Capital Blooms

This short getaway from Sydney sees you leave the skyscrapers behind and venture into the bucolic countryside of the Southern Highlands, all heritage villages, vineyards and manicured gardens. The allures all unite in Berrima, the best-preserved Georgian town in Australia – look no further than its convict-era sandstone gaol. Despite its gloomy history, the building awfully pretty to look at. All this touring is hungry work – thankfully, a barbecue lunch awaits on the grounds of working cattle and sheep farm Gold Creek Station, where you’ll learn about life on the land from someone who works it every day. Speaking of working hard for the money, 10,000 people spent years constructing Parliament House, the architecturally eye-catching seat of the nation’s government that was constructed largely from Australian materials. Your Canberra tour guide will take you behind the scenes and reveal all the secrets.

There are more than a million bulbs on display annually Floriade, an explosion of colour that transforms the banks of Lake Burley Griffin – as well as some of Canberra’s suburbs in recent years. The month-long affair – the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere – was originally designed to celebrate Australia’s Bicentenary and Canberra’s 75th birthday. But it has become a regular on the city’s event calendar. You’ll see why. Continue your weekend in Canberra browsing immaculate flower beds in various patterns and themes, then enjoy entertainment, market stalls and a lively spring vibe.

Yet more flowers await in the Southern Highlands, where Bowral's Corbett Gardens play host to 75,000 tulips. The aptly named Tulip Time Festival here will inspire you to buy some tulips to plant back home - it's that eye catching. Before you board your coach for your return to Sydney, you'll have time at leisure in the Southern Highlands village of Mittagong.