Sarah Lang ventures out of Sydney to its nearby regions for an action-packed trip – and as she discovered, the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands are not to be missed!
I’d been to Sydney six times, and never ventured out of the city. So I was very much up for visiting the nearby Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands. Because why not use Sydney as a launchpad to explore these areas?
Give or take, each region is around two hours’ drive from Sydney. Head west from the city to get to the Blue Mountains. Head south (and a little inland) from the city to get to the Southern Highlands. Hiring a car is the easiest option, but you can also get to both regions by train, bus or private day tour.
The Southern Highlands
The quiet charms and crisp air of villages and their surrounds make the Southern Highlands just the place to relax.
An hour-and-a-half’s drive from Sydney is the village of Berrima with its well-preserved colonial sandstone buildings. I took a very slight detour to Bendooley Estate. Overlooking its vineyard, I did a cellar door wine tasting. Award-winning winemaker Jonathan Holgate introduced Bendooley Estate’s ‘cool climate’ wines that flourish in the volcanic soil and high altitude of the Southern Highlands. The estate has an evening restaurant, Leo’s by Night, and the luxury cottages look like lovely digs.
But wait, there’s more. Like Russian nesting dolls, there’s a bookstore housed within the winery – and a restaurant housed within the bookstore. That’s my idea of heaven. Once a huge hayshed, a restored building with exposed timber beams, high ceilings, and iron pendant lights houses thousands of new, second-hand, rare and antiquarian books, carefully curated, arranged and ordered. The shelves enclose the Book Barn Restaurant. Nab a table close to the enormous stone fireplace or enjoy an alfresco meal overlooking the vineyard. I had to be dragged away – but not before I bought three books, hoping my suitcase would still close.
Around 15 minutes’ drive from Berrima is Bowral, the main hub of the Southern Highlands. Visit the Green Lane shopping and dining precinct – home to Harry’s restaurant, the Plantation Café Bowral, and shops selling garden ornaments, clothing, homewares, gifts, etc. You may need a full morning or afternoon if you’re also visiting the precinct’s neighbours.
One of these is Dirty Janes Antique Emporium. Over 1600 metres – yes, really – 90 collectors fill the emporium with antique furniture, eclectic collectibles, vintage clothing, etc. The different distinctively decorated areas look a bit like mini vintage museums.
Around the corner is the award-winning distillery SoHi Spirits. I came by at 11am – it’s never too early to do a tasting, right? The Garden Envy Gin was lovely (think the scent of rose and the savoury note of rosemary). Their other signature spirits are the SoHi Potato Crisp Vodka (made from local potatoes), and SoHi Extra Virgin Vodka (their potato vodka distilled with olive brine). They also make High & Dry Vermouth – and their Cacao Liqueur isn’t too sweet.
My favourite cocktail is a Negroni – generally, equal parts gin, vermouth and Campari – so I was interested to taste my first-ever pre-made mix. Now I can absolutely recommend SoHi’s Red Pony Negroni: a mix of its Garden Envy Gin, its High & Dry Vermouth, and Campari from Milan. It’s not too bitter, not too sweet, with tart rhubarb notes and a hint of sarsaparilla. Something else to fit into my suitcase!
Fifteen minutes’ drive from Bowral is the tiny village Sutton Forest, surrounded by woodlands, wineries and farms. Staying at Peppers Manor House, I felt like I was on an English estate – especially in front of the open fireplace in The Great Hall, with boardgames handy. It was built in 1878 as a rural retreat for the Kater family, who owned it for 90 years. You can play billiards, badminton, boules (similar to bowls), croquet, golf and tennis here, or swim. Its fine-dining restaurant, Katers, gets its produce from nearby farms, foragers, other local suppliers, and its own kitchen garden. A sommelier can advise you on a wine match, focusing on organic and biodynamic wines.
Heading back to Sydney, now on the coastal Grand Pacific Drive, I stopped for lunch in the village of Clifton. The Imperial was established in the 19th century when thirsty miners wanted a drinking hole at the clifftop. The pub fell into dereliction, but in recent years the building has been beautifully refurbished in line with its history. Now it’s called The Imperial At Clifton. Original heritage features include the timber staircase, and five fireplaces. Nab a window seat to enjoy the ocean views. I highly recommend the seafood sharing plates.
Last stop: Symbio Wildlife Park, for a guided tour. I stroked koalas (their fur feels surprisingly thick) and fed kangaroos. You can also see little penguins, wombats, possums, cheetahs, lemurs, red pandas, meerkats, monkeys and (actually very cute) Tasmanian devils.
The rain ruled out doing Experience Nature Group’s ‘Canoes, Cool Climate Wines & Canapés’ tour down the Kangaroo River – but if you visit, you might enjoy it. Led by guides, you’ll sit in stable, custom-built, conjoined double canoes, observing the scenery and wildlife. You can also enjoy champagne and canapes thanks to an in-built table and ice buckets.
The Blue Mountains
It’s about a two-hour drive from Sydney to the Blue Mountains.
Spanning one million hectares, the Greater Blue Mountains is a World Heritage Area with diverse vegetation including unique eucalypt forest, jagged rock formations, escarpments (the steep edges of cliffs), gullies, waterfalls, valleys and swamps. Unusual three-pronged rock formation the Three Sisters attracts many visitors. The next-biggest tourist drawcard is Scenic World, a carbon-neutral attraction, owned and run by the same family since it was established in 1945.
