Bowral Beauty

24 March 2021 / Words by Ron & Maree Tollenaar, Photos by Rod & Maryanne Nicholas

Saturday 13 - Sunday 14 March 2021

Given the forecast of a wet weekend it was not with a little concern that I peeked out through the curtains early on Saturday morning. Phew, just an early Canberra light fog, nothing to see here folks, so all good and off to the rendezvous point at Queanbeyan.

After the usual round of greetings and rundown of the route ahead, we set off to Goulburn under a clear sky. A nice little run of 100 kilometres and about to turn into the usual car park in the centre of town. Whoops, there’s a market on so a quick rethink on the parking arrangements and it’s off to the Paragon Cafe for coffee and cake (for some).

Obviously you can’t not stroll through a market, so that being done we’re off to Moss Vale for a yummy pub lunch and the odd beverage. The Southern Highlands are chock full of picturesque towns and villages, well worth an overnight visit or two.

From there it was a quick blast to Fitzroy Falls, where the water was flowing over in copious amounts, providing a perfect backdrop for the beautiful panorama calling to be photographed, and that was before the deluge we are having as I compose this write up. We’ll have to go back shortly to see the impact of a few hundred millimetres of rains that have fallen since.

Onto our accommodation at the Bowral Boutique Hotel, and after a quick unpack it was time to visit the nearest pub for more beverages and tall stories. A little later as the dinner hour called we were lucky enough to find a local Chinese that could take our group for dinner, sans booking, and the food and company were most enjoyable.

Back to the hotel and we fell asleep to the sounds of a massive thunderstorm passing through, providing a sight and sound spectacular.

Inevitably the rain was still falling in the morning but that didn’t deter us from enjoying brekkie in the very quaint Elephant Man cafe, which is packed wall to wall with books from a bygone era. I could have spent hours there just browsing the titles.

Our destination for the morning was Dirty Jane’s, a massive warehouse full of the most amazing collection of bric a brac you could imagine, and well worth a morning’s browse.

Onto the final stop of the weekend, Trappers at Goulburn, for that last coffee and a spot of lunch and then final goodbyes.

I must say again what a beautiful part of the world the Highlands are and we look forward to returning soon. A big thank you to those who came along, we always manage to have a ton of fun no matter the size of the group and that is what being a member of this great club is all about. See you on the road again soon.

Ron and Maree Tollenaar