The southern highlands is a great place to relax, escape and unwind with amazing gardens, magnificent lookouts and many natural wonders to explore. It is only a 90 minute drive from Sydney and makes a fantastic destination for a short break or even just a day trip.
I decided to head to the Highlands to take a break from my daily routine and spend some time with my son. On a side note I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and have fun in my new toy Skoda Fabia VRS135. A brilliant car or shall I say, a small rocket!
My new toy SKODA FABIA VRS
We travelled to Mittagong from Sydney and visited the Information Centre. As usual, the friendly staff helped us to map out our itinerary for the days adventure. We started with the lookouts at Mt Gibraltar.The view of Bowral and Mittagong was breath taking not to mention the beautiful drive as there.
Views from Mt Gibraltar.
Lookout at Mt Gibraltar
We then made our way to Bowral, a very unique and beautiful town. Bowral was the home town of Cricket legend Sir Donald Bradman so of course we started at 'International cricket hall of fame' . This is a must visit for anyone who has any interest in Cricket. We stopped off for lunch at Kookabar Cafe, a great friendly European style cafe with peaceful ambience and delicious food. We were fortunate enough to be in Bowral during spring, also known as tulip time in the region. Corbett garden is the home of tulip time and it presents a beautiful landscape filled with many varieties of tulips.
Corbett Garden, Bowral
Tulips @ Corbett Garden, Bowral
Corbett Garden, Bowral
Tulips @ Corbett Garden, Bowral
Of course, as with any short trip, we ran out if time. We said goodbye to the sea of vibrant tulips and fresh country air and made our way home. If you happen to start your trip a bit earlier in the day or if you are travelling during Summer be sure not to miss Fitzroy falls, at Moreton national park.
A few weeks back when my office colleague asked me if I would like to sky dive and I told him ‘why not?’, knowing not in the least what I was up for. This ex army lad is quite capable of doing things out of this world and I am sure many of you have already experienced it. I believe Mark is quite effective in getting people to do things differently as soon my other colleagues and I discovered after realising we had signed up for an adventure of a lifetime.
Jumping from plane
HA HA HA; for a minute remembering God
It was quite amazing to know that all of eight divers were diving for the first time. Each one of us had a different reason to dive today, it was an anniversary for a couple, 50th birthday for another person and we also had a banker with us who declared quite openly that he was there because his 16 year old son was diving and he didn’t want to appear chicken.
My first glimpse of the plane we were to be travelling in was rather unsettling. I had never flown in a one engine plane before. My instructor told me that due to age and only one engine, they could not fly during strong winds, thunder or any of abnormal conditions. As well as this disturbing fact I also noticed that even the pilot was wearing a parachute! This was somewhat disconcerting but I felt it was too late to back out now! Albion airport has no traffic controller and all the planes (most of them are novice pilots following their hobby) communicate on the same radio frequency for use of runaway strip for landing and take-off. Therefore, after a few unsettling starts and stops eventually our plane was on the runaway, taking off successfully.
Once we were off the ground and relieved from this uncharacteristic take off I started to focus on the beauty outside. Wollongong and its sea line is truly blessed with natural beauty, it was so wonderful to see the view outside. Within the next ten minutes, we were at a height of 14000 ft and the pilot announced that we would be diving in the next five minutes. We all looked at each other pretending to be cool and reassuring each other that all was well. Meanwhile my insides were telling a different story and I realised that we had no control of the situation anymore.
Finally the pilot announced the jump. I was the fourth person to jump and I watched with horror as I witnessed the other three going down and the expressions on their faces. A true Kodak moment!
My turn finally came and Tom took me to the open gate where he took his jumping position while I was hanging halfway out the plane like a terrified little Joey! After a few very long seconds on the gate we made the jump. Whooosh!!!! What an experience, falling down at a speed of approximately 220 Km/ hr. For a moment I was blank, but very quickly started to enjoy the fall. I do not have words to describe the experience. I can’t compare this with any of my previous experiences and maybe that is why you should try this. The free fall lasted 60 seconds but was long enough to really feel it and enjoy it. The best part of the dive was crossing the thin layer of clouds and witnessing the beautiful coastline below. Soon after, the parachute inflated and we started sailing downward at a leisurely pace.
