KURRAJONG - the Village along Bells Line of Road

“Motoring” in the Highlands has been a long-time passion – even in the early 1900s the local Windsor & Richmond Gazette reported “… a trial run up from Richmond to Kurrajong Heights for a recently repaired motor car …” Automobiles were still a novelty in the Hawkesbury and worthy of news.

Today, a century later, Bells Line of Road from Richmond remains the motoring gateway through these Hawkesbury Highlands: Kurmond, Kurrajong Village, Kurrajong Heights, Bilpin, Berambing and finally, Mount Tomah. Mountain peaks, shale and basalt walls, precipitous sandstone gorges, dense forests of gum trees, farms with white fences and apple orchards veiled with mesh – all are part of a luscious naturescape.

Hawkesbury Highlands map of Kurrajong Heights, Kurrajong and Bilpin

Bells Line of Road is the gateway into the quieter side of the Blue Mountains National Park and is surrounded by amazing views and stunning landscapes. If you are planning a lengthy drive and holiday, you’ll want to know more about the Botanists Way and the history of early explorers of this area. Visit www.botanistsway.com.au for accessible trails and short treks just off Bells Line of Road. Going off the main road always lends itself to some risk, but being prepared (water, maps and change of clothing) will limit your risk and open up some magnificent scenery. For information and detailed maps of this area, visit the Visitor Information Centre at Clarendon (between Windsor and Richmond) or go to www.greaterbluemountainsdrive.com.au.

The Hawkesbury Highlands Apple country, Berambing and Bilpin sit a few kilometres below Mount Tomah. Orchards, random roadside produce stands and weatherboard cafés are solitary signs of activity. Surrounded by the bushland of the National Park, they appear as remnants or reminders of the Hawkesbury’s early settler days.

The fruit stands, often a combination of café and market, give off the fragrance of tantalising sweet juice and apples picked that morning. But the aroma of freshly baked pies, dusted lightly with icing sugar, is the devious Pied Piper of the Highlands’ cafés, and on a winter day it is a Herculean effort to walk away without a warm pie in each hand!

At Kurrajong Heights, hidden amongst tall natives is Madison?s Mountain Retreat, sitting on an 80-acre woodland bordering Wollemi National Park. In such a serene setting, you can help feed the alpacas or collect eggs for breakfast ? truly a farmstay.

Nearby there are signs of commercial life – a pub with a view worthy of a king (or queen), an opal museum and shop and an up-market restaurant have reinvented life in aged and weathered buildings. Situated above the road, homes climb uphill on leafy streets. On Warks Hill Road, off Bells Line of Road, you’ll find access to off-road scenery – ridge-top views down through a superb forest and for a bit of leg stretching, an easy walking track into a ferny grotto. Refer to Kurrajong's 'Botanist Way' Website and the Kurrajong Discovery Trail to locate the 4WD trail which enters the Blue Mountains National Park and descends into Burralow Valley. (Always carry water, maps and a change of clothing.)

Back on Bells Line, from Kurrajong Heights the road begins its “hold-your-breath” descent down to Kurrajong Village. The first entrance – a right lane turn – into “Old Bells Line of Road” and the village may take you by surprise, but there is a second turn into Old Bells Line of Road only a few metres further should you miss the first one.

Kurrajong Village is in keeping with a traditional village where we find churches and graveyards, a school and shops needed for everyday life. The village satisfies that combination of tourist and local trade, and weekends see a mix of both unwinding in a café over morning tea or lunch and enjoying the view out to the rolling hills. Traffic slows and life seems more relaxed here, as Old Bells Line of Road curves through a leafy residential section and clusters of craft shops, cafés, restaurants and an antique centre.

Restaurants are often at capacity, so evening bookings are advised. One sophisticated restaurant presents frequently changing exhibitions: oils, acrylics, watercolours, jewellery or exquisite pottery. Another offers Sunday afternoon jazz. Most have alfresco dining until winter is in full swing. Note: most local restaurants close on Monday and Tuesday.
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