Friday 21, Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 October 2016
30 Bushwalkers travelled to Goulburn on the weekend of 22-23 October to explore this historic inland city and its surrounds.
After nearly running out of water in the early part of this century, Goulburn is now linked to Sydney’s water supply and after recent rain, is looking green and lush. Goulburn Tourist Bureau gave us a Saturday morning bus tour of all the historic and interesting sites – the lavish Courthouse, the impressive sandstone Cathedral, the stone War Memorial Tower, the infamous Goulburn Gaol and Supermax Prison, the Police Training Academy, and the Railway Station to name a few.
Saturday afternoon was free to explore the museums, art galleries, shops and further afield, Pejar Dam. Several of us enjoyed an excellent organ recital in the Cathedral of 11 best known organ pieces ever written, followed by afternoon tea in the Cathedral Hall. Great venue, impressive pipe organ, accomplished organist.
We spent Sunday morning out at Garroorigang Historic Home on the Braidwood Road. This is now the private home of descendants of the explorer Hamilton Hume, but started its life in 1857 as Mulwaree Inn catering to traffic heading from Sydney to the Braidwood and Araluen goldfields. It was later converted to a private boys school. The current owners gave us morning tea and showed us through the house, the old stables which morphed into classrooms, and the gardens. The house is full of the memorabilia from all stages of its history and is a fascinating and personal journey through time.
Our Foodi Tour of Goulburn began on Friday night with dinner at the iconic Paragon Café. The food is great, the service is quick and because we were all too full to have dessert, many of us made a return trip for a sundae or gelato.
Breakfast next morning was at the community based Railway Café operated by Angels for the Forgotten. The café is not for profit, staffed by a combination of Work for the Dole participants and community volunteers who are supervised by paid staff. Each paid meal served in the café provides a free meal to someone in the local community in need via the community kitchen program. They purchase all produce and supplies from local businesses and in addition promote Goulburn’s railway history. Highly recommended!
A few hours later we had lunch at the 98 Chairs Restaurant in the main street – another enjoyable meal together. The evening meal was at the Goulburn Soldiers Club, opposite Belmore Park. By that stage most of us could only manage an entrée.
On Sunday, after morning tea at Garroorigang, we stopped in at Lerida Winery overlooking Lake George for lunch. Our Social Organiser Elizabeth had arranged for a series of tasting plates to be served with house breads at this popular venue.
Thank you to Elizabeth and our Social Committee for a well-paced, interesting weekend. It was obvious that a lot of work had been done behind the scenes to ensure that everyone enjoyed themselves. Some of us are already planning a return trip to see the roses blooming, walk the lookouts at nearby Bungonia Gorge and make another visit to the Paragon Café.
Photos and Report by Karen M