Burrawang – AuntyUta

This is where we stopped again last Sunday, the 27th of July, when we returned from Burrawang. The pies we had at this famous pie shop tasted as good as ever. Caroline and Matthew liked them too. When we finished eating our meat pies Peter bought some fruit pies to take home for afternoon coffee. But first Caroline, our driver, went on a tour with us through beautiful Kangaroo Valley.

Here is what Wikipedia says about the pass:

Macquarie Pass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Macquarie Pass is an eight-kilometre-long section of the Illawarra Highway passing through Macquarie Pass National Park. It was opened in 1898.
Macquarie Pass links the Southern Highland town of Robertson to the coastal town of Albion Park, descending the Illawarra Escarpment via a very narrow bitumen roadway, which has several single-lane sections and is mostly two lanes with double “no overtaking” lines. It is in the Shellharbour local government area.
This section of roadway is very steep, and contains a large number of hairpin bends, resulting in buses and trucks needing to reverse on some of the bends. The pass is quite notorious for accidents due to its nature, and drivers and riders are required to be cautious.
After heavy rain, the Macquarie Pass can be closed due to flooding on the top half of the pass. Cars and motorcycle riders may opt to use Jamberoo Mountain Road between Robertson and Jamberoo, while trucks are advised to use Mount Ousley Road (Southern Freeway) and Picton Road as an alternative.
The road is very popular with motorcyclists on weekends and public holidays. The Shellharbour and Wingecarribee Councils and the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority have therefore published a safety brochure entitled ‘Motorcycling Macquarie Pass.’

It is indeed very steep and has a large number of hairpin bends!

I found in my diary two occasions when we went up this pass. In July 2013 we had an outing to a Nature Reserve at Robertson and in March 2014 we went to Fitzroy Fall.

Here are just a few things worth remembering from these two trips.

The following I wrote on the 6th of July 2013:

It was windy and cold today, however plenty of sunshine and beautiful clear air. We thought it would be wonderful to go up to the highlands on a day like this. Driving up Macquarie Pass was no problem.

We reached Robertson and decided we would first of all have an early lunch with one of the famous Robertson pies and a cup of tea. The pies were delicious as ever. We have frequented this PIE SHOP in Robertson for over fifty years. The pies there are really special. Peter had a pepper steak pie and I had a beef curry pie. A hot cup of tea with it was lovely.

In the Wikipedia it says that the road is very popular with motorcyclists on weekends and public holidays. And so it is. At the pie shop for instance scores of motorcyclists had just arrived for a well deserved break. The eating section of the shop got pretty crowded after a while for lots of other holiday makers with children on winter school holidays had also arrived. The shop did a roaring business with their pies.

Near the railway line and near what used to be Robertson station is the little bit of rainforest which we had not been visiting for decades. Today was the day. We got ourselves reacquainted with it. There is a round-track of only about 600 m. We walked along it and felt like being in another world.

Earlier in the morning on the way to Macquarie Pass we stopped at the Marshall Mount Dance Hall. Our daughter Monika liked to go to their dances nearly forty years ago. Looking at the hall today Peter recalled how he drove to this hall on a Saturday night to pick up Monika and her friends after the dance had finished. We noticed today also a building next to this hall which used to be the Marshall Mount Public School.

We did a little detour through the country side where we noticed some ducks crossing the road. All in all we had a lovely day on this beautiful sunny winter day with gusts of wind that felt very cold.

On this coral tree were already some flowers appearing. Does this mean spring is not far away any more? — On this coral tree were already some flowers appearing. Does this mean spring is not far away?

In March 2014 we went to Fitzroy Falls.

On the way to Fitzroy Falls we stopped at Burrawang.

We had our coffee served outside. Some customers had brought their dog along.

They cater for some events in Burrawang.

On the way back from the Fitzroy Falls we stopped at this reservoir to have a look

I had fun reminiscing about our trips to the highlands.

There's even a bus stop in front of the cafe. Maybe on Sundays there aren't any buses, this is why people parked their cars there. — There’s even a bus stop in front of the cafe. Maybe on Sundays there aren’t any buses, this is why people parked their cars there.

Caroline and Matthew were with us last Sunday, July 27th. Caroline offered to drive us to the highlands. Caroline and Matthew were sitting in the front, so Peter and I could relax in the back. Caroline managed very well to drive all of us up MacQuarie Pass in our little car. We were aiming for a village called Burrawang, where Peter and I had been some time ago. We had quite liked this historical little place and were happy we could go there for another visit.

Here we had a cup of coffee and some cake.

This is one of the pictures I took inside of the cafe.

I took a few more pictures in that cafe:

Here is what I googled about Burrawang and Wildes Meadow:

“Burrawang is a village in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia in Wingecarribee Shire. According to the 2011 Australian census, Burrawang’s population was 238”

“Wildes Meadow is a hamlet village in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. Due to its location, it does not receive many passers by, and so the tourism industry has suffered as a result.”

Now, if ever we had the idea to relocate to one of these places, just seeing what is on offer for buying would make us give up this idea quick smart. The problem is, that in order to live in one of these places we would have to invest millions which certainly we do not have. Still, even if we cannot live there it is within our reach to visit these places. Actually, this is good enough for me. I am not complaining, not at all.

A charming country cottage idyllically set on 27 acres of serene landscape, now doesn’t this sound lovely? Well, I can keep dreaming about places like this, can’t I? However, I know it is just a dream!