Roadtrip to Mount Irvine & Bilpin

A group of friends and I decided to embark on a second road trip to visit our friend off in the Windsor vicinity. This time we decided to be a little more adventurous and head further to Mount Irvine and go walnut/chestnut picking. The alternative was to go mushroom picking in Oberon but it was deemed too far a drive for those joining us for a day trip.

Roadtrip!!!

The day started out on a nice, sunny day... and our trip took a rather adventurous turn after getting stuck in some major traffic jam in Richmond. Firstly we get to spot a bellbird alongside the road in Kurrajong Heights whilst waiting at a red light:

Hide and Seek - Bellbird Version

Back View of a Bellbird

Then, we were foiled by Google Maps and the car's GPS, both of which stated that there was a shortcut direct from Bilpin to Mount Irvine via some seriously windy, mountainous roads, but there was a large warning sign at the turn-off from Bells Line of Road onto Mount Irvine Road -> Bowens Creek Road in Bilpin. On our way through Mount Wilson (the lonnnggg detour from Bilpin to Mount Irvine), my fellow car passengers were enamoured by the red-coloured Japanese maple trees that lined Mount Irvine road so this further delayed our trip to the Kookootonga Nut Farm:

Japanese Maple Trees

Kookootonga Nut Farm

By the time my car reached the Kookootonga Nut Farm, it was already midday and we basically arrived an hour after the other car 😓.

Road to the Kookootonga Nut Farm

Sign to Kookootonga Nut Farm

Ground below Chestnut Trees

Field of Chestnut Trees

Entry into Kookootonga Nut Farm is free and they offer plastic buckets to visitors but it does cost quite a bit for their nuts (i.e. chestnust = $8/kg; walnuts $10/kg). On this day, the farm was filled with many families and groups that were eagerly filling buckets full of chestnuts. I came prepared for chestnut picking with my own basket and garden gloves but unfortunately the spikes from the burrs were still able to penetrate my gloves and I ended up with splinter on a finger.

Peek at Chestnut within its Prickly Burr
(warning: handle burrs with gloves as they can cause splinters on hands)

Beginnings of my Chestnut Hoard

On their website, the farm had advised that there were no walnuts left from this year's season but on our way out, we saw someone with an entire bucket full of walnuts (lies!).

We didn't end up leaving the farm until 1:30pm, and we embarked on our (long) journey back to Bilpin. A lot of cafes in Bilpin actually close at 3pm so we weren't able to make it to the Pine Orchard Cafe (our original lunch location) in time, as we reached Bilpin ~2:50pm and the other car wanted to do a pit stop at the Cottage Orchard Cafe for apple pie.

Bilpin Apple Pie Cottage Orchard Cafe

Truck Display Off the Main Road

Outside Cafe

Peculiarly, the Cottage Orchard Cafe only offers 1/4 slices of pie for eat-in ($4 each) but you can't purchase a whole pie ($10 each, takeaway only) to eat inside their cafe, which was a major turn-off for us. In the end, a few of us just bought honey or jam as souvenirs, as well as whole pie to share after dinner as dessert. If you do venture to eat here, check out the view from the balcony that overlooks the nearby valley and lake.

Lining Up Inside Cafe

View from Balcony Overlooking Nearby Valley

Luckily, a friend was able to get a single bar of phone signal on her mobile - word of warning: there is limited/no phone signal in Bilpin! - so she was able to check the closing time for the various food places in Bilpin. Although we did snack in the car, we were still hungry from having not eaten a proper lunch so we continued down the Bells Line of Road to The Pie in the Sky.

On the way there, we saw some alpacas lingering off the main road at Madison's Mountain Retreat, which operates an alpaca farm - awesome!

Alpaca: I See You...

Pie in the Sky

Due to the very limited options left after a large volume of customers, I ended up getting their pepper steak pie - large, soft chunks of steak marinated in a large volume of cracked pepper with a definite heat kick in the mouth. I was also able to sample their apple pie - diced apples that were just cooked (still slightly crunchy) encased within short/puff pastry - served hot out of the oven.

Pepper Steak Pie

Having filled our bellies with warm food, we then dropped by the Bilpin Fruit Bowl to purchase more souvenirs and a large bucket of apples before heading back to Windsor. This time, we drove along the "scenic" route via Freeman's Reach, which was intensely smelly from the farm animals along the road but it provided some amazing views of the surrounding area.

After dinner, we got to dig into the apple pie that we bought at the Cottage Orchard Cafe:

Apple Pie

Slice of Apple Pie

I found this apple pie rather disappointing as 1. the pastry tasted a little flat (reminded me of a soft jatz biscuit) and 2. as we had reheated the pie in the oven, most of the apple filling (made from sliced apples) was too soft and mushy. The apple pie from The Pie in the Sky was better overall...

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Roasting Chestnuts at Home

I had to seek help via Google to identify the best way to de-shell and cook my chestnut hoard:

Preparing Chestnuts for Roasting

The method I settled on was cutting an 'X' on the flat side of the chestnut, placing the chestnuts (with the 'X' facing upwards) into my air fryer and roasting them at 180 degrees for 15min - if the temperature is too high (e.g. 200 degrees as per instructions online), then the chestnut shell and surface tended to get burnt.

Roasted Chestnuts

Approximately 17 out of 59 chestnuts that I ended up with (after giving a considerable amount to my relatives) had to be disposed because at least 50% of the chestnut surface was covered in black mould.

Is this considered a good or bad success rate?