My favourite way to beat the winter blues is a cozy countryside escape, so in late May JJ and I headed out to Oberon on the western edge of the Blue Mountains. Beautiful rolling hills, World Heritage national parks, wildlife and Australia’s most spectacular caves are just some of the reasons to visit this rural town.
GETTING THERE
Oberon is located 180 km west of Sydney, or about a 3-hour drive. Alternatively, you can take a train and coach service from Sydney, the journey takes around 4 hours. If you’re planning to take a break en route, the towns of Lawson or Katoomba in the Blue Mountains are about halfway. I can recommend Maprang Thai in Lawson, we stopped there for dinner on Friday night and it was very good.
WHERE WE STAYED
Melaleuca Mountain Retreat (10 km from Oberon) was the perfect base for our getaway. The cabins are positioned around a north-easterly facing ridge with views over the Duckmaloi Valley. Wildlife is abundant throughout the resort – there are loads of kangaroos and plenty of native birds including lorikeets, rosellas and parrots.
Our fully self-contained cabin was called Snowgum. The facilities included a queen bed, double spa bath, fully equipped kitchen, lounge and dining areas as well as a private verandah. A slow combustion wood fire completed the toasty warm package. So lovely to come back to after a day of chilly outdoor adventures.
THINGS TO SEE + DO
1. Jenolan Caves
Jenolan Caves are the most visited limestone caves in Australia and the most ancient discovered caves in the world. The caves are located within the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve and form part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Greater Blue Mountains area.
JJ and I drove to Carpark Number 2 on Jenolan Caves Road and walked along the Six-Foot-Track to Caves House for a coffee. Caves House was built as a wilderness retreat in 1897 and today is a heritage-listed building that houses a variety of accommodation and dining options. The short footpath to Caves House passes an impressive freestanding limestone cave remnant called Carlotta Arch.
After our coffee stop at Caves House, we were hoping to continue walking to Blue Lake. Unfortunately, that track was closed due to flood damage. Instead, we chose to head back to Carpark Number 2 and hike from there to the Devil’s Coach House Lookdown. This 30-min return trip was well worth the view and the trail was nice and quiet. We were lucky enough to spot a little wallaby hiding in the bush too.
We didn’t book tickets to tour any caves this time as we’d both been previously. I took the above photos in the amazing Chifley Cave back in 2008.
2, Kanagra-Boyd National Park
Kanangra-Boyd National Park is one of the largest and most rugged wilderness areas in New South Wales and is included in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. This National Park is home to 46 mammal species, over 200 bird species, and 98 different types of reptiles.
JJ and I managed a couple of short hikes in Kanangra-Boyd. We would have liked to have spent more time exploring, but it was a pretty wet weekend. On one hike we got caught in a hail storm, so we decided “NOPE” and rushed back to our cabin to get the fire going 😆
3. Mayfield Garden
Mayfield Garden is inspired by the gardens of Europe and has several picturesque features. To name a few; there’s an 80-metre cascade, a stunning 2.5-hectare water garden, and the grotto within a waterfall that you can walk behind.
On Sunday morning we spent a couple of hours wandering every landscaped corner and enjoying the autumnal colours. The sun even made an appearance! Our visit ended with a great lunch at Mayfield’s onsite café.
WHERE WE ATE
The Long Arm Farm in Oberon town centre was our lunch stop on Saturday. They use produce from their own farm (as well as others in the area), to create seasonal menu specials. I had their frittata with salad and chips and it was delish. Couldn’t resist ending with coffee and one of their their yummy homemade cakes.
Mayfield Garden Café grow a majority of their ingredients for the dishes they serve onsite and the remainder is sourced from local producers. JJ and I had a very tasty lunch here on Sunday after touring the garden. We both had the trout on sourdough followed by rhubarb crumble – double thumbs up.
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There’s so much to do in and around Oberon, this likely won’t be my last visit. I’d love to see a platypus in Blue Lake so I’ll definitely be back.
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