Kangaroo Valley contains all the ingredients for a perfect weekend away, whatever you're into. You can have an action packed weekend with bushwalks,
horse riding and even
canoeing or you can spend your time chilling out with a book, taking in the spectacular scenery and spotting some local wildlife.
Only about two hours drive south of Sydney in the Southern Highlands, Kangaroo valley is an idyllic nature escape with rich green pastures, lush rainforest, a distinct lack of traffic lights (halleluiah!) and the locals are friendly. Add some good food to that and what are you waiting for??
The quaint little town is an eclectic mix of cute shops, where you can buy the old and the new, the weird and the wonderful. There's pottery and woodcraft and this shop called
The Nostalgia Factory, where I bought a few old vinyl records, and the owner very kindly threw in a really old record player for free (and it actually does work!).
The Friendly Inn is the town's only pub. It's a good little place with a bistro for a bite to eat. For a sugar fix there's an old fashioned lolly shop and a fudge shop (so yummy). There's the Barrengarry Pie Shop, which claims to make the best pies in Australia. There's a takeaway and pizza also available locally.
The
Pioneer Farm is like taking a step back in time, and visitors can experience what it was like living in the valley over 100 years ago. There's a dairy, schoolhouse and even an old fashioned loo as well as living quarters with kitchen, bedroom and living areas. It's really fascinating, as is a walk across Hampden Bridge which is the oldest suspension bridge in Australia, first opened in 1898.
It's important to take care in the area when driving at dusk as that's when the animals come out to party. We saw many kangaroos, wallabies, so many wombats and echidnas. It was fantastic to see all these native animals in the wild rather than in an enclosure.
It's also really worth taking a drive to the
Tallowa Dam. The Dam is also the finishing point for your canoe trip if you hire from the Kangaroo Valley Tourist Park near Hampden Bridge, but if you take Mt Scanzi Road from the town, it will take you directly there. Tallowa Dam has the most amazing fish lift, one of the largest of its kind in Australia, which transports fish in a 2,500 litre bucket, allowing them to migrate from the lower to the upper Shoalhaven River. You can swim, boat and picnic in the area.
If you want to take a few scenic photos from above, take a drive to Fitzroy Falls, where the views are amazing. There's a visitors centre there too. Or take a breather at Cambewarra Lookout, where you can have a bite to eat while enjoying the views.
To get to the Kangaroo Valley take the
Hume Highway south from Sydney or altertively you can take the
Princess Highway/coastal route, turning inland when you get to Kiama(very pretty town) and stop at beautiful Berry on the way. You can also catch a train from Sydney Central to Bomaderry (Nowra) and catch a bus from there.
For transport info
click here.
There's heaps of celebs with weekenders in the area - you never know who you might spot!
Take a look at my photos
here!