Wind Pressure make you look funny
Beautiful view of Wollongong coastline
View of Wollongong coastline
My diving partner then allowed me to control the parachute for the next few minutes before he took back control in preparation for landing. It was a great feeling to swing the parachute in different directions and it gave me a feeling of controlling my own destiny. One thing I must say is that I could not take my eyes off the breathtaking view.
Landing was easy enough and fortunately, it was on my diving partners legs.I really admire the planning and preparation of Sydney Beach sky dive team, the whole event was executed extremelywell.
It was a boring Sunday
morning after a dull Saturday. I was itching for some activity and something different,
however too lazy to plan anything. It
was than my son 'Aryan' who pursued me to move out of home. We both didn't knew
the answer to next obvious question where? And again Aryan recalled a
place, we drove through during our last visit to Dubbo. 'Bilpin', A pretty little hamlet located on
the Bells Line of Road. As we vaguely remember the place was on hills and
famous for Apple orchards and great apple pies. Sounded like music to my
ears, an opportunity to drive for couple of hours and apple picking sounded
like fun.
Royal Gala
After some web research (Goggling)
we started for Bilpin, it was 90 minutes drive from our home at north shore and
was just after Richmond. A beautiful drive once you cross the Richmond and drive
through Kurrajong heights. Kurrajong is the aboriginal name for ‘shade tree’,
which grew in abundance in the town. From Kurrajong Heights, you can see the
orchards, the beautiful rolling green hills intermingled with the rugged bush
covered rocks and views of the Grose Valley. It was sunny and even more beautiful
as autumn season was setting in.
Apple Farm
Aryan having fun
Catch one
Our first stop was The
Bilpin Fruit Bowl, one of the numerous charming coffee stops featuring homemade
apple pies, jams, local honey, Bilpin Apple Juice and Apple Cider Vinegar. We
had our breakfast and discovered that the apple-picking season is almost over
and only one orchard is still open. We rushed to Shields orchard to try our
luck. To our disappointment apple picking was only allowed through pre-booking
, which we obviously did not have. It was just than our luck turned and a
family called up for last minute cancellation, allowed us a slot.
Humming Bird
Humming Bird
Shields is a large orchard
with mainly three types of apples Royal Gala, Pink Lady and Granny Smith. One
of the orchard employee explained us the map of the orchard and gave us the
directions to find different type of apples. This was end of the season, so we
really don't have to worry a lot about picking the ripened fruit. Most of
apples were ready to be picked. We spent couple of hours selecting and picking
plenty of apples. The apples were good, definitely tested much more fresh and
juicy than our local supermarket. My son tested an apple and said ‘it is really
fresh as if I have just picked it from tree’ and we all laughed. He has
actually just picked the apple. The orchard was also the home of lots of beautiful
humming birds, lorikeets and singing bellbirds.
While coming
back from shields orchard, we stopped at a place called Tutti Fruitti, famous
for its real-fruit ice creams. If you happen to drive through this area, don't miss out the
Tutti Fruitti ice cream of this place. The ice cream is freshly made with fresh
fruits, picked the same morning and blended with berries of your choice.
Overall, it
was a great day out and a good fun with kids. I will highly recommend visiting Kurrjong
Heights and Bilpin.
[Credit to my daughter Anchal for helping me write this log
]
We were speeding through the traffic now. For the last 20
minutes we could not have moved more than 10 cm. We still had 5 hours of
driving ahead of us and sitting in traffic for 20 minutes had already tired me
out. Despite the fact that we raced out of the house at 6am to avoid the
traffic, our good intentions were outmoded when it seemed like everyone else
had the same idea. Not the best start to a peaceful weekend away.
