Spring is without a doubt the best time to visit the Blue Mountains. The mild weather is ideal for bushwalking without working up a sweat and the surrounding towns are full of English country gardens.
The air is scented with daffodils, jonquils and freesias and the cottages that populate the streets once you turn off the highway are pretty as a postcard. I ought to be wearing a flouncy white dress as I skip through the gardens collecting spring blooms in a wicker basket.
But we have actually come here to go horse-riding so I’m wearing jeans and cowboy boots as I round up the kids and ensure they’re all slathered with sunscreen.
Our accommodation in Wentworth Falls is a gorgeous little cottage called The Dairy. A fragrant garden greets us and we’re sold on the place before we even walk through the front door.
The Dairy is nearly 100 years old and has been decorated beautifully. It’s so cosy it seems like somebody actually lives here. It’s spacious enough for our large brood – the retro dining table seats 10 – and it has a delightfully eclectic collection of books and DVDs (everything from Seutonius and Jane Austen to Holiday Goddess Jessica Adams).
Our horseriding experience is equally charming family affair. Kathy Tucker, who runs Werriberri Trail Rides with her daughter, has promised horses for riders of all levels of experience.
And she is true to her word – the horses are all very sweet tempered, clearly loved and well looked after. Kathy is able to tell us each horse’s history, and being a bit of a horse-tragic I’m a keen listener. 10-year-old Mary gets Billy, a 30-year-old quarter horse and former cutting competition champion, and I get to ride Bonnie, who regularly wins ribbons at gymkhana when she’s not busy in her day-job.
The group of horses that greets us is also delightfully varied in size. From the enormous Clydesdale offered to my partner to an Icelandic pony not much larger than a Shetland proffered to the youngest of our troupe.
The Megalong Valley is surely at its finest. Wattle blooms all around us and the views of the surrounding escarpments are magnificent.
Two hours pass a bit too quickly, but we all gain enough confidence to canter a few times, nobody falls off and everybody’s happy.
Back to our little country cottage for an enormous meal followed by an evening of stoking the hearth and flicking through the collection of books.
This is what a family weekend in the country is supposed to be like. Even the hairs on my head are relaxed.
More information: visitbluemountains.com.au
