Braidwood is another delightful little village we discovered just an hours drive from Canberra and across the border into New South Wales.
Beautiful, historic Braidwood is one of the little gems of NSW’s Southern Tablelands. The town is situated on the Kings Highway halfway between the national capital, Canberra, and the state’s South Coast.
The entire town is classified by the National Trust and Braidwood is the first complete town to be listed on the NSW State Heritage Register. Braidwood also boasts about the fact that we still retain most of the Georgian town plan, one of the last left in Australia. The rural life and charm of the town is carried on against many fine examples of 19th century architecture.
Beautiful churches, pubs, cafes, galleries, craft and antique shops all operate in sensitively restored old buildings which have served the town since the frantic gold rush days of the 1850s.
Then we found this interesting place and had to go in for a browse around.
Inside was a wealth of bric-à-brac, memorabilia from days gone by, and local art and craft.
I peered through this window…
It looks very interesting, so went along to go inside.
Oh dear. Well we will have to find somewhere else to eat. I had Googled Braidwood to check out their restaurants. So many and they all sounded good. I chose “The Albion” it had good ratings and excellent comments.
(I wonder how many of you use Google to help you make decisions)
We had 2 friends visiting us for the weekend and had all gone our separate ways, exploring the many interesting shops. Jack had arrived at the Albion before us and when we arrived he was watching the people go by and had struck up a conversation with a local. Notice all the diners on the balcony, fortunately I had booked a table so we ate inside.
We all agreed I had chosen well and we had a delicious lunch. So well fortified we wandered back out to explore the other end of town.
I loved all the details on the buildings, the iron lace balustrades, the embellishments and the carved roof decorations. A treasure trove from the past and so good to see it being preserved.
The camera is in over-drive I could not ignore all the interesting windows.
It was a fascinating place, so much to see. I’m pleased we talked to a local in Bungendore who noticed us taking lots of photos of her village and recommended we visit Braidwood.
There were some older, buildings that had not been renovated and they had a charm of their own.
I hope you have enjoyed this wander around this interesting Heritage town in the glorious spring sunshine.
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Dawn invites us to join in her “lingering look at windows” each week and show the windows we have found.
Also Jo invites us to take a ” Monday walk” with her. Now I know this is mid-week Jo, so I’m not sure whether I am late for last Monday, September 29, or cheating a bit and am early for October 6th. But on October 6th we will be on a Greyhound bus heading out on a 7 hour bus ride to Nambucca Heads and our next house sit.
I think this is where my son and I stopped on the way to Canberra and had a drink in one of the pubs there (the cafe in a courtyard was closed). An interesting little place. I didn’t spot that Gothic door though!
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It was a very interesting place Jude. That door was down one of the side streets
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Pingback: Thursday Doors : Braidwood | Memories are made of this
Wonderful wonderful! Oh and I use google and trip advisor to plan all my excursions!
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We certainly live in a marvellous era don’t we?
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Yes! I can remember before when we were at the mercy of businesses who falsely advertised.
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Some still do unfortunately
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I loved this town! Visiting heritage rural towns is a passion of mine. I haven’t made my way to Australia yet, but I would love to.
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Australia does not have a very old history only about 200 years but what it has is very interesting.
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Off again, Nambucca such a lovely place, glad you had such a good time in ACT, loved all the pics
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We are now in Nambucca, will post some photos soon. Catch up with you next month…
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It would be hard to not get carried away with so many photo ops in this charming town!
I’ve also had the experience of random people stopping me to ask about my rampant photo taking and some have offered other places to see, but not quite like this gem.
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Definitely a good idea to talk to locals, they know all the best places.
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Pingback: Jo’s Monday walk : Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal | restlessjo
Oh how perfectly delightful! I would love to visit here~
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Your sort of place Cindy
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I need to come back and soak this up again – yes I do. I loved all the main subject pics, but the little things you give us are tasty too – like the person on the phone or that artsy angle with the foil-aluminum trim on the building – just love it. Then the doors… oh so nice.
and by the way – a few pics are not showing up – they have question marks.. just FYI
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Love your comments Y. It was a great day out.
Thanks for letting me know about the photos, they are ok in my post, one of those WP moments. Hope there wasn’t too many blocked out. I did get a bit carried away with the number of photos in that post.
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no – just a few were not showing up – but they are now 🙂
and I really like how you give some of the extra details and unique shots – because they are so one-of-a-kind and add to the vibe.
Peace 🙂 ❤
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Pleased you got to see all the photos
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You’ve done it again – given me a new vision of a town I pass through often, without much noticing. Your photos are wonderfu.
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Thank you I really liked this town and would like to go back and try more of the restaurants and cafes they all looked inviting.
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I have thoroughlly enjoyed your Canberra blogs. Glad you are back home safely again. Where are you going on your next adventure? Will write soon and send some pics.
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Looking forward to the pics. Hope you and the feline family are all well. We are going on the Greyhound bus to Nambucca on Monday. It is a 12 day house sit on a 20 acre lifestyle block looking after a blue heeler dog and alpacas, that is something new for us…
Then we plan to stay home till after Christmas…
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A lovely walk, Pauline. The town looks so charming, and I love those old buildings, even though they are a bit rusty and run down. They make for interesting photos. 🙂
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The whole town was photographers heaven Sylvia
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A beautiful town, Pauline. It looks very friendly. I’m looking forward to seeing you at your next place, too!
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It was a friendly place Jill. Always slower pace of life and people have time to stop and talk
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Delightful post, Pauline! Thank you so much for thinking of me and safe travels back home 🙂
I’m often struck by how similar architecture in Australia looks to some of the States. It’s strange, our different influences, isn’t it? And the materials we have available, of course. This looks a very charming town. I love that building with the metal ‘stencils’ down the side. Fabulous craft work.
Many thanks for sharing. I know you’ve loved Canberra, and so have we! 🙂
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Lovely to hear from you Jo. I am back home now so I think the final Canberra posts are going to go into my memories blog. How quickly time races by. In 2 days we are going to another house sit, but only a short one this time, 12 days. So will have a whole new area to explore and, of course, blog about… 🙂
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