The Coolest Visitor Centre in town!

With sweltering temperatures outside today, the Visitor Centre in Mittagong has been at the receiving end of many approving compliments.
"Nice and cool!"
"So much better inside than out!"

So if you if need a short break to cool down, or have any questions, come in and see us!

62-70 Main Street, Mittagong

Travelling through the Highlands?

If you're travelling through the Southern Highlands during the summer period, come in and see us at the Mittagong Visitor Information Centre 62-70 Main Street, Mittagong.

We are open daily for maps & information. There is a variety of souveniers, local wines, jams & sauces.

Come in and see us! We'd love to tell you where to go :-)

End of Year Events

Things to look forward to once the Christmas hecticness* is over.

- National Parks & Wildlife Summer Discovery Program beginning 29 Dec.
- New Years Eve at Eling Forest Winery - Casino Royale themed event!
- New Years Eve at Southern Highland Wine

*(not a real word)

50 Golden Years of Tulip Time

Check it out - we just uploaded some great Dee Kramer images to our website!

Click here to view images

It was the 50th anniversary of Tulip Time this year, and many celebrations were had.
The 14 day festival this year saw the introduction of events such as the Golden Mile Street Race, Tulips after Dark and the Lantern Parade, to name a few!

Visit our website http://www.southern-highlands.com.au/tuliptime for information on Tulip Time 2011!

Winter Chill!

With only 5 days until Christmas - the Southern Highlands and much of NSW has had a cold snap!
Its only 7 degrees in Mittagong at present.

But as always, there are plenty of inside things to do while visiting the Southern Highlands.
There are some great art exhibitions locally.
One to check out - Annie Holcombe at Milk Factory Gallery

Stay warm!

For last minute shopping ideas - the Bowral Public School Twilight Christmas Market is on tomorrow Tuesday 21st Dec 2010. Bendooley Street, Bowral from 4pm - 8pm

Weekend Events 18 & 19 Dec

What to do this weekend?

Christmas Carols in the Highlands - Get your singing voices ready!
Thursday - Bowral Family Carols http://www.bowralfamilycarols.org/
Saturday - Satori Springs in Canyonleigh
Sunday - Berrima Carols by Candlelight
Sunday - Mittagong "Carols on Main"

Sing Noel - A special Christmas Concert - Another wonderful concert program from one of the finest choirs in the Highlands, Serendipity the Choir. This Sat at Bundanoon Memorial Hall from 4pm. Tickets Selling Fast!

Markets this weekend - (For some last minute Christmas Shopping!)

Saturday - Mittagong Markets & the Farmers & Flea Markets at Moss Vale Showground
Sunday - Bundanoon Markets & Bowral Country Markets.

For more detailed information on ALL events & information please visit our website http://www.southern-highlands.com.au/

TSH Xmas on the Green

Tourism Southern Highlands held our annual Christmas on the Green party for our members on Tuesday.

It was a great opportunity to have a chat, drink and nibbles with our partners after a hard years working together.

As you can see below, Santa came along!

TSH Staff with Santa

Weekend Events 11&12 December

Its all about Christmas this weekend!

There will be Christmas Carols on:
Saturday 11 Dec at Leighton Gardens, Moss Vale. Activities from 5.30pm
Sunday 12 Dec at Exeter Village Green, Exeter. Activities from 6pm
Thursday 17 Dec at Bradman Cricket Oval, Bowral. Activities from 6.15pm.
Click here for more info

Find more information on christmas functions, shopping events and more on our website -
http://www.southern-highlands.com.au/

So many A Day on the Greens coming up!

Three Fantastic Concerts to look forward to in 2011 - All at Centennial Vineyards!

INXS on Australia Day, Wed 26 January
JOE COCKER on Sun 13 February
and just announced -
LIONEL RICHIE on Sun 27 March

Various staff members at Tourism Southern Highlands have conducted some in depth research and have found one of the most enjoyable ways to spend A Day on the Green concert is in the General Admission section, on a picnic rug with friends, with a cheese platter & some local wines*

*TSH supports responsible drinking. :-)

Christmas Local Produce Hampers

Thinking of that unique gift! Why not give a Christmas Hamper. The Visitors Centre in Mittagong are selling local product gift hampers, pricing starting from $29.95.

Bluemetal Vineyard Live Music

Bluemetal Vineyard will have LIVE MUSIC at their cellar door this Saturday 4 December.
Go along, and support some local musicians while partaking in some great cool climate wine tasting!
12 - 4

They do great cheese platters too, we love their christmas tree!

Bluemetal Cellar Door

The Internation Cricket Hall of Fame opens!

We took a few spare minutes today to go over and check out the new International Cricket Hall of Fame - incorporating the Bradman Museum.

