Oberon is a delightful area, a couple of hours West of Sydney, and close enough to Bathurst’s famous Mt Panorama, for the rev heads. Our group was fortunate enough to stay in Oberon, taking over a huge house, Frogspark, for the duration of the big Bathurst race. Location wise, it was superb!
At Frogspark, you could head off for the day, down the tree lined driveway, immerse yourself in the local area, including the delightful Mayfield Gardens or the local Saturday Farmers market, then drift back to the beautifully secluded property for some well earned R & R.
Sleeping up to about 16, Frogspark is well equipped to handle a large group, even providing a pool table and bar area downstairs. Add in the 3 bedrooms and full bathroom also downstairs, additional to the main house above, and you have an awesome space.
But its the wildlife that will keep on giving you that country feel. We had a kangaroo bouncing past the house, a fox at the end of nearby driveway, with visitors to the house including cats and birds.
There’s plenty of room in the house for everyone to spread out. The huge hewn timber dining room table makes for an awesome central hub for everyone. Comforts of home are provided here, including a wonderful welcome basket containing some treats, left for us from our hosts.
Drive the local country roads and explore the area. There’s a lot to see and do here, with Oberon making a very good base for your explorations. The township itself has everything you need for your stay. The local IGA caters for the grocery needs, a selection of shops including cafes, clothes, bakery etc, also line the Main Street.
We can highly recommend DJ’s cafe if you are looking for a tasty hearty meal, served quickly and efficiently. Great way to start the day!
Scenic world, Jenolan Caves, Bathurst, all are within an easy 30-45 minute drive from this location. Next time you’re heading this way, consider Oberon as your central point, and definitely check if Frogspark is available!
Picturesque, depicting a bygone era, Jenolan Caves House is one of Australia’s historic relics. Maintenance plus considerable changes over past years, has kept this interesting building retaining its grandeur from the early days as well as remaining modernly functional. Originally designed and built n 1897, this “wilderness” resort was designed with high society Sydney siders in mind. They would travel out here for rest, relaxation and to rub shoulders with the elite of their era.
To cater for the financially elite of society, The Caves House featured a grand dining room, billiards and a coffee room. Built using limestone from the nearby caves complex, the first stage of this building cost the NSW government at the time 30 000 pounds. Today this would equate in excess of 4 million dollars.
The entrance on each side of the caves complex is impressively huge. There are a number of different caves within. Some require higher levels of fitness, whilst others may only have a moderate few hundred steps included in the tour.
You can drink this water, there are taps around the shop and complex where you can fill our water bottle with this clear, natural H2O. Guides on the tours are informative, have a sense of humour and are ready to reply to any question you may have.
Natural rock formations are incredible. They change throughout every cave.
The air is filled with the smell of high octane fuel, the roar of high powered V8’s fills the air. Such an assault on your senses fills you with the thrill of anticipation. The intensness of this race is increased with drivers mannipulating their powerful sleek machines, at incredible speeds, around this most challenging Motorsport track, Mt Panorama.
Every year Motorsport fans flock to the mecca of Supercar racing. All with one aim in mind, to support their chosen driver or team and have them crowned, King of the Mountain. Hold over 4 days, there is so much to see and do, you will wear yourself out with excitement. Shootouts for grid placements, all different types of races, eventually culminating on the Sunday with the gruelling 1000km race.
Bring in your own deck chairs and set up your camp for the day wherever suits. This year the return trip up to the top of the mountain on the continuous bus service was a mere $5. It’s worth it. You haven’t really been to the mountain unless you have been up the top. The atmosphere is surreal up here, staunch supporters have their own generators and TV’s to keep up with commentary.
So many view points to watch this epic race. Helicopters constantly circle, some TV crews, others give you a birds eye view of this incredible experience. In between the first and last two laps, you could score a trip in the chopper covering two laps for a fairly reasonable $90.00. Each lap covering a touch over 6km. Quite the experience. For me though, the top of the mountain was enough for the view.
Marvel at how the drivers handle those corners at such impressive speeds. Not only that their distances between each other are so close. They complete each lap in around 2.5 minutes. Pretty amazing when you see this track in real time.
Souvenirs, food, drinks, everything is available here. Sometimes those lines are long, but pick your moment and you can be served quickly. A little note here regarding the Red Rooster food van inside the Coopers Complex. The staff in here were amongst many at this venue, under the pump, yet held it together in noteworthy style. Well done to all the staff on the Bathurst site. Without your dedication to the cause this great event would come to a standstill.
Don’t forget the F18 who puts on the most impressive flying display, pre race. I was sooo lucky to be right place right time!
DINE LIVE TRAVEL 