Kangaroo Valley

One of my favourite getaway destinations close to Sydney is Kangaroo Valley. I love the stunning landsacpes - the rolling green plains and the rugged mountain escarpments. Over the Australia Day long weekend my family and I were lucky enough to spend a few days there with some friends. We stayed in a gorgeous cottage on a property in Upper Kangaroo Valley that has the beautiful Kangaroo River running through it. This is the perfect spot to unwind and spend some quality time together. Even better is that there's no TV or internet connection; so its all old fashioned fun and games for all.

Kangaroo Valley is great for walking and today we set out for a walk from our cottage to Flat Rock along Upper River Road. The gravel road winds through the forest and takes us past a few properties. You can hear the babbling water of the river down below the road and the sounds of birds in the trees. Flat Rock is a popular swimming and picnic area so there is the odd car or two that passes us (I hope they found their kids!). The weather here was a little better than Sydney but still quite wet, so there were only a few others here today. Flat Rock is also the launch area for our kids river adventure. They get on their li-lo's and off they go floating and rafting down the river. There's lots of thrill and spills as they go though the mini rapids, at times clambering over the rocks and of course bumping into each other. It a great adventure and yes there is usually a cut or two to tend to afterwards.

 Kangaroo River adventure

One of the great things about Kangaroo Valley is that once you are out of town there is not much around besides a few other properties; it's sublime - so peaceful and traquil! Though this does mean that there are no cafes around so I did have to do my own cook up when we returned from the walk.

Our reviews
Upper River Road Kangaroo Valley

difficulty:                   easy

distance:                    Approx 14km from turnoff on Kangaroo Valley Road. 4km return from our   cottage. Can choose your distance and start anywhere along Road.

parking:                      roadside

worth doing                yes

dog friendly:               yes but watch for cars