a trip to Robertson

Today we had a family outing to Robertson in the Southern Highlands of NSW. Robertson is a pretty little town and the people who work in the businesses there are generally friendly and helpful (with one notable exception - read on).

My not-so-hidden agenda was to visit Limited Edition Designs at the Old Cheese Factory - I wanted some yarn for a particular project for our one skein challenge which finishes 19 May so it was today or never! Robyn, the owner, was very friendly and helpful - nothing seemed too much trouble for her. She stocks a wide range of Sullivans yarns**, a much greater range than I have seen in any of the so-called "major retailers". While the Sullivans yarns are mostly not wool, Robyn also showed me a gorgeous 'beanie' knitted from beautifully soft alpaca, which she also stocks. Robyn's mum does a lot of the knitting for her, so there are a large number of pre-knitted articles for sale as well.

We ate a delicious lunch at Cafe Pirouette. They cater for a wide variety of tastes, including vegetarian and the health-conscious. The service was wonderful, as soon as we sat down we were given menus and about 30 seconds later a bottle of water and three glasses! The bruschetta was absolutely delicious, the garden salad was fresh and lightly dressed, and all three main courses were enormous and very tasty! We would have rolled out of the cafe except that we were sitting outside in the warm autumn sunshine!

After lunch we visited the Old Potato Shed Gallery which had some Mollydale skeins for sale, as well as garments from Signatur Handknits and Belisa Cashmere. Unfortunately, we were not impressed by the 'service' in this store - none in fact; we were not even greeted or asked if we needed anything by the young woman behind the counter. I don't think this is usual as I have heard other knitters talk of this store in favourable terms.

In order to work off our delicious (large) lunch we went to the local rainforest walk - Yarrawa Brush - a short almost level circuit of about 600m maintained by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. We then drove to Belmore Falls - a spectacular waterfall, despite the fact that we have had very little rain in the past few months. We walked to each of the four lookouts - hard on my knees but worth it for the view of the 'double' waterfall. We had time for a cup of tea while watching the beginnings of the sunset and having gumnuts dropped on us by two crimson rosellas.

For more information about Robertson, read this article from the Fairfax news group.

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**A word of warning about the Sullivans website, it is not particularly helpful - there is little to no information given about the yarns. However, if you see something you like and can't get it locally, give Robyn a call at The Old Cheese Factory - she will mail order (and no, I don't receive any commission for this free advertising but I do believe in giving good service a plug!)