A Very Berry Day Trip

I had been to the quaint country town of Berry before – back about a year and a half ago with my mate Oscar (http://phillipdavid.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/small-town-australia-noodle-deceit.html).  But recently, I had been advised that the little town of Berry puts on a fabulous market on the first Sunday of each month.  I love markets.  So many foods and treats and trinkets and pretty homemade things.  With this allure, it wasn’t difficult to round up another gay to drive me down there.  Gays love pretty things.

We chose last Sunday – the first Sunday in June – to make the two hour drive south to hit up the markets.  When we awoke:  it was pouring rain.  We texted.  We deliberated.  We debated.  We decided not to let it rain (figuratively) on our parade.  We went to Berry.

My mate Michael accompanied me on the journey and brought along his trusty car, Blanche.

We arrived in Berry around midday to find the markets… had been cancelled… due to the rain.  Mother Nature may have won the battle this time, but we were determined not to let that bitch win the war.  So we stayed anyway.

Exploring the town of Berry more in depth turned out to be quite a treat.  After lunch, we walked up and down the main drag and checked out all sorts of shops.  They had antiques, clothes, homewares, and more.  We hit the jackpot at a small shop called “Haven & Space”, which was by far the closest thing to a Pier 1 Imports that I’ve found in Oz thus far.  For a tiny little store, they really crammed in the goodies.  I walked away with some colourful throw pillows and two matching picture frames all for around $85.  For the Americans, that may seem like a normal price, but this is Australia – a place where a decent looking throw pillow will normally set you back $40.

Michael saw a giant mirror – just like he had been wanting – and bubble wrapped it up and stuck it in the back of Blanche.

I also made a point to revisit the donut van:

And we strolled in and out of bakeries, chocolate shops, and candy stores.  I was super stoked to find an international candy store.  I stocked up on Altoids, random flavours of gum, and even some White Chocolate Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups.  Yummy.

On my last trip down to the South Coast, Oscar and I had stayed at a winery and ended up buying half a case of Semillon (a common varietal of Australian wine).  It was damn fantastic, so after a quick stop at another chocolate shop, we headed to Coolangatta Estate Winery where I promptly purchased another case of Semillon.  Now I just have to wait for them to age… Maybe.

As we left the Berry area, the rain started again.  She tried her best to thwart us, but Mother Nature didn’t succeed.  We hit the shopping, sweets, and wine jackpots in Berry.  And even without the markets and the grim weather, Berry was a splendid day trip and escape from Sydney.  The question is:  Where shall we go next?

Hmmm.  I think the fact that we missed the markets means we’ll need to head back to Berry.  That’s our perfect excuse for more donuts, right?