Have a Cooler Weekend Away in the NSW Southern Highlands

Where History Still Lives, Apparently

“Lucy’s always hanging around,” says Ros, waving her hand as though to dismiss the matter. Such nonchalance would be understandable, were she referring to a human. Or a pet. Or any three-dimensional form, in fact. But she’s not. ‘Lucy’ is a ghost. To be precise, she’s the spirit of Lucretia Dunkley, who, in 1842, became Australia’s first female executionee by hanging.

Ros, my partner and I are perched on a brick wall, facing the gates of Old Berrima Gaol (Argyle Street, Berrima). The sun has just signed off from a bright, blue-skied day. Today has been hotter than normal, even for January. Elevated 644 kilometres above sea level in the Southern Highlands, Berrima usually offers temperate respite from scorching Sydney summers. City-dwellers make the 90-minute drive southeast to spend the weekend sampling cool climate wines, indulging in gourmet produce, decongesting by waterfalls and, well, meeting ghosts.

“Once, on a tour, [Lucy] pushed a teenage girl,” Ros continues. “She’s angry, but she’s all right.” We’re part way through ‘Mrs Mulligan’s Ghostly Whispers of Old Berrima’. The jail, which closed its doors for good in 2011, is Australia’s oldest. One-time site of hangings, floggings and solitary confinement, it’s fertile ground for tortured spirits. We’ve heard of adulterous trysts with bushrangers; of pallid women in long, white dresses; of restless prisoners seeking redemption. The anecdotes — a combination of history and spookology — are disturbing in and of themselves. But it’s Ros’s matter-of-fact, detailed storytelling that has us looking over our shoulders.

Our tour began at Berrima Courthouse (Argyle & Wilshire Streets, Berrima; (02) 4877 1505). There, ‘Lucy’ inhabits a palpable identity — of sorts. A host of eerie waxwork figures fills the court that sentenced her and her paramour, Martin Beech, to death for the cold-blooded murder of her husband, Henry Dunkley. The October 4, 1842, edition of the Sydney Morning Herald described the crime as “one of those deep laid preconcerted acts of inhuman butchery”. In daylight hours, a sound and light show reenacts the case for visitors, complete with a booming-voiced, curly-wigged judge reciting the original transcript.

A beer stop at the Surveyor General Inn (Old Hume Highway, Berrima; (02) 4877 1226; Open Mon - Sat 10am - midnight, Sun 11am - 10pm) helps to ease the nerves. Earlier, we popped into Australia’s longest continuously licensed pub for a hearty lunch and underground tour, including a tiny, windowless room that once served as a convict prison. A heritage-sympathetic extension breathed new life into the building in the late 1990s but hasn’t deterred the spectral crowd, apparently.

A good night's sleep, SETTLER-STYLE

Thankfully, our accommodation — the rough-hewn timber Settler’s Hut (16A Jellore Street, Berrima; 0404 951 884) — doesn’t boast any ghostly tales. Well, as far as we know. It’s surprising, considering that the dwelling began life in 1840 as home to an Irish immigrant, his wife and their ten children. Looking around the bedroom-cum-living area, we figure it would’ve been decidedly squashy. For a single or couple holidaying in the 21st century, it’s perfectly cosy.

Mod cons merge with a traditional bush aesthetic, creating a feel that’s authentic rather than twee. Corrugated iron hides an open brick fireplace. Smooth white sheets stretch over a Victorian tester bed. In the period-style bathroom, a showerhead hangs above a claw bath, and in the kitchen, a classic Kooka stove invites a cook-up. An array of DIY breakfast goodies — smoked salmon, bacon, eggs, pancake mix, muesli, fresh fruit, loaves of bread and more — are shared between a fridge and an old meat safe. Television is conspicuously absent, though it’s possible to watch DVDs in a nearby dairy-turned-hut. Plus, there are books and a CD player.

We take a morning picnic on the generous back lawn. The deciduous trees are in a riot of summer green and a couple of king parrots pop down to try their charm on their latest neighbours. Leaning over the fence, we can see the winding Wingecarribee River, where, the locals tell us, platypuses are frequently spotted.

WINE-TASTING ON THREE WHEELS

While monotreme-monitoring sounds like an ideal way to spend a sunny day, we’ve other plans. An impossibly shiny, red BOOM is at the gate, ready to carry us on a Highland Trike Tour (0412 555 757 or 0419 461 106). One rev and we’re off, roaring down rolling hills, cruising along the highway and weaving in and out of back lanes. Our easygoing yet attentive host, John, is willing to tailor our journey according to where we’d like to go — be it wineries, restaurants, waterfalls or mountaintops.