What a fantastic attraction - it looks great.
It would have been good to have some more time to trawl through all the attractions.

If you have the time - VISIT! Its a great addition to the original Bradman Museum

http://www.internationalcrickethall.com/

Farewell Spring Helloooo Summer

The Southern Highlands has had a fabulous Spring and the area is fresh, green and clean.  Why not visit one of our beautiful waterfalls, Carrington, Belmore or Fitzroy Falls, or try the Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk for something different. Want more info, send me an email.

Weekend Events

Events we are looking forward to this weekend 27/28 November:

*Robertson Antiques & Collectables Fair
*Grace Knight Performing at Centennial Vineyards
*The Farmers & Flea Markets at Moss Vale Showground
*Colo Vale Markets on Saturday
*"Our Journey With Grain" - Annual Exhibition by the graduating students of the Sturt School for Wood.

You can find more detailed information on the Monthly Events page on our website http://www.southern-highlands.com.au/

Lets hope this glorious weather sticks around for the weekend!

A Day on the Green Events

We are excited about the upcoming day on the green events!

INXS will perform at  Centennial Vineyards on Australia Day, Wednesday, 26 Jan 2011.
Joe Cocker will perfom at Centennial Vineyards on Sunday 13 Feb, 2011.

The Centennial Vineyards is a fantastic venue for this regulare event.

For more information http://www.southern-highlands.com.au/

Misty Night at the Illawarra Fly

On Thursday, 18 November, a group from Tourism Southern Highlands attended a networking function at the Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk. The theme for the evening was Canapes, Champagne & City Lights.

As we drove out towards Robertson you could see the mist rolling in, so it was a slightly surreal treetop experience!
The tree ferns were in spectacular form, and it is interesting to see how much the trees surrounding the fly have grown since the fly first opened approx 2 and a half years ago.

The misty view from the tower!

Sally at the top of the tower.

The view towards the start of the walk

Visitors enjoying some music

Out & About

This Wednesday some of the Tourism Team were lucky enought to get out of the Visitor Centre and visit some of our members properties on a familiarisation tour.

The properties we visited:
Mittagong Motel
Fitzroy Inn
Highlands Golf Club
All Aboard Model Railways, Braemar
Little Forest Cottages
Poplars Motel
Little Capelo
Lion Rampant Hotel
Mittagong Hotel

Tourism Ladies looking at the All Aboard Model Railway Display

Glorious Hats at Little Capelo, Mittagong

Hector the Donkey at Little Forest Cottages, Alpine

What a great morning! Its always good to get out and about and see whats happening. We weren't put off by the typical misty Highlands weather, and were revived with a little retail therapy at Little Capelo, a great new millinery store in Mittagong. Tourism Southern Highlands prides itself on our local knowledge and keeping up to date with the changing face of the Highlands.

Wine, Arts & Roses Festival

This weekend is the final weekend of the Southern Highlands annual Wine, Arts & Roses Festival. (W.A.R)

Highlights this weekend include the Arts Studio Trail, around the Southern Villages. The Southern Highlands Art Studio Trail is the feature event of the Festival which runs from 1st November - 21st November 2010 when visitors can also experience local gardens, wineries, galleries and exhibitions.

This is a great opportunity to see Artisans who don't generally open to the public and explore the Southern Villages.

Tulip Time Bulb Dig Up

It was a case of the ultimate 'recycling' story with this year's Tulip Time Bulb Dig Up, held last Saturday 13 November in Corbett Gardens.

This year, all the pre-packed bulbs were sold out before 9.30am, and with the opening time of 8am, that was a great start!

Visitors and locals all took advantage of this fantastic opportunity to grab some great quality tulip bulbs at reasonable prices.

If you missed out on Saturday, then you will have to wait until November 2011, when the next 'Dig Up' will take place.

Tourism Southern Highlands Staff busily pre-packing bulbs before the gates opened on Saturday morning.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Tourism Southern Highlands Blog!

We want to share our wonderful region with you, whether it be visiting a local garden, tasting some great wines, or any other experience, we want to share it with you!

Izabella & Trish, as part of our Wine Arts & Roses Festival, visited "Sculptures & Champagne" at Peppers Craigieburn, last Saturday. Sponsored by Tattinger Champagne - "Absolutely fabulous" was their feedback! If you get a chance before the 21st November, get along and visit! I think walking through Peppers Craigieburn, looking at artworks, glass of champagne in hand, sounds like a wonderful way to spend an weekend afternoon!

I (Sally), recently drove out to Carrington Falls, near Robertson, for a bushwalk. There are some great local lookouts and walks in the Budderoo National Park. Pictured above is Nellies Glen, a natural pool near Carrington Falls.

Keep up to date on upcoming events by visiting our website http://www.southern-highlands.com.au/ and viewing monthly events!

Sally