Three day trip to Bathurst, Orange and Binalong
Sydney Nimble went for a three day trip to Bathurst, Orange and Binalong to see some new places outside of the usual one day touring radius.
A bare minimum of two days is necessary to visit Bathurst and Orange. If you have time an extra one or two days is preferable.
I will not cover all of the places visited in this blog and the commentary is limited to a few of the standouts. Due to recent heavy rain the Abercrombie Caves were closed and taken out of the itinerary. Next time!
Abercrombie House
The highlight of the trip was Abercrombie House. This is truly a magnificent home and if visiting Bathurst it is only a short drive from town (15 minutes).
Abercrombie House was built in the 1870s by the Stewarts, a wealthy grazing family.
All four sides of the building, which has been described as a Scottish baronial mansion, have a different facade. The walls are constructed of sandstone and bricks clad with granite.
Internally there are many fine features to marvel at including high or super high ceilings, timber and leadlight windows, carpets and wallpaper, staircases, joinery, fireplaces and furniture, not to mention an original toilet.
Every mansion must have a ballroom and its ceiling height exceeds 8 metres. This room has three incredibly large sash windows and a patterned pressed tin gold ceiling. An original pipe organ is located in a small mezzanine in the top half of the ball room.
Borenore Caves
Borenore Caves, located 20 minutes from Orange, deserves mention and the Arch Cave casts a wonderful coolness once you were within its shadow. Much appreciated on a hot day. The colours of the cave face are striking.
There are other limestone caves nearby but these require more time and will be saved for another time.
The Borenore Caves are located in the Borenore Karst Conservation area, and the caves were a source of high quality marble until mining ceased in 1994.
Cherry oh
A short cherry picking expedition was in order as mid December is right in the middle of cherry season.
Young is the cherry capital of New South Wales but cherries are also grown in orchards near Orange.
In addition to the cherries picked some Sour Cherry Brandy found its way into the shopping basket.
The brandy, diced fresh cherries and vanilla ice cream gave the day a sweet finish.
you dont have to be Scottish to like Abercrombie House
get married after a tour!
pure gold - ballroom ceiling at Abercrombie House
Arch Cave
cherry pick or just buy a box
on the road to Binalong