Berry. A spirit of Wild West.

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Berry is a very small town situated between Wollongong and Nowra and there is nothing special in it. Almost. We have been to it before and that was one of these occasions when you find a treasure somewhere you would not expect at all.

From one site, this is not even a town. Just a small village witch does not even have a supermarket, not mentioning MacDonalds (well, that might be rather an advantage). Population is quite low - less than 2000 citizens. Main road, Princess highway (yes, this is not a freeway), goes right through the town center what means that the speed is limited by 50 km/h. I think if they considered any other factors in addition to safety they would rather put 20 km/h signs instead - even on 50 km/h town is passed in less than one minute. And this is a big hazard - the force of sight of the old town can be compared with something really heavy knocking the windscreen. The town looks like a decoration for a good old western.

Berry coffee shop

I would say once again that at the first glance there is nothing really special about this town, but… we have been just captivated by town, its vibrations, its original old buildings, original drinking bowl which is well kept and still stays at the same time where travelers only one century ago were leaving their horses going for a beer or two to the near hotel, which, in its turn is still there and they still serve beer. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to check if they still serve exactly the same beer as hundred years ago.

This is a drinking bowl I mentioned above.

Unlike most elements of modern urban architecture, looks very solid. Who knows whether it will be used again when we finally run out of oil?

Post and telegraph office. No need to ask about built date.

Half of the building is now occupied by a cafe. Seems reasonable as telegraph is not that popular these days.

Authentic hotel building. I bet they did not have any major renovations since is has been built

Boats on the roof of this dwelling complete the monument, despite that Berry stays not less than 10 kilometers away from the ocean and these boats do not look great for ocean cruises.

Of course, the town has its own museum. Its building does not contradict with the town style.

To our frustration, we could not get into the museum, despite that we arrive early. Museum is open only on weekends and, as sign says, daily in school holidays. Admission is free.

The picture would not be complete without right-on shop signs

and bakery’s plate

Sign on bakery says they specialize on sour dough bread which gave us a hope that we could get there some real bread. But it was closed and we left it for next time.

Satisfied and exhilarated, we moved further. After Berry we headed towards Kangaroo Valley on the road that was so windy it has some signposts preventing holidaymakers with caravans and/or boats on trailer from going there. And this is not unnecessary precaution - the road itself is not far from what we seen on pictures about most dangerous serpentines in the world, except that the abyss is hidden behind tall gum trees.

Kangaroo valley itself deserves additional attention as it not only has one of old stylish villages but very spectacular engineering construction I ever seen - Hampden Bridge

To be continued…