This is the land of the Aboriginal Gundungurra people. ‘Uncle’ Dave King, a Gundungurra Traditional Custodian and Scenic World’s indigenous engagement officer, recently developed Scenic World’s Buunyal Tour (Buunyal means sun in the Gundungurra language). One of three Aboriginal guides will lead a 150-minute group tour. Dave told us about Gundungurra Country, the seasons, the ecosystem, the animals, the plants, Aboriginal lore and history, and his personal experiences. Because what is place without story?
To get down to the Jamison Valley floor, we boarded the world’s steepest passenger railway, originally built in 1878 to haul coal up the cliffs. At a 52-degree incline, the Scenic Railway makes the Wellington Cable Car feel virtually horizontal in comparison. The railway car descends 310 metres down sandstone cliffs, dipping into a rock tunnel before reemerging in what felt like a great carnival ride.
We then entered the Scenic Walkway, wandering along an elevated boardwalk that hasn’t disturbed the rainforest. Look down to see the tree trunks and roots; look up to see the canopy. We did the 10-minute walk; there are also 30- and 50-minute walks.
Next up was the Scenic Cableway: the Southern Hemisphere’s steepest aerial cable car – connecting the valley floor to the top of the escarpment. I was getting used to steep inclines and stunning views, but the best was yet to come.
Our final ride was on the Southern Hemisphere’s largest aerial cable car (it looks like a gondola, except it travels horizontally not vertically). The Scenic Skyway glides 384 meters over the Jamison Valley between 270-metre-high clifftops (that’s twice as high as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, btw), with views of the Three Sisters, Katoomba Falls, and Mount Solitary. A small section has a glass bottom floor. Daredevils (I’m not one!) can do the Beyond Skyway experience, where you stand securely harnessed on its roof as the sun sets.
At the end of the tour, Dave laid on a table plants, leaves, bark, and his daughter’s woven creations. “I’ve also sat with Uncles and Aunties who have shared items with me as stories, with permission to share the stories [with visitors].” These include a spear, boomerang, a wooden artwork shaped like a snake, and a message stick (symbols and designs on message sticks conveyed information for long-distance communication between Aboriginal groups, who spoke different languages).
Dave really wants us to remember the five different environments in Gundungurra Country. “I’m teaching you about soak, swamp, open woodland, rainforest and stringy bark, because this is about you reading our country and connecting with our country.” If you look for the main trees, he says, you’ll know which area you’re in – and what you can use, make from what you find, or eat from these areas.
He says that if you see the Melaleuca styphelioides (also called the Australian paper bark tea tree), and then see lomandra (a grass), you’ll know it’s a ‘Soak’: wet ground. Here you might find the Eucalyptus piperita (peppermint gum) tree native to the area. “It can be used for aroma, tea, and as a bandaid with healing properties,” said Dave, who had earlier handed us a leaf.
His daughter often goes to the ‘swamp’ area to get weaving materials. ‘Stringy bark’ is the third area. “We look across the forest and see gum trees, where I get my string and rope from.”
Fourthly, there’s ‘rainforest’. “That’s where I get wood for a spear, as it has softer timber from different plants. And the ‘open woodland’ is where my uncle taught me how to put animals to sleep.” (Dave’s uncle was also a bush tracker, sent in to find missing people.)
What became the Scenic Railway originally hauled coal up the cliff. The Katoomba Coal Mine opened in 1879 and Katoomba village sprung up next to it. It’s now the Blue Mountains’ biggest town, home to around 8000 people. On Katoomba’s outskirts is Lilianfels Blue Mountains Resort & Spa, with views across formal English gardens and the Jamison Valley escarpment. I didn’t stay there, but I dined at Darley’s Restaurant there, in a heritage-listed building that was once a summer house for Sir Frederick Darley’s family.
Styled like a French mansion, Darley’s Restaurant has ornate fireplaces, leadlight windows, and crystal chandeliers that resemble lanterns. This fine-dining restaurant has won a coveted Australian Good Food Guide Chefs Hat (14 points) four years in a row. And I soon saw (well, soon tasted) why. Of the three-course menu, then themed ‘Ode To Autumn’, I chose the Maitake Mushroom, Parsnip, Truffle Cream, Amaranth entrée, which looked like a forest floor, and tasted woody and creamy. My blue-eyed cod main was delicious. And I didn’t need dessert, but couldn’t resist the Chocolate Ganache Cake, Braised Fig, Orange Snap.
Twenty minutes’ drive from Katoomba, at the Blue Mountains’ highest point, is tiny village Blackheath. Nearby, Parklands Country Gardens & Lodges is set on a 10-hectare estate of gardens, fields, and a lake. It’s lovely. There are cottages with garden suites on the ground floor and loft suites above, plus three tent-shaped lodges dot the lakeside.
I wanted to do Blue Mountains Stargazing’s 90-minute guided tour of the dark sky (untainted by city lights), using the naked eye, binoculars, and a telescope. It rained, but it’s something for next time.
Oh and my suitcase finally closed – but only just!
*Sarah was a guest of Tourism Australia. See visitsouthernhighlands.com.au; visitbluemountains.com.au
