Escape to the country

Sydney - Escape to the country

While the Macarthur region is technically part of greater Sydney, it’s a world away from the metropolitan rat race

Freeways have made Sydney-siders more ignorant than ever. We can now travel vast distances north and south in a matter of hours, without seeing a single town. When we do stop, it’s usually at some commercialised cluster of servos and franchise eateries just off the freeway exit.

Yet, the idea that we have to drive for at least two hours to ‘get away from it all’ persists. When the wife and I were offered a weekend trip to the Macarthur region we thought it a bit silly. We live in Moorebank, about 25 minutes from Camden along the M5. It seemed like pitching a tent in our backyard and calling it a camping trip.

By Sunday, we felt a bit silly.

Our base was the Camden Valley Inn, a hotel built in the 1930s that is now split into a pub and four-star accommodation. Its manicured gardens are a popular venue for weddings and it can cater for the ceremony, reception and accommodation (including a bridal suite).

On Friday evening Kellie and I drove into Campbelltown where we joined a group of 12 for the Twilight Ghost Tales Tour of Quondong House. Host Anne was a fount of knowledge about the house and the local region. (Built in the 1800s, Quondong House was a school for much of its life.) Anne then sat us in a circle – with all the lights out, of course – to relate some of the ghostly goings on that the house’s custodians have experienced. With the Campbelltown Catholic Club blazing away next door, it all seemed rather benign and un-frighty. Well, until the alarm system turned itself on. Twice…

Saturday was a 5:45am start. Early rising is a necessary evil for hot air ballooning – you need still conditions or you could end up somewhere unpleasant. Our pilot Martin took us by mini-bus over Razorback Ridge and out to Picton, where we all helped prepare two balloons while cows mooed at us. Our gigantic craft held 13 tonnes of air when full and its basket had room for 20 passengers.

The other was more traditional – it carried a young couple, plus a pilot. (Rumour was the young bloke would propose, but everyone was disappointed – including his girlfriend.) Balloon proposals and even weddings aren’t uncommon, according to Martin.

“We’re still working on the consummation,” he said.

Ballooning is surely the most peaceful form of air travel. There is no sensation of lift-off and it usually doesn’t affect those afraid of heights. We had perfect weather – clear, calm and visibility to the horizon. The 19km trip (over paddocks, hills and houses) to Camden Airport was done before we knew it. A champagne breakfast awaited us back at the Camden Valley Inn.

We spent Saturday afternoon at Belgenny Farm, where Elizabeth Macarthur effectively kicked off Australia’s sheep-driven economy when her husband John returned to England. It’s one of the last colonial farms with its original buildings still standing and is a living link to early 1800s history.

You can see why Mrs Macarthur loved this area – Belgenny’s quietude and panorama of gentle hills has changed little in 200 years. These days it’s government owned and usually reserved for weddings and functions. However it is open to the public three times a year: Father’s Day, Mother’s Day and ‘Farm Sunday’ in November.

After breakfast on Sunday morning we attended opening day at the Fussy Grape winery, Oran Park. Owner Ned Raich works full-time in the insurance industry and attends to his grapes after work – sometimes until midnight if it’s picking time. But his parents were market gardeners and horticulture is in his blood. He and his wife Kate operate the ‘cellar door’ – a small house fitted out accordingly – on weekends. We recommend the 2006 merlot.

Our final stop for the weekend was Menangle House in Menangle Park. My first and only impression of Menangle was playing paintball there on a 35ºC day during the worst of Sydney’s drought. So its bucolic charm on a sunny winter’s day completely disarmed me. I had to keep reminding myself I was only a half-hour drive from home.

Menangle House is the site of the Horse and Jockey Inn, built in the 1830s. Its current owners spent five years slashing red tape and jumping through government hoops to prove the building was of historical significance and deserved to be made into the public venue it is today rather than be demolished.

As we ate lunch in Menangle House’s Tabers Restaurant, we realised we were enjoying our Sunday rather than wasting it on a 'let’s-just-get-it-over-with' return journey. On our trip home we shunned the M5 with its bitumen and concrete and chose the Camden Valley Way instead. It’s a real road that threads through real rural towns. Ahh.

By Kris Ashton, January/February 2011 Open Road.