Centennial Vineyards’ (252 Centennial Road, Bowral; (02) 4861 8722; Open daily for wine tasting, 10am - 5pm) impeccably landscaped cellar door is our first stop. At any one time, up to 35 wines are on the tasting menu. Their Blanc to Blancs, a sparkling chardonnay where citrus, sea spray, honey, almond and candle wax hints miraculously meet, goes down like a dream, even (or should that be especially?) at 10.30am. Next up is the boutique Tertini (Kells Creek Road off Wombeyan Caves Road, Mittagong; (02) 4878 5213; Thu - Mon 10am-5pm or by appointment), where we meet winemaker Jonathan Holgate. He “likes to try out new ideas” with small batches, he says, walking us through several outstanding drops, particularly the 2012 Reserve Arneis, the 2012 Reisling and the 2010 Pinot Noir.

After a few deliciously light-headed curves, we pull up at the idyllic former HQ of Australia’s most famous book-trading family: Berkelouw. If their Paddington and Leichhardt stores are among your favourite places to relax, you’ll love their Book Barn at Bendooley Estate (3020 Old Hume Highway
Berrima; 0414 310 838 or 0416 061 871). The bathroom is enough to inspire a poem, even from the least literary of lavatory-goers. There are shelves and shelves of second-hand books and, for lunch, the Bendooley Bar and Grill (Daily 11am - 3pm), where fresh, locally sourced, seasonal produce is whipped up into casual dining delights like confit Thirlmere duck Maryland with boudin noir, olives, pan-tossed kipflers, sage, organic kale and tomato concasse.

Cruising on two wheels

A less-speed, more-effort option for getting outdoors in the Highlands is a DIY-bicycle tour. In fact, cycling’s big here. Every November, 1,500 or so enthusiasts race in the 110km Highland Fling marathon. We grab a couple of two-wheelers from Ye Olde Bicycle Shoppe (11 Church Street, Bundanoon; (02) 4883 6043; Sun - Fri 8.30am - 4pm, Sat 8.30am - 5pm). For The Goodies fans (and exceptionally cooperative couples), there’s a tandem. After a hair-raising descent down Constitution Hill, the reverse of which can, fortunately, be avoided on the return journey, we’re straight into Morton National Park (Nowra Rd, Fitzroy Falls). An easy 12-kilometre circuit carries us past spring-fed swimming holes, waterfalls, lyrebirds, wallabies and eight different lookouts.

GOING GOURMET WITH GHOSTS

Wouldn’t you know it, but the waiter sits us at Lucy’s favourite table. Well, that’s where Ros recalled having seen the condemned murderer's spectre lurking in the window, at any rate.

Set in a rambling old inn, the one-hatted Eschalot Restaurant (24 Old Hume Highway, Berrima; (02) 4877 1977; Dinner Wed - Sat, lunch Thu - Sun) strikes a welcoming balance between fine dining and country hospitality. It’s at once serious and fun. A modest kitchen transforms the onsite vegetable garden’s crops into consistently delicious and often surprising dishes. A chilled broccoli soup topped with turmeric bayleaf foam hides rockmelon spheres bursting with flavour. Perfectly pan-fried gnocchi mixes with apple, pear, heirloom carrots and herb oil. An intense nectarine sponge meets a mint lavender sauce and delicate yoghurt sorbet. There’s a wide selection of matching local wines, available by-the-glass. Perhaps Lucy has good reason to hang around.

Just over the road at the Berrima General Store (1/13 Old Hume Highway, Berrima; (02) 4877 1225), a selection of gourmet goods, including artisan bread, Perigord Truffles of Tasmania, Arthur & Martha’s Fine Chutneys, Anthony’s Sauces & Condiments and Phatt Duck gourmet pies is on sale. Meals are served all day, from 8am. The dinner menu, designed according to either a famous cookbook or a local chef, changes every three weeks. The evening before, we indulged in a Mediterranean feast, inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi’s culinary brilliance — fennel, orange and pomegranate salad; spinach patties with labne; figs, sweet potatoes and chilli arranged like artworks; and rice sprinkled with pistachios and cranberries.

We’ll be back in March for Wine Time — a one-month festival celebrating the start of the Southern Highlands grape harvest. It’s basically an excuse to try as many beverages and foods as possible in as many ways as can be envisioned. There’ll be bubbly breakfasts, frothy Fridays, sunset sipping sessions, paddock-to-plate tours, mushroom tunnel tours, grape stomps and olive grove open days. Don't mind if we do.

Getting there: The Southern Highlands is 1 hour south-west of Sydney or 1.5 hours from Canberra along the Old Hume Highway. There is a train link to Bowral and Mittagong from Sydney Central.

Getting around: It's best to have your own car, though there are limited buses, taxis and tours.

We visited the Southern Highlands as the guests of DestinationNSW.