🍒 Young at Cherry Time with Port Bus

🍒 Port Bus – Young at Cherry Time 🍒

Join us for six delightful days celebrating the iconic Young Cherry Festival! Experience the vibrant Southern Highlands, explore Cowra’s Japanese Gardens, and enjoy tastings at fudge, jam, licorice, and chocolate factories. Wander through cherry orchards, soak up festival fun, discover cricket history in Cootamundra, and browse local gems like the Lindner Sock Factory. With comfortable stays, great meals, and plenty of time to explore, this tour is a perfect blend of flavour, history, and country charm—plus a suitcase full of sweet memories to take home!

Day 01 (D): HOME TO MITTAGONG

Friday 04 December 2026

Welcome to our six-day tour to the Young Cherry Festival. Once our morning pick-ups have been made and the bags are loaded then we are all set to go! We head to the Southern Highlands arriving at Mittagong for our overnight stay.

Lunch own arrangements and cost | dinner at Mittagong RSL Club

Springs Mittagong | 1 night

Day 02 (BLD): CHERRIES AND GOODIES

Saturday 05 December 2026

Today we visit Young, known as The Cherry Capital of Australia for the annual National Cherry Festival. Young is the largest cherry growing area in the Southern Hemisphere with an annual production more than 500,000 cases! The streets will be bursting with colour, sounds of music and the taste of fresh local produce. Young is the largest cherry growing area in the Southern Hemisphere with an annual production more than 500,000 cases!  Our first stop for the day is Allambie Orchard. We enjoy lunch here and we may have a chance to do some cherry picking (purchase by the kilo own expense).  We head back into town to visit Poppa’s Fudge & Jam Factory for a tasting and demonstration.  For the sweet toothed there is a huge range of delicate chocolates and tempting lollies as well as their well-known freshly made fudge. All the fudges, jams and chutneys from Poppas Fudge Factory are made in store from fresh produce.  We now have some free time in town to purchase lunch and to explore the shops before returning to Yass sharing stories of our day.

Breakfast at Mittagong RSL | lunch at Allambie Orchard | dinner in motel

Countryman Motor Inn, Cowra | 3 nights

Day 03 (BLD): COWRA

Sunday 06 December 2026

Cowra, the town made famous by the POW Camp located here during WWII and the now famous “Cowra Breakout”. This morning, we visit the Cowra Japanese Gardens and Cultural Centre Designed by internationally renowned landscape architect Ken Nakajima, the 5-hectare Japanese Gardens follows the Edo style walking garden of the Shugakin Imperial Villa in Kyoto built between 1655 and 1659.  The garden itself is designed to represent the landscape of Japan and features a stream cascading in waterfalls into two large ponds. Meandering paths and wooden bridges allow us to explore and view the gardens at ease.  The Cultural Centre displays Japanese art history and crafts and has become known as the centre of Japanese Culture in Australia.  We have plenty of time here to wander or relax and enjoy morning tea.  At the Visitor Centre where we can see the model of the POW camp and meet our local guide who will join us on coach for a town tour.  We will also visit the Australian & Japanese War Cemeteries, which contains the graves of the Japanese involved in the POW Breakout during World War II, as well as other internees and those involved with the battle of Darwin.  The land was ceded to Japan in 1963; thus, Cowra has its own little piece of Japan. This is the only Japanese War Cemetery in Australia. The Australian section commemorates those who died in training at the local Military Camp, as well as the four soldiers who were killed during the breakout. After taking in the sights of the town, our lunch today has been arranged at the Rose Garden Coffee House. Later today we return to our motel with some free time.