As we entered the city, I looked in the rear vision mirror
to find our kids fast asleep in the back seat. The views were not that far away
now. My hope for this trip was to get far away from the city, to have a nice
peaceful time in a small town with a tranquil environment. We were headed to
Dubbo, a beautiful town north of Sydney. It was the perfect place, boasting a
large zoo, and observatory which was perfect for the kids as well.
Lithgow Station, 1987
The views outside the car were magnificent. Acres of lush
farmland expanding over hundreds of kilometres while the sun peeked through the
clouds like gold pouring out of the sky. That beautiful sight must have made my
ride because I can’t recall the next 4 hours of driving. Chatting with my
family and playing atlas was all I must have done until I realised that we had
reached our destination.
We checked into our hotel and decided to take an afternoon
walk to explore the town, which turned out to be extremely impressive.
The next morning my family and I went off to the morning zoo
tour. A tour specially designed to see the main attractions of the zoo and
experience the animals without the crowd around. There were only a few other families
on the tour so It was essentially us and the animals and of course the guide.
Our Guide
Not only neck my tongue is also long
Watch out for tall shed
As we were led through the zoo, some of the animals really
stood out. The first enclosure we encountered was the monkey enclosure. The
loudest monkeys I have ever seen. They can be heard 5 kilometres away from
anywhere, and standing meters away was not pleasing to the ear. We saw some gross
stuff as well… like the hippopotamus rolling in its own poo to get warm. I was
very grateful that day that I wasn’t born a hippo.
Sleeping in Poo keeps us warm
We didn’t get to see the whole zoo as it is so large so we
decided to return after a trip to the observatory. Unfortunately when we
arrived we discovered that the observatory was closed due to bad weather
conditions. Upon our return to the zoo we decided to hire bikes because it
would be much quicker to get around. We jumped on our bikes and began our 8 kilometre
ride around the zoo.
The zoo offered numerous entertaining and educational shows,
which I made sure we did not miss. The kids were very engrossed as well. I
appreciated that all the animals were kept in their natural habitats, which for
a photographer is an excellent opportunity.
Riding around, I saw my favourite animal; the Indian elephant. It was feeding time and they ate their grass leisurely allowing me to get some amazing snap shots. I also got some remarkable photos of the cheetahs, giraffes and lions. These were very rare opportunities but thanks to the beautiful open grounds and amazing animals, I was lucky enough to capture them. Despite being an adult, I enjoyed my zoo trip, riding around
and watching the animals really did entertain me.
A very old tortoise
Indian Elephant
It was the Lions's 10th birthday
Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Sydney. The
two-day holiday had a magical effect on my family. They were happier and I
personally felt very connected to them.
Heading back home, we came around the world’s second largest
canyon. The views were stunning. Trees covered the mountains and while I was
standing there, I saw a dazzling sight; a flock of birds soaring in the sky as
one. They were too quick for me to take a photo but I was still able to enjoy
their beauty.
Captree Canyon: World's second largest canyon
I would definitely recommend taking a visit to Capetree and Dubbo. This trip re-energized me and it isn’t often that you stumble upon the kind of natural beauty that these two places have to offer.
Hope you have enjoyed recently concluded Vivid Sydney festival, as ususal it was fun to watch and enjoy such creativity. Here are some of the photographs which I have clicked during this festival. Hope you will enjoy the lights and creativity...
Watch official YouTube video :
I came across following phrase in one
of the promotions and immediately decided to visit this place.
"The Great Lakes is the region defined
by water, how it interacts with space place and community. It is
characterised by unique triple lakes system, meandering rivers, vast tracks of
forest, 145 Kms of stunning coast line..... This amazing space contains
everything you will need to create memories that will last for your life
time." To my delight, I found this expression
true to it's every word.
Diamond beach is 3.5 hrs drive north of
Sydney. It is north of the central coast, Forester and part of The Great Lakes
region. The place is surrounded by an abundance of natural beauty and
charm. The Great Lakes boasts three stunning lakes (the magnificent Wallis, Smiths
and Myall lakes), not to mention the pristine beaches as well as the second
tallest water fall in Australia (Ellenborough Falls). Above all, to my surprise
a beautiful sunset point and as a landscape photographer, I long for such
locations and to be fair there are not many good sunset points in NSW.
