The Royal Wollondilly Wander

Starting point at Bald Hill Headland Reserve
Cyclists in the Royal National Park - now there's something different Morning tea at Cliffhanger Cafe Morning tea at Cliffhanger Cafe The Hume Motorway bridge towers overhead above the Nepean River crossing at Douglas Park BBQ chefs at Avon Dam Lazy afternoon with great company at Avon Dam

25 August 2013 / Bryan Shedden

What a perfect day for a drive in a five! Crystal clear blue skies, with an early morning chill, and sunny warmth for our picnic lunch. Who would have thought that only a week earlier, many of us were suffering through the icy wind and sleet at Wakefield Park!

Meeting at Bald Hill Headland Reserve at 9am were 34 people and 18 cars. A gorgeous Ferrari 360 CS pulled into the carpark at about the same time - the owners fretting about the grimy fingerprints of admirers! Kieren brought his dad along to experience firsthand what his son has been smitten with. Members of the Illawarra Chapter were resplendent in their fresh minted Chapter caps, shirts, and jackets. Trevor & Theresa would have been there too but for a flat tyre on their NC, which they discovered soon after leaving home. Luckily Trevor had a spare wheel in the garage, and they met us at our morning tea stop. Paul also joined us there to bring the tally to 37 people and 20 cars. An excellent turnout!

After the briefing at Bald Hill, the "Royal" part of the run saw us head north through the Royal National Park. Most of our Club runs through "the Nasho" tend to go from north to south, so it was welcome variety to see it from the opposite direction. It's a slow old drive these days, thanks to all the 60km/hr speed limits, but our way was restricted even further by a huge group of cyclists on a charity ride. Oh well, it gave us plenty of time to enjoy the lush rainforest in the south and open heath in the north. Arriving at Loftus, we swung around and from Waterfall we took the Old Princes Highway south. This is quite an enjoyable drive with most of the traffic preferring the M1 motorway, and just enough corners to keep an MX-5 driver interested. Our arrival at the Cliffhanger Cafe for morning tea had only been delayed ten minutes by the cyclists. We crowded inside and filled a couple of large tables while taking in the spectacular views from the edge of the Illawarra escarpment. The coffee was excellent too!

Saddled up again, our wander through the Wollondilly Shire started with a run to Appin. Those of us with CBs were forced to endure some unsavoury commentary from a group of 4WDers, although they soon changed their tune after realising they were on the same channel as us! We had a great run through Broughton Pass and then the twisty crossing of the Nepean River with the Hume Motorway towering overhead. After a brief encounter with suburbia in Picton and Tahmoor, we took the back road around Bargo on a top little drive with some nice country curves. My son Alex, our youngest club member, had a great time giving directions to our group over the CB. Finally, we had the tight & twisty descent to the picnic area at Avon dam.

It was 1pm by now and breakfast was a long time ago. The electric BBQs were quickly fired up, and an assortment of meaty offerings were charred to taste. We scattered around the various picnic tables and grassy clearings, and enjoyed the conversation over our picnic lunches. Some worked off lunch with a walk down to the dam wall, while others preferred to soak up the sunshine and share a few jokes, and we all eventually made our way home after another top day out with the Illawarra Chapter.

A full gallery of photos is available on Flickr.