Treat yourself to a lazy day in the country. Bill McKinnon explores some great drives that can each be covered in a single run or spun out into a relaxing couple of days with plenty of time to stop and smell the roses.
*Information: Southern Highlands Visitor Centre, Mittagong: 1300 657 559; National Parks and Wildlife Service: 1300 361 967
*Best eats: Fitzroy Falls Visitor Centre cafe; Friendly Inn, Kangaroo Valley; Cambewarra Lookout tearooms; Kookabar, Bowral.
*Best picnic spots: Bradman Oval, Bowral; several lookouts on Gullies Road, Bundanoon; Kangaroo River, Kangaroo Valley.
The Southern Highlands are now just over an hour away from Sydney on the M5 motorway. Take the Hume Highway south, then the Mittagong exit. The Southern Highlands Visitor Centre, (open daily) is on the left in town just before the lights. Pick up maps and information to help plan your day.
Veer left at the lights and follow the Bowral Road. It’s only a five-minute drive over the hill to Bowral, where the must-see attraction is the Bradman Museum in Glebe Park, next to Bradman Oval. Go straight through Bowral’s main street; the museum is signposted to the left from the southern end. There’s a kids playground and barbecues in the park.
The Moss Vale road takes you past the Bong Bong reservoir and becomes Argyle Rd as you approach town. Follow the signs to Bundanoon, which is perched on the edge of a plateau overlooking Morton National Park and the Kangaroo river far below.
From Bundanoon, retrace your route to Throsby St in Moss Vale. Turn right towards Nowra, and follow the Nowra road for 17 km to the Fitzroy Falls Visitor Centre. Easy walking trails lead to the 82-metre Fitzroy Falls; a three-kilometre clifftop walk is worth doing if you have the time.
Stay on the Nowra Road and head down Barrengarry Mountain, through spiralling corners under a deep green rainforest canopy, to the village of Kangaroo Valley, 16 km south-east. Cross the Hampden Bridge, built from convict-hewn sandstone in 1898. Park the car and stroll around the village.
Ten kilometres past Kangaroo Valley on the 18 km drive to the Princes Highway, the road climbs again, leading to a left turn to Cambewarra Lookout. Here, on a clear day, you can see all the way to the coast. Continue on the Nowra Road to join the Princes Highway at Bomaderry, or follow the tourist route from Cambewarra to join the highway further north, at Berry. The return trip north to Sydney takes about an hour and a half on the Princes Highway and Southern Freeway.
*Information: Wine Country Visitor Centre, Cessnock: 4990 4477
*Best eats: Wollombi Tavern; Casuarina; Peppers; Shakey Tables; many other vineyard restaurants.
*Best picnic spots: Wollombi Tavern; McGuigan Hunter Village, corner Broke and McDonalds Roads, Pokolbin.
The problem with a day drive to the Hunter Valley is that if your driver samples even a small amount of the local specialty, you should stay the night. But hey, there are worse problems in life. Either appoint a designated driver or book an overnight stay.
It’s an enjoyable trip north to the Hunter, and you have a choice of routes.
For a long drive through the bush, take the Putty Road. The Putty Road starts at Windsor, and runs due north for 170 km to Singleton in the Hunter. Thirty kilometres south of Singleton, take a right turn, signposted Broke/ Cessnock, for a beautiful 16 km drive through vineyards to Broke, the western gateway to the main wine-producing areas.
A quicker alternative is to join the F3 at Wahroonga, head north for 40 km across the Hawkesbury at Brooklyn, then take the Peats Ridge exit on to the Calga–Ourimbah Road.
In 10 km you’ll reach Peats Ridge. Just past Peats Ridge village, take a left turn on to the Wollombi Road towards Central Mangrove, three kilometres further on. At the main intersection in Central Mangrove, keep going straight ahead (signposted to Singleton) towards Wollombi, 58 km north-west.
Wollombi is an historic village, with links to the convict days when it was established at a fork in the Great North Road, the original route from Sydney to this area.
Continue straight ahead at the Tavern towards Singleton. The road is again narrow in places, but it is a pretty 30 km drive to Broke.
The Broke Road is signposted to the wineries and Cessnock. If you’re approaching from the Putty Road drive, turn left at the Broke general store; turn right if you have arrived from Wollombi.
There are many wineries and restaurants in the Pokolbin area of the lower Hunter, so if you’re looking for specific vineyards it pays to do some research before you arrive. Contact the Wine Country Visitor Centre at Cessnock for winery details, brochures and maps (tel: 4990 4477).
The Pokolbin vineyards start 15 km along the Broke Road towards Cessnock. Tyrrells (on the Broke Road, just past the intersection with Hermitage Road) and Draytons were the original Pokolbin vineyards, established in the 1850s.
Twenty-one kilometres along the Broke Road, you will reach a T-junction with McDonalds Road. Turn right on to McDonalds Road, where you’ll find Tamburlaine, Brokenwood, Lindemans and Hungerford Hill.
The quickest way back to Sydney is via Cessnock (turn right at the end of Broke Road), West Wallsend and Freemans Waterhole to the F3 (38 km); it’s then a 112 km run back to the F3/Pacific Highway/Pennant Hills Road junction at Wahroonga.
*Information: Hawkesbury Visitor Centre, Clarendon: 4588 5895, NPWS Central Coast office: 4358 0400.
