Tulips Bloom in Bowral
27 September 2022 / Words: Jeff Rowe. Photos: Jan Gibson and Rob Wilko
It was a wet morning when 7 cars set off from Haywards Bay heading for Bowral.
There was chatter on the CB radios from the start. Cyclists on so many parts of the road. The UCI Road Race is on in Wollongong so the riders are out practicing for the finals of the road race coming up over the next few days.
We all had a very cautious drive-up Macquarie Pass as a truck had dropped some gravel on the road in different sections. RMS workers were doing their best to clear as much of the gravel off the road as they could. “Look out” was called over the CB more cyclists on the road.
Getting closer to the top of the Pass now, what’s this, fog. It was not too bad but blocked the view that we may have seen to the coast from the top of the escarpment.
More talk on the CB. Maybe we should call this run Fiats in the Fog, Mazdas in the Mist and Cycles in the Way. What about we have our own ‘Tour de Bowral?'.
So, what about Bowral? There are a few things you should know about Bowral.
1. When it’s cold, it’s cold. Today was a 50/50. Keep your warm jacket on and it was quite comfortable.
2. It is the home of the famous ‘Bradman’ Cricket Museum.
3. As some of us found out just recently it is also home to the ‘Fairground Follies’ Museum.
4. Of course the reason for our visit at this time, the Spring Show of the ‘Tulips in Bloom’ throughout the town gardens. No matter how keen a gardener you are it is hard not to be impressed by the display of colour and variety of layouts around the gardens. The weather was kind to us here with the rain holding off.
You’ll see the variety of colour in the photos attached to this story.
With our allotted time looking at the gardens spent it was off to the prearranged meeting place for the next part of our run to lunch at the Sutton Forest Hotel.
Some of our group had decided to head for the lunch venue earlier. A phone call was made to find out what the lunch ‘Specials’ were. One of them was a Mushroom and Coconut Milk Pie. We thought that might be a bit runny on the plate, the other was a Chicken and Bacon Soup. It turned out it was a Mushroom and Coconut Milk soup and a Chicken and Bacon pie. That sounded better.
We had a table close to the log fire and everyone had a good lunch with lots of chit chat and laughing where we got to know different members a little better.
Thank you to Jan for organizing a great run and Garry for leading us safely on our travels. The ‘Tail-end Charlie’ did a good job to making sure no one strayed off the planned route.
Another great Illawarra chapter run to ‘Tulip Blooms in Bowral’ done and dusted.
