The Southern Highlands

Bowral - the home of the International Cricket Hall of Fame, birthplace of Bradman and the centre of the Southern Highlands wine region was our destination last Thursday; Wayne, Denise, Gill and I drove from Sydney to meet up with DCI and Sally after their short stay on the South Coast of NSW at Jervis Bay. After a three day deluge all along the eastern seaboard the clouds broke up and Bowral was bathed in warm autumn sunshine, lifting the temperatures to the low 20s; pretty good for the region that sits around 700m above sea level and ideal for wine tasting!

The Asburys and I arrived in time to fit in a trip to the Southern Highlands winery.....

Pondering the drinking notes

We then drove to Berrima for lunch - home to shops and, yes, a pub - the Surveyor General, complete with its history of hold-ups, bushrangers and shootouts from the 1830s, represented in drawings and photographs of the period. Oh yes - and beef and Guinness pie.

The old courthouse, Berrima; situated next door to a Correction Centre for women, that was originally built in the Victorian era as a gaol.

One of the most renknowned sweet shops in NSW

After DCI and Sally arrived, we headed to a couple of wineries. Bou-sada and Tertini Wines. Tertini is one of the newest wineries in the Southern Highlands, with a young winemaker who specialises in these cool climate wines; they also produce one of the world's rarest wines, arneis -  although my favourite here was their riesling.

A waratah (telopea); the emblem of NSW

The advertising slogan for Bing Lee, the asian electrical store; also a proverb for life

DCI at breakfast in Bowral

Our second day in Bowral featured trips to the grand and beautiful Centennial Wines,  (tthe original and quite simply the best, Joadja; its Cabernet Sangiovese (a blend of cool and warm climate grapes) was the best wine we tasted.

Centennial: