Emu Plains

 Emu Hall, Emu Plains

After the deluge of rain in recent weeks, the sun finally made an appearance last Thursday.  It was too good an opportunity to miss, so we decided to go and check out our local Nepean River to see if its level had subsided.   There has been widespread flooding of areas around Penrith caused by the Warragamba Dam overflowing into the swollen Nepean and Hawkesbury Rivers,  flooding the low lying land along the river banks.  

We drove in our car to Memorial Avenue and parked near the beginning of the walk to the Yandhai Crossing which is the footbridge over the river.  There is a lot of building work going on around this area due to the new Log Cabin Hotel being rebuilt on the banks of the River.  We safely negotiated the construction site and reached the entrance to the bridge where we noted that the level of the river was pretty much back to normal.  There was evidence of damage to the banks of the river with a lot of vegetation debris hanging around and piles of dirt and mud.  The river itself looked very muddy.

It was a nice, sunny afternoon and very hot as we walked over the bridge.  We noticed that Emu Hall, which is now a Restaurant on the Emu Plains side of the bridge, seemed to have new car parks surrounding it, so we decided to investigate further.   When we reached the other side of the river we left the bridge and walked down a path that led to the grand entrance gates to Emu Hall.  We walked through the entrance and and took a stroll around the gardens and grounds of the building.  Emu Hall is now much more accessible with plenty of parking for visitors.  There is also a cafe, bar, beer garden as well as the Restaurant.

We decided to pop in for a cool drink and were shown to a table on the verandah.  It was lovely sitting there in the shade, enjoying our drink.

Billionaire, Arthur Laundy is spending $35 millon redeveloping the Log Cabin Hotel.  The old Log Cabin Hotel was destroyed by fire several years' ago.  

There will be indoor and outdoor bars and dining areas overlooking the Nepean River.  It will be a feature of the Great River Walk.

The Yandhai Crossing, a footbridge over the Nepean River.  This is a popular bridge and there are many alcoves and lookouts along the way to gaze out over the river.

I love the modern architecture of the bridge and how it is a complete contrast to the old Victoria Bridge alongside it.

The Nepean River is very muddy after the recent flooding of the river.  We could see lots of damage to the river banks and uprooted trees and loose branches strewn in the water.  However, the water level now seems back to normal.

Historic Emu Hall, gaily festooned with fairy lights for night dining.  

This historic homestead has been refurbished into a modern 21st century setting while maintaining its remarkable features, including cast-iron lacework and large French windows and doors that open onto a beautiful garden.

We sat out on this side verandah sipping our cool  Iced Chocolates.  The verandah was the ideal shady place to sit on a hot afternoon.  It was very pleasant.

We looked in at some of the beautiful original indoor rooms which are now dining areas, furnished with modern decor. 

Here is the Victoria Bridge built in 1862-1867 which carries two lanes of the Great Western Highway and alongside it is a later bridge built in 1907 to carry the western railway line up and over the Blue Mountains.  

The M4 Motorway bridge further down the River is now the main arterial road up the Mountains.

Acknowledgments

1.  realcommercial.com.au article by Lisa Allen (information about Log Cabin Hotel).

2.  emuhall.com.au (information about Emu Hall)

3.  Wikipedia (information about Victoria Bridge).