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Find your Autumn Escape

Shields Orchard, BilpinCredit: Destination NSW

Family enjoying a day of apple picking at Shields Orchard, Bilpin.

#newsouthwales #ilovesydney

Find your Autumn Escape

Shields Orchard, Bilpin Credit: Destination NSW

Family enjoying a day of apple picking at Shields Orchard, Bilpin.

#newsouthwales #ilovesydney

Hashtags #newsouthwales #ilovesydney

Give yourself over to the crisp autumn change and book a cool-weather escape. It’s time to inhale that reviving autumnal air and welcome the golden leaves as you discover the wonderful experiences on offer in NSW. 

Pick your own apples in Bilpin  

Crisper than a mid-April morning, a bite of a just-picked Bilpin apple is an addictive experience you’ll want to repeat each autumn. And in this village in the Blue Mountains located a 90 minute drive from Sydney, you can do just that at a handful of orchards open to the public, such as Bilpin Fruit Bowl, Bilpin Springs Orchard, Shields Orchard and Pine Crest Orchard, among others. Stop by Bilpin Cider for the Thirsty Third Sunday of each month for live music and pork roast to accompany your cider. 

Stroll Cowra’s Japanese Gardens  

With Cowra hosting a prisoner of war camp during WWII, the relationship between the Central West township and Japan began on a sombre note. These days, however, a friendship between the two is tended as meticulously as the Cowra Japanese Gardens and Cultural Centre, which puts Japanese design and heritage on show. Located a four-hour drive from Sydney, the serene and diligently cultivated five-hectare gardens display astonishing beauty and serve to nurture good will and peace. 

Celebrate the falling leaves in Tumut  

If autumn is your favourite season, you’ll find a whole town of like-minded people in Tumut, at the foothills of the Snowy Mountains, four hours and 30 minutes from Sydney. Here the locals celebrate the golden season with the Festival of the Falling Leaf on the last Saturday of April each year. Get along for the street parade, market stalls, music, activities and fireworks. 

Eat around Orange F.O.O.D Week

As Australia’s longest-running regional food festival, Orange F.O.O.D Week has a long and enviable legacy of stuffing people to the gills with extraordinary local fare. Shining a light on producers, restaurateurs and vintners, the festival is delicious way to explore this beautiful pocket of country NSW and stockpile one’s larder and cellar stores for the coming winter.

Tumut River Walk, Tumut Credit: Destination NSW

Couple enjoying the autumn colours along the Tumut River walk.

#lovensw #newsouthwales

Tumut River Walk, Tumut Credit: Destination NSW

Couple enjoying the autumn colours along the Tumut River walk.

#lovensw #newsouthwales

Wildwood Garden, Bilpin Credit: Destination NSW

Autumn colours on display at Wildwood Garden, Bilpin.

#lovensw #newsouthwales

Wildwood Garden, Bilpin Credit: Destination NSW

Autumn colours on display at Wildwood Garden, Bilpin.

#lovensw #newsouthwales

Seasonal sips

Autumn brings both excuse and invitation to while away some solid hours in a cosy drinking den. In the heart of Sydney, elegant British-style tavern The Duke of Clarence has definite drawing room vibes, while on the Central Coast, head to Distillery Botanica in Erina, where you can warm up from the inside out with spirits and liqueurs made in traditional European copper pot stills. Celebrate the finest of whiskies with a wee dram at Aspinalls Whisky Bar in Bowral where you can savour each sip from a cosy velvet armchair. 

Take a hike  

Exit Sydney in almost any direction and you’ll be met with nearby bushland playgrounds threaded with stunning walks to suit any level, from relaxed ambles to serious treks. If you’re aiming to hit the middle ground, head to the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and set course for 1.8km-return America Bay track. 

Autumn sleepovers  

Cooler weather means inside is better than out, book a luxe escape in these retreats. Watch the morning mist slip across the water from the deck of the cabins at Hideout in the Southern Highlands. Barranca in Kangaroo Valley offers a stylish, pared-back stay where you can bask in the natural drama of the bush. 232 at Boonderoo is a unique earth-covered hideaway set on a conservation and bush regeneration property near Bathurst. 

Bathurst Autumn Colours 

For six cool-weather weeks from 13 March, Bathurst and its villages host an Autumn Colours program that tours the heritage and history of the area through talks, walks and events. You might come simply for radiant leaves, but once here, spend some time exploring the fascinating sites and characters that have shaped this beautiful region. 

Spot more autumn shades 

This season’s changing of the leaves are photographers’ and nature-lovers’ dreamscapes. In Oberon, the 65-hectare Mayfield Garden hosts the Autumn Festival between 2–25 April, where you can glamp under the stars. Take a road trip through the stunning Riverina region, stopping at Tumut, Wagga Wagga and Gundagai. A short side-step from the city is a visit to Mount Tomah in the Blue Mountains where you can tour the Botanic Garden’s array of deciduous trees.

Distillery Botanica, Erina Credit: Destination NSW

Couple enjoying a walk through The Fragrant Garden located within the grounds of Distillery Botanica, Erina.

#lovensw #newsouthwales

Distillery Botanica, Erina Credit: Destination NSW

Couple enjoying a walk through The Fragrant Garden located within the grounds of Distillery Botanica, Erina.

#lovensw #newsouthwales

Streetscape, Bundanoon Credit: Destination NSW

Aerial overlooking the town of Bundanoon in the Southern Highlands.

#lovensw #newsouthwales

Streetscape, Bundanoon Credit: Destination NSW

Aerial overlooking the town of Bundanoon in the Southern Highlands.

#lovensw #newsouthwales

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