My sister has her own horse, called Storm, which she takes to various horsey events such as stock horse competitions. She promised the Joshster a walk around the paddock so he could decide if it was something that appealled to him. I could have saved everyone the journey by telling 'em he'd love it.
My sis got Storm saddled up and kitted Josh out with a suitably sized riding hat. She took him down through the paddocks to the woods and then back up through the field. She asked him if he wanted to try a little trot, which he eagerly agreed to, and proceeded to bobble along like a small sack of potatos. The grin on his face told us everything we needed to know about his adventure.
The next day we set out with my sister to do a bit of exploring in her back yard.
We dropped by Carrington Falls, which is about 8km down the road from Robertson. There's a walkway around the falls which enables you to take in the view and peer down into the darkness at the pit of the waterfall. It's an impressive sight.
Just before the waterfall is the river that feeds it, which is just as scenic in a slightly less dramatic way. Despite the fact that we're rapidly approaching the winter months here, and despite the fact that the water can't have been much above 10 degrees, Josh wanted to go for a swim. So he whipped off his trousers and top and waded in. Blimey.
Oh yea. You can freely access the waterfall itself if you're so inclined. There are no fences stopping you from jumping off if the mood takes you. I saw the bloke below eating his packed lunch right behind the sign - a sheer drop of several hundred feet is about a metre to his left.
Our last port of call was a brand new attraction in the area - the Illawarra Fly Tree Top Walk. To quote from the blurb, this is a 500 metre long, 25 metre high elevated tree top walk amongst the temperate rainforest of the Southern Highlands. The treetop walk takes you along the picturesque Illawarra escarpment and offers inspiring views from Shellharbour to Bass Point, Lake Illawarra and the South Pacific Ocean.
It costs $19 to get in (kids under 6 go free - Josh, errm, lost a year that day). It's a great attraction and the views are amazing, but I can't help thinking $19 is a bit over-priced, especially when you consider you can drive 500 yards down the road to the look-out and get a similar view! I guess the view's only half the experience though, because you really are up in the tree-tops, which is a cool experience.
The highlight of the walk is the tower you see pictured above. It's 45 metres up and affords sensational views up and down the coast. It looks over Shellharbour, Albion Park and Wollongong. Not the most picturesque towns, but you can't see enough of them from that distance to ruin the view.
The only problem I envisage with this particular attraction is that the walkways and, in particular, the tower - are too narrow. I imagine that at the height of the tourist season over the summer holidays at Xmas, it'll be a hellish place to visit. The steps up the tower are only one person wide, so you have to hug the rail or the central column every few steps to let people pass you. Also, the main photo opportunity sites were very busy even on the relatively quiet day we went. At one point the far viewpoint was clogged with about 20 of us, all trying to gawp at the view. Strangely - all 20 of us appeared to be British. So 'hello!' if you were there that day.
We'd eaten at the very well appointed cafe prior to beginning our tree walk, so we said goodbye to my sister and drove back down the escarpment to Berry to pick up the pooch, who'd been staying with my parents. She had returned their hospitality by pissing on their bedroom carpet. Class act, that dog.
Later 'taters.