*Best eats: Wisemans Ferry Inn; Settlers Arms & Fickle Wombat, St Albans.
*Best picnic spots: Grass Tree and Hazel Dell, Wisemans Ferry Road.
The Wisemans Ferry/St Albans region, north-west of Sydney, is an historic area where life still moves at a leisurely 19th-century pace.
The two main routes to the area are via the F3, Peats Ridge and Wisemans Ferry Road (the longer journey), or the M2 and Old Northern Road, through Dural and Glenorie.
Wisemans Ferry Road runs initially through a pretty orchard district for 20 km before a steep, twisting descent to Mangrove Creek, a tributary of the Hawkesbury.
It’s a beautiful drive as the road snakes along the banks of the river to Spencer, where the wide, lazy Hawkesbury emerges on your left; to the right are the steep sandstone ridges of Dharug National Park.
Six kilometres before you reach Wisemans Ferry is a turn-off to the right, which leads to the Grass Tree Picnic Area. Dharug National Park has fine examples of Aboriginal rock art. Inspections are conducted during school holidays, along with other activities for kids. Just past the Grass Tree turn is another picnic area at Hazel Dell.
At Wisemans Ferry you cross the Hawkesbury on a... ferry, which is free, to reach the village.
Solomon Wiseman was granted 200 acres in the area in 1821, and established the first ferry service across the Hawkesbury, which linked the road to Sydney with the Great North Road, the original route to the Hunter Valley.
Solomon built himself a grand sandstone house, Cobham Hall, which is now the Wisemans Ferry Inn.
The Webbs Creek ferry, 500 metres along River Road, takes you back across the Hawkesbury, where you turn right and follow the Macdonald River 20 km north to St Albans, via the narrow Macdonald River Valley, bounded by the wild bushland of Yengo National Park.
The last half of the drive to St Albans is dirt, but it presents no problems as long as you take your time. At St Albans, a tiny hamlet classified by the National Trust, turn right over a rickety old wooden bridge to reach the Settlers Arms, another grand old structure built from local sandstone.
The Arms has been sympathetically restored, and the front bar, its walls lined with old photographs and memorabilia, is very evocative of the early days.
You can return to Wisemans Ferry via Settlers Road, which follows the eastern side of the Macdonald River, or St Albans Road, along the western bank.
The Old Northern Road climbs steeply from Wisemans Ferry and follows the high ridges back to Glenorie, 27 km south, Dural and Sydney.
*Information: Blue Mountains Tourism: 1300 653 408, NPWS Blackheath: 4787 8877
*Best eats: Mt Tomah; Hotel Imperial, Mt Victoria; Paragon Café, Katoomba; Hydro Majestic, Medlow Bath.
*Best picnic spots: Mt Tomah; Cathedral of Ferns, Mt Wilson; many other sites in Blue Mountains National Park.
There are two routes across the Blue Mountains.
1. The Great Western Highway starts at Penrith and passes through Lawson, Katoomba and Mt Victoria to Lithgow. Further north, the quieter, more scenic Bells Line of Road starts at Richmond, climbs Bellbird Hill, then winds through orchard country before riding narrow ridges to the western escarpment above Lithgow.
A short link road that runs between Bell (on Bells Line of Road) and Mt Victoria on the Great Western Highway allows you to see several of the mountain’s attractions, and enjoy a leisurely lunch, in a day’s drive.
2. Bells Line of Road is reached via Windsor and Richmond, following the signs to Lithgow. After climbing Bellbird Hill, you’ll soon pass many roadside orchard stalls, selling fruit in season. Mt Tomah Botanic Garden is on the left, just after Berambing.
Mt Tomah, at 1,000 m above sea level, was chosen to house the Botanic Garden’s cool climate species, and is a beautifully landscaped hillside, with several walking paths and an amazing variety of exotic and native flora.
Fifteen kilometres past Mt Tomah is a signposted turn-off to Mt Wilson on the right. It’s eight kilometres to Mt Wilson. The Cathedral of Ferns is a pleasant spot for a picnic after you have visited the gardens.
Eight kilometres west of the Mt Wilson turn-off, at Bell, you turn left to Mt Victoria and the Great Western Highway.
Mt Victoria is 12 km from Bell. Turn left on the highway towards Blackheath and Katoomba.
At Blackheath, drop in to the National Parks and Wildlife Service Heritage Centre in Govetts Leap Road (turn right off the highway), which has displays on the mountains’ wildlife, geology and Aboriginal and European history, plus a shop with books and gifts.
During the school holidays, the Heritage Centre also runs Discovery Walks, Talks and Tours for kids.
The Fairfax Heritage Track is an easy three-kilometre loop walk (suitable for wheelchairs), which leads from the Heritage Centre to Govetts Leap Lookout, and has views of Bridal Veil Falls and the Grose Valley.
Katoomba, further east, is perched on the edge of the Jamison Valley; there are several lookouts on the southern edge of town, signposted from the highway.
The Three Sisters are located at the end of Echo Point, which also has a visitor centre with detailed information on things to see and do in the mountains.
The Great Western Highway descends from Faulconbridge for 28 km through Springwood, Warrimoo and Glenbrook before heading down the hill at Lapstone to the Nepean at Penrith.
4WD
