Last month we had a very enjoyable excursion the Southern Highlands of NSW, we traveled down the Hume Highway at a very easy pace, there was very little traffic and the going was easy, the drive was made more enjoyable by the Wattle which was in full bloom on either side of the road, turning the Hume into a golden corridor.

First visit was to the spectacular Fitzroy Falls, in the Morton National Park. The bus parked quiet close to the falls and visitors centre, after viewing the falls at close range most of us opted to take the easy stroll along the top of the escarpment to view the falls from another angle. Being spring there were several species of wildflower in bloom, the park and bush looked good and smelled wonderful, while walking down the track we came across a Lyre Bird scratching in the underbrush, (sorry folks no photos, light was too low and the three images I took were blurred), after viewing the falls from a more distant angle we returned to the visitors centre and café for morning tea where a Devonshire tea was served (yum, my favorite fruit). The visitors centre had a floral display of Orchids and Natives from a local nursery, they were just stunning.

Then we were off to one of the beautiful private gardens that the highlands has in abundance “Back of the Moon” at Moss

Vale, the house and surrounding gardens are at the end of a short tree lined driveway, with a well groomed formal garden off to the right, here I stood and chin waged with the owner for too long and missed the other gardens but did manage to get a couple of photos of their flock of white Pigeons roosting on their guano pasted houses.

Throsby Park was our next port of call where we were greeted by our effervescent guide Jenny. The house is a wonderful example of colonial architecture made even more fascinating by the presence of most of it’s original furnishings, the doors and window frames were made of Red Cedar, the floors which still showed no gaps were made from a species of Eucalypt which grew and were harvested on the property, no tongue and grooved joints were used in those days, they are an engineers delight, there is a photo in my presentation of a wonderful old couch, it was made in Australia from Red Cedar, one of the many colonial pieces collected by the Throsby’s. While at Throsby Park we experienced a very powerful wind which cooled the country side to a very acceptable level and went on to give us a bonus later in the day.

Lunch was served at the very relaxing Moss Vale Services Club, we had the choice of Fish, Schnitzel and Roasts, followed by deserts, of several types of cake.

The afternoon found us off to Milton Park, another private garden, actually it is a private hotel and spa surrounded by gardens, there were many attractive points of interest in the gardens.

Then what trip to the Southern Highlands would be complete without a visit to Corbett Park at this time of year. The Tulips were magnificent as usual, they were made even more enjoyable by the big wind mentioned earlier, it had blown all the usual crowds home earlier in the day, we had the park almost to ourselves, giving a new perspective on the park with it’s open lawns and garden beds.

Thank you Nadia, another excellent adventure for us organized by you.

Jim Sullivan