get a call for overtime (Bastards) so went for a motor cycle ride instead.
It was either that or fix stuff around the house, No competition as far as I�m concerned.
Left at 9:45 and headed down the motorway to Mittagong.
Mittagong was bypassed by a motorway in 1992 and since then instead of being somewhere that you looked at from a car window, has now become a tourist destination. It�s south of Sydney, an easy ride, and just the right distance for a stop and coffee. Oh, and visit the antique shops, which we did (Nice set of ships lamps there for $450.... Really tempted!!).
Click <<<HERE>>> for some stuff on Mittagong
From Mittagong we went through Moss vale to Bundanoon. This is quite famous around Sydney and is known for its Scottish Highland festival, and games. I work with a Scotsman (Surname of Birnie), and he goes every year as regular as clockwork to see the festival and games. The only way you get to stay there (in any decent accommodation) is to book a year and sometimes 2 years in advance. He stays at the same place every year, and every morning they feed him a massive Scottish breakfast of black, pudding, white pudding, and other such Scottish (offal) delicacies. He then spends the rest of the day drinking scotch whiskey and generally getting pissed until dinner time.
The games feature such delights as caber tossing (that�s the big pole thingy!!), egg throwing, and haggis hurling. Things that only a Scotsman could understand, and the rest of us look on at in wonder!!!
They have heaps of Scottish pipe bands (21 last year), all probably doing their own rendition of Amazing Grace (which I can�t stand!!!)
You will notice on the Bundanoon site that they say "Bundanoon/Brigadoon?? Brigadoon is from an ancient tale of a village where the people were invisible except for once in every 100 years when they could be seen. The word "Brigadoonery" describes anything that is grotesquely Scottish-like, but well-intentioned and essentially harmless. Hence for the day, this otherwise quiet Australian town turns into something else entirely.
Oh... BTW, we had lunch there and the guy in the local caf� (Greek (maybe his mother was Scots??)) does the best fish and chips ever!!
From there we went back to Moss Vale and on to Kangaroo Valley via Fitzroy falls.
Kangaroo Valley is beautiful. There�s a long winding road down into the valley which is stunning to say the least. Unfortunately there was nowhere to stop and take a photograph from that side.
We stopped for a quick break at the famous (how famous?? I didn�t know about it!!) sandstone Hampden bridge, which was built in the 1890's. Its Australia's oldest suspension bridge.
Click <<HERE>> for a Kagaroo Valley web site.
From there we went to the Cambewarra lookout. Spectacular views over the Illawarra coastline to the sea. A nice slow ride from there, down a (very) little used country back road (found it by accident) took us to the town of Berry. A rest stop at Berry, a visit to the antique shops again, also a drink in the pub, saw us refreshed for the ride back to Sydney.
All in all it was a brilliant day and we clocked up just over 403 kilometres in 10 hours. Much better than working I can tell you.
Have fun all.....
Click the duck for a clickable map of the region, and then click on any town including Berry. |