Diamond beach is a great place for
quick, immediate and hassle free vacation. No major planning required, pack
your bags, drive 3.5 hours and you are there. Resorts and
other accommodation are easy to acquire, just one phone call away.
Normally you will easily find accommodation, even at the last minute.
So during the Easter break my family and I
took off for a visit to this exciting destination. Fortunately the traffic was
far better than I expected and we had a smooth ride until we hit Bulahdelah.
Here we decided to take the tourist drive ‘The Lakes Way’ (the back road
to Forster). To get there we drove on Pacific highway from Bombah Point to
Bulahdelah and then turned onto the Lakes Way.
We drove through the winding roads of Myall
Lake and found our first destination ‘Seal Rocks’. Seal Rocks is a tiny fishing
village on an island surrounded by the National Park. We took a 10-minute walk
up to Sugarloaf Light Station for spectacular views of the coast. We also found
a path here which lead to a lookout over Seal Rocks, a collection of rocky islets
which are home to Australian Fur Seals. Fortunately, I was carrying my
binoculars so I was able to make the most of this fantastic view.
We then drove back onto Lakes Way and took
another detour along Sugar Creek Road just north of Bungwahl, veering off into
the rainforest to wind our way up to Whoota Whoota If you ever take this trip,
keep an eye out for breathtaking views over the three lakes and coastal
beaches.
I am sure this road holds an abundance of
surprises which we missed due to time pressure. In case you are visiting this
area, I would strongly recommend taking diversions and detours to explore and
enjoy the surrounding beauty.
We stayed at Seashells Beach Resort
which is a 3.5 star resort with plenty of activities to keep everyone
entertained and just 20 meters from beach. The location of the resort is
a bit further away from main town (12kms), making it a very peaceful place
indeed. The resort is well equipped with a pool, six tennis courts, table
tennis, mini golf course, games room and a large barbeque area. It is also a
very convenient place to stay if you are travelling with seniors. We also loved
the idea of having the pool just opposite our room as we could keep a watch
on kids while they are played. The rooms and accommodation were clean and well
kept. The only thing missing from the resort was a good restaurant. For restaurants,
shopping or groceries you need to travel 4-5 Kms to Black Head.
The next day we visited Bennett’s Head at
the crossing of Bennett’s Heads drive and Marine Drive. This is a beautiful
point presenting a 360 degree panoramic view of Forster town and One Mile
beach. One Mile beach also boasts Giant Sandhill which is extremely popular for
sand sliding and boarding.
One Mile Beach
View from Bennett's Head Lookout
On our way back to Forster we stopped at
The Tanks beach which is five minutes drive from Bennett’s Head
lookout. The Tanks present an unusual rock formation about 25 meters from the
shoreline that creates a picturesque inlet for swimming. The jet-black
formation of rocks looked quite striking and watching the waves forcefully
pound on the rocks was incredible. This is a beautiful spot to swim and relax.
We spent about half a day here swimming with family and friends.
Tanks Beach
The next morning I decided to wake up a bit
earlier to catch the sunrise and my extra efforts resulted in enchanting
photographs. Beaches in the morning are so beautiful and you simply cannot miss
it especially when you are just 20 meters from it.
Sunrise at Diamond Beach
Lookout for the beautiful morning sky
Old man fishing, Diamond Beach
Kids enjoying the beach
Later that evening we visited Booti Booti
National Park Sunset point. We arrived about half an hour early with our picnic
basket and drinks. The sunset experience was truly amazing.
Booti Booti National Park, Sunset
Booti Booti National Park, Sunset
We spent the rest of the time relaxing,
playing golf and enjoying the pool and resort facilities. This was yet another superb
holiday and I hope you enjoyed taking the journey with me.
