What a wonderful feeling to be able to get out of the house after 3 months of lockdown and on the road again to the South Coast of NSW. I’m grateful to be living in Australia. I was excited and relieved and was really itching to get out and about. The last time I was in Berry was in 2017 and I revisited all the places I loved visiting before plus new ones. We are obviously in a different environment where both bushfires and a global pandemic have hit the local community hard in the past year, but the local business owners have been resilient, good spirits and on the rebound as people start to revisit the beautiful Berry.
What I was most impressed with is the community spirit within the local business owners who are all supportive of one another. Berry is only a two hour drive south of Sydney and where I stayed was at Mt Hay Retreat which is on acres of rolling farmland with distant views of the gleaming ocean on the otherside.
If you are in Berry and need some tips of what to see, taste and do, here are some tips and recommendations the local community has recommended to me and I’ve visited them all. Social distancing applies to all stores so allow some time to visit these places. I bought a few Berry artisan goodies to take home with me (on the table):
- Stay that combines views of rolling hills, farm animals, and luxurious suites and a beautiful Irish Setter: Mt Hay Retreat
- Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch: The Hungry Monkey, The Garden Café
- Just Coffee: Iv Coffee
- Dinner: South of Albany (you must book as it’s popular)
- Tea: Berry Tea Shop has the best peppermint tea leaves
- Takeaway curries, homemade sausage rolls and pies: Pickled Ink
- Chocolates: Berry Chocolatier
- Deli of local olive oils, pasta etc: Flavours Shoalhaven
- Homewares such as beautiful local made soaps, Made in Germany dishwashing bristle scrubs: Shady Fig, Nourish Kitchen, Cabana Jo’s
- Made to order Cinnamon 🍩 Donuts: Berry’s Famous Donut Van
I wish I could’ve visited more but it just means I will need to go back. Do you have a favourite store in Berry? Berry Nice Trip!
