Here are a few trips to places that Rita and I enjoy. They are not in any order of preference. The furthest trip is about four hours away. Since we don’t have small children at post we generally tend to stay at places where families might not stay.
First, Pebbly Beach is great for US visitors. You won’t see as many kangaroos as at Tidbinbilla but you’ll see plenty and they’ll eat out of your hands. As will the crimson rosellas and king parrots. Take the highway to Batemans Bay and turn left (north). About 20 kilometers from the turn there will be a sign to Pebbly Beach on a gravel road. It’s a right turn coming from Batemans Bay but easy to miss and drive past. Take it slow on the road which gets worse as you drive down the hill at the end. But the drive is worth the effort. Be sure to take sunflower seeds for the birds and rabbit food for the kangaroos. Swimsuits too since the beach is very nice. To the right side of the beach (facing the ocean) are some good seashell collection places. If you want to stay in this pretty place, contact Pebbly Beach Cabins on (044) 786-023 for details. Or camp out at the campsite.
Batemans Bay is a nice town with beaches, campgrounds, motels, and holiday rentals but Rita and I have never stayed there. However, two places we like to eat in Batemans Bay are Rendezvous coffee shop (for sandwiches and light snacks) and Jamison’s On the Pier, (044) 726-405, for good seafood.
On the way to Batemans Bay (or on the way back) you will pass through the towns of Bungendore and Braidwood. Bungendore is first, just a few kilometers from Queanbeyan, where you should stop to see the Bungendore Wood Works if nothing else. Braidwood is a nice “western” town. Park the car and walk around. There are some good restaurants, coffee shops, bakery plus a few pottery and art galleries and other shops. This is where the movie “Ned Kelly”, with Mick Jagger in the lead role, was filmed. The visitor information center has a walking tour guide and local drives brochure.
Further south of Batemans Bay is a little town of Mogo with a large assortment of antique and craft shops. Further on is the town of Narooma and a few kilometers further is Tilba Tilba where Rita and I have stayed several times at Green Gables. Contact Gwen Hales on (044) 737-435 and tell her Woody and Rita sent you. Gwen only has three rooms so booking is essential. And be prepared for a large, cooked breakfast with her little dog, Jessie, begging for food. Be sure to visit Narooma and arrange (in advance) for the Montague Island cruise. The tickets can be purchased at the Narooma Visitors Center, (044) 762-881. Two boats go out about 5:00 pm in summer and the visitors center will know about 2:00 or 3:00 if the tour is still on. The entry to the bay is shallow so if the weather is bad, the trips will be canceled. But the trips are well worth the costs. You’ll get a ranger guided tour of the lighthouse and island then at dusk you’ll sit on bleachers to watch the small penguins come ashore and walk right past you. It’s quite a treat and you won’t have the crowds (of tourists) you have at Phillip Island in Victoria. But these tours book up early so check ahead of going. If you like seafood, eat at Simply Seafood in Narooma. It’s a BYO on a pier shared with Narooma Marine Center on Riverside Drive, (044) 762-126.
The drive to Tilba Tilba and Central Tilba is scenic. Tilba Tilba doesn’t have much, just Green Gables, some nice gardens to tour, and Pam’s general store with a talking cockatoo. If you are energetic, you can stay at Green Gables and take a day to hike up Mount Dromedary. Gwen is happy to give you the local history of this mountain and several other places. Drive on to Central Tilba which is a National Trust site. Here you’ll find Bates general store where one of the Nescafe “special moments” commercials was filmed. Also some nice shops and the Tilba Cheese Factory with good cheese and honey. For children, there is a nearby deer farm but we haven’t visited that.
Further south is the town of Bega which doesn’t have a lot to offer but a cheese and milk dairy that you can tour. Just a little south of Bega is the seaside town of Tathra which has an interesting old pier from which you can fish or spot dolphins and, in the right season, whales. Further south are the nice old whaling towns of Merimbula and Eden. If you go this far you may want to research a place to spend the night. I don’t have any suggestions here.
