A few years ago (back in 2017- I can't believe it is that long ago) Mick and I went down to Lithgow for Australia Day and had a lovely day out. You can read about it here and here. Our original plan for that day was to dine at Secret Creek Cafe, but it was closed. We have never got around to visiting since then.
Lithgow has been in the news lately as the nasty bushfires came right down into the back of the town and a few houses and other buildings were lost. This reminded me of Secret Creek Cafe, as it is on a 200 acre wildlife reserve up one of the gullies behind Lithgow. While a lot of their infrastructure was damaged, the cafe, their home and other buildings were saved. We thought this Australia Day would be a good opportunity to finally visit and support a business that will have some recovering to do after the fires. We were even blessed with nice weather.
This is the entrance to the property. All signage has burnt. As we drove up the driveway we noticed lots of people on a working bee to clean things up. They were doing a great job.
I forgot to take photos of the building, but it is a wooden cabin. They do lots of private functions and the previous day had hosted a wedding. There were still some lovely floral arrangements on the tables.
The food was delicious. This cafe serves only vegan food and on weekends has a fixed menu with five courses of share plates. It was a lovely way to enjoy the food, especially when we were with our visitors from Queensland.
Hopefully, Mick and I can sneak down there another time to enjoy some more of their meals.
We also visited the Blast Furnace Park. This is the home of the Australian Steel industry. If you have a read of my blog post from 2017 you can see it when I first visited in about 2013 when it was rustic, then fenced off in 2017. Now the site has been updated with board walks and railings etc.
The first thing that greets you in the car park are gabion cage walls filled with old bricks and relics from the site.
It is really well done.
I was initially a bit dubious about the board walks, but as you got closer they were less obvious and certainly kept you away from lots of holes and other hazards.
Let's go for a wander.
The buildings are lovely and rustic. As you can see, the bush fires weren't far away from here either.
We took the scenic route home, via Wallerawang and Portland, where they were just finishing off their Australia Day celebrations.
The combination of didgeridoo and brass was a bit unusual, but they were very entertaining.
It was a rather pleasant way to spend the day.
10 comments:
A nice idea to support a local business like that, they would have appreciated your custom. The steel works look very interesting. The gabion cages would have also been interesting to look at - a unique way to preserve the history. You were impressed with the changes since your previous visits?
Looks like a lovely day out. The food looks good too. Put that one on the list for next time we're visiting!
As I said when I called, check out Greens in St John's next time you visit the IOM. It is on the corner, opposite Tynwald Hill. More lovely vegetarian food.
The blast furnace looks like an interesting site.
Im glad one of your favourite cafes survived, although the entrance way with all those scorched trees is rather sobering.
I do enjoy your little travelogues! Best idea to go to all these places that need to get back on their feet. Love the idea of the fixed share plate menu - how clever.
Great weekend out and about...
Hugz
Well done supporting people who suffered from the fires. Seeing the entrance makes it real doesn't it. The food looks really nice. Good to see the steel works area being preserved and the walk ways make it safe for visiting. Love the Californian poppy 😁 great day out.
That was a wonderful idea supporting the town folk who suffered from fire damage. The food looked great too...xox
Ah Janice, thank you for the walk down memory lane (going back to your 2017 blog posts). Is Bracey's still operating - my goodness, they have been around a long time. And the cottages certainly look very familiar. Next time you visit Lithgow and you go to Queen Elizabeth Park, you will see my great uncles name (Capt. Ronald Burns) at the top of the War Memorial there. One of his brothers was Leonard Burns who owned the local real estate that was opposite Bracey's on the corner of Burns Lane. It is many years since I have been back to Lithgow - maybe one day...
Love the gabion and the wee bright Californian poppies.
Love the photos and the sentiment.
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