The Southern Highlands of NSW lie South of Sydney and comprises Bowral, Maitland, Berry as main towns. There are however many little other places that form the lush green, mountainous, culturally rich country that forms the beautiful escape from rustle and bustle of Sydney.
Our first stop and base was Bowral, a historic town about 160 Km South of Sydney, took us about 3 hrs to get there with pit stops, lunch breaks and driver rests in between. This was in fact our second trip, the first one with our kid in pram, this time he was jumping around in Bong Bong street, the main arterial road of the town! Upon checking into a nearby hotel we went to have our lunch at Raw and Wild cafe, also a market place for rich organic and health food.
The highlight of the place was this huge wall art work depicting food, people, wild and travel all mixed up in a vibrant colors.
After lunch we slowly made our way to the town centre on the same stretch of main road. Bowral is a bustling and lively little town full of historical buildings, little alleys, modern cafes, shops, book stores and florists.
It is one of the key economic centres in the Southern Highlands region and forms a well connected hub along with its nearby sister towns like Maitland, Berry and Nowra. It is one of the major gate away spots for Sydney populace and the hotel prices are high in the season, comparable to other big towns. There are fashion shops selling Australian big brands and big Woolworths store similar to size in Sydney.
Although it is a small town there are plenty of choice when it comes to eateries. We opted by default for and Indian dinner right in the middle of town in the restaurant JB Indian as it was a public holiday and not many restaurantes were open for the night, but we were not disappointed. The Lamb Rogan Josh and butter chicken we ordered were comparable to any similar Indian restaurant in Sydney . Turns out, the restaurant was opened recently by an entrepreneur from Sydney.
In the morning we went to The Press Shop (https://www.thepressshopbowral.au), a stylish cafe with a bit of French vibe just off the main street, with the tables spilling out to the side walk.
We based ourselves in Bowral to explore the surrounding areas and specially the Fitzroy Falls! We also went to another Southern Highlands gem, Berry, passed through the picturesque little village of Kangaroo valley and Nowra. All of these will be in my up coming posts.
Ravi Tandukar 