We escaped from work early on Friday and went down to the Abercrombie River (well, it was a series of waterholes) between Oberon and Goulburn and camped the night with a mate and his son from Wollongong who were on a bike and sidecar nearly identical to ours. It was the perfect night for camping, clear, no moon, lots of stars and satellites to watch. There was lots of wildlife in the area as well.
It was just chill enought to enjoy having billy tea on a campfire in the morning.
The reason for this adventure was that the “Tablelands Way” was being officially opened yesterday. This is celebrating the sealing of the final section of the road between Oberon and Goulburn, which makes a much more direct route to the south coast without going via Sydney and a really popular bike road as there are lots of curves.There were lots of stalls, rides for the kids and the Ulysses Club decided it was a good excuse for a ride and there were about 250 bikes from all over the region there. We ran into so many people we knew. We had a delicious counter lunch at the Taralga pub before returning home yesterday afternoon.
Today was another early day as we and our friends Norm and Cath went to Hill End for their open day. Hill End is an old gold mining village which is now very popular with artists. This was a good excuse for a day out.
Two cottages are maintained by the local council and provided as artists retreats, which is very popular. This was made at one of the cottages.
There were lovely crochet cushions on some of the chairs at Rose Cottage where we adjourned for morning tea.
There was some amazing handy work in Craigmoor. Craigmoor was built in the 1870’s and the interior has never changed. A spinster daughter lived there until 1950 with no power and the original fittings.
There are several utilitarian quilts throughout the house.
I fell in love with this cushion with lily of the valley embroidered with beads for the flowers.
We then adjourned to the park for a delightful picnic of antipasto nibbles followed by a salad of figs, grapes, blue cheese, lettuce, proscuito and chicken, all accompanied by a local rosé. Delicious.
We visited fragile old homes from the late 1800s. These buildings were never built to last and the fact that they are still standing is amazing. Most are built out of wattle and daub with canvas ceilings, poor footings and some still have the old bark roofs under the iron that was added at a later date.
We couldn't have asked for a better weekend - camping, motorcycling, fine dining, old houses, perfect weather and good company.
Today was another early day as we and our friends Norm and Cath went to Hill End for their open day. Hill End is an old gold mining village which is now very popular with artists. This was a good excuse for a day out.Two cottages are maintained by the local council and provided as artists retreats, which is very popular. This was made at one of the cottages.
There were lovely crochet cushions on some of the chairs at Rose Cottage where we adjourned for morning tea.
We played ladies and gents and had Devonshire tea on fine china in the orchard. (Don’t you love the yellow daisy teapot!)
There was some amazing handy work in Craigmoor. Craigmoor was built in the 1870’s and the interior has never changed. A spinster daughter lived there until 1950 with no power and the original fittings. There are several utilitarian quilts throughout the house.
I fell in love with this cushion with lily of the valley embroidered with beads for the flowers.
We then adjourned to the park for a delightful picnic of antipasto nibbles followed by a salad of figs, grapes, blue cheese, lettuce, proscuito and chicken, all accompanied by a local rosé. Delicious.
We visited fragile old homes from the late 1800s. These buildings were never built to last and the fact that they are still standing is amazing. Most are built out of wattle and daub with canvas ceilings, poor footings and some still have the old bark roofs under the iron that was added at a later date.
We couldn't have asked for a better weekend - camping, motorcycling, fine dining, old houses, perfect weather and good company.
Sounded like a perfect weekend. You do get to do some wonderful touring trips away. Oh, I had a closer look at the teapot - it is SO cute!
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