There is a highway inland from Bega which meets up with the Monaro highway where you can turn north to Cooma and back to Canberra. In Cooma, follow the signs to the ski fields turning left (west) on the highway to Jindabyne and Thredbo. On the outskirts of Cooma, about 5 kilometers, you’ll find a tea shop named Past Times on the left of the highway. Stop for tea or coffee. They used to have Samantha the kangaroo that sat in a chair and was often photographed. Samantha has gone on walkabout but the shop just adopted a baby kangaroo which they named Annie. You can pick up Annie and hold her in your arms, but not for long.
Jindabyne is a pretty town on a large lake. Thredbo and Charlotte Pass can be accessed from here but there is a $12 charge to enter the National Park. These are ski villages and not much except hiking takes place in summer. There are good trails to hike especially the one to the top of Mt. Kosciusko, the highest point in Australia. It’s an easy hike but plan on most of the day.
The Southern Highlands is another pretty area nearby that can be a day trip or included in a trip to the shore. Go north to Goulbourn and take the highway towards Sydney. Take the exit to visit Berrima with plenty of antique shops, galleries, coffee and tea shops, and restaurants. It has the oldest pub in Australia and an old jail and museum to visit. Get a detailed map of this region from NRMA and, depending on the time available, visit Mittagong, Bowral, Bundanoon, or Exeter. Go through Moss Vale and take the turnoff to Fitzroy Falls. Take a short hike here to see the falls drop near you at the overlook. Press on into the town of Kangaroo Valley, a good town to stop and walk around. There are good restaurants, B&Bs and shops. We like to eat at the hotel in town but I forget the name. Then drive on to Nowra and take Princes highway south. A little way take the turnoff to Huskisson and Jervis Bay. Jervis Bay is very scenic and there is a National Park at the end of the road with lots to see. We like to stay at the little town of Hyams Beach. You can call Ray White Real Estate in Vincentia on (044) 41-5747 to rent a condo. We like the two bedroom, unit 2 at 102 Cyrus Street. Hyams Beach was picked as one of the ten best beaches in Australia and the whitest sand beach in the world. North of Nowra is the pretty town of Berry with good shops, restaurants and B&Bs. Still further north is the pretty seaside town of Kiama.
About a four hour drive south of Canberra is the nice region on the NSW/Victoria border near Albury and Wodonga. The vineyards around Rutherglen have good wines and better ports. There are some good restaurants nearby too. We like to stay in Beechworth. This is an interesting town with stagecoach rides, gold panning and much more. Just south of Beechworth is the little town of Milawa which has a good mustard factory, cheese factory and Brown Brothers vineyards, one of our favorites. Good wines plus a nice restaurant to get lunches with samples of their wines. There are lots of pretty mountain towns in the area such as Yackadanda, Myrtleford and Bright. Also drive up Mt. Buffalo and visit the chalet.
Another area enroute to Sydney is the Blue Mountains. We take visitors back to Sydney this way stopping in the Blue Mountains for one or two nights. Katoomba is the central town in the Blue Mountains with plenty of hotels and motels. Also in Katoomba is the famous Three Sisters rock formation, incline railway and more. The town of Leura is a National Trust town with plenty of good shops. We like to eat at Cafe Bon Ton in Leura, (047) 824-377. Other sites to see include the zig zag railroad near Lithgow, the pretty town of Mount Wilson, the overlook at Govetts Leap, the town of Little Hartley and the view of Wentworth Falls. Driving back into Sydney we usually stop in the town of Doonside just off the Great Western Motorway to visit Featherdale Wildlife Park. This is one of the few places where you can hold a koala in your arms. There’s other Australian animals as well.
Then Sydney has so much to offer. A harbor cruise, The Rocks, Darling Harbor, North Sydney, etc. etc. But that’s another whole paper in itself.
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