Breakfast and dinner in motel | lunch at Rose Garden Coffee House

Day 04 (BLD): TEMORA & COOTAMUNDRA

Monday 07 December 2026

Today we will be heading to the small township of Temora.  Our first visit will be at the Temora Rural Museum. There are an extensive Rock and Mineral Museum and a range of working agricultural machinery. The complex also features a number of reconstructed or replicated buildings, including a slab cottage that was Sir Donald Bradman's first home, a small church, an ambulance station, a country dance hall and a two-storey replica of an old flour mill with working machinery, including the ten-tonne, 156 hp twin cylinder diesel engine which has been restored.  We enjoy morning tea here before travelling to Junee to visit the Junee Liquorice and Chocolate Factory. They are one of only three manufacturers of organic liquorice in the world. We will enjoy a tour including the history on the facility and for hands on chocolate experience we will have a chance to make a giant chocolate freckle.  Lunch will be provided, and the freckle would make a delicious dessert. Leaving here we head to Cootamundra. Sir Donald Bradman was born here in 1908. He and his

parents moved to Bowral three years later. While on the cricket subject, we will also see the Captain’s Walk, a collection of bronze sculptures of Australian test cricket captains.  A life size statue of Sir Donald Bradman takes pride of place in the park. After an interesting day we head “home” to our accommodation with time to relax before dinner.

Breakfast and dinner in the motel | lunch at Junee Liquorice and Chocolate Factory

Day 05 (BLD): COWRA TO GOULBURN

Tuesday 08 December 2026

We farewell our hosts and depart Cowra for Crookwell with a guided tour of the town, followed by lunch and a visit to the Lindner Sock Factory. A family owned and operated business, their fourth-generation sock-maker produces a variety of sock styles on site, in both wool and cotton. We can see their machines in action and to browse through the huge range of colours and styles in the Sock Shop. From Crookwell we now make our way to Goulburn and along the way we see the Crookwell wind farm that was one of the first of its type, set up in the late 1990’s.

Breakfast and dinner in the motel | lunch at Crookwell Hotel

Mercure Goulburn | 1 night

Day 06 (BL): GOULBURN TO HOME

Wednesday 09 December 2026

What a great time we’ve had on tour. Making tracks for home, with several stops along the way and lunch at the Ourimbah RSL before arriving home with a suitcase full of special memories.

Breakfast at hotel | lunch at Ourimbah RSL

TOUR INCLUSIONS

•             5 night’s motel accommodation

•             5 cooked breakfasts

•             5 dinners

•             5 included lunches – see below

•             Lunch at Allambie Orchard & Café, Young

•             Visit and tastings at Poppa’s Fudge & Jam Factory

•             Entry and self-guided tour at the Cowra Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre

•             Morning Tea at the Cowra Japanese Garden Cafe

•             POW Theatre - Cowra Breakout Hologram at Cowra Visitor Information Centre

•             Locally guided tour of Cowra

•             Lunch at the Rose Garden Coffee House, Cowra

•             Entry and morning tea at Temora Rural Museum

•             Lunch, tour, giant freckle making and tastings at the Junee Liquorice & Chocolate Factory

•             Locally guided tour of Crookwell

•             Lunch at the Crookwell Hotel

•             Visit and talk at the Lindner Sock Factory

•             Lunch at the Ourimbah-Lisarow RSL Club - The Kitchen

CONFIRMED ACCOMMODATION

•             Springs Mittagong (1 night)

•             Countryman Motor Inn, Cowra (3 nights)

•             Mercure Goulburn (1 night)

$3,060 pp twin | + $723 pp single sup (limited) | $650 pp deposit

For more information or to book;

Phone                 02 6583 3330

Email:                 admin@portbus.com.au

Website:            https://www.portbus.com.au

Please Note

•             Price is based on a minimum of 20 paying passengers. If numbers fall below 20 paying passengers, this price may need to be recosted.

•             Price is valid for above tour dates only

•             It is highly recommended that you have travel insurance in the event of travel disruptions.

•             Accommodation is subject to availability. If alternative accommodation needs to be sourced, the price could change.

•             Morning teas or afternoon teas are not included unless specified.

The itinerary may be subject to change without notice. Whilst every effort is made to adhere to the itinerary as provided. Port Bus reserves the right to alter the touring and attractions as dictated by circumstances and conditions outside the company’s control. Alterations may be made to ensure the smooth running of the tour. Every attempt will be made to ensure alterations do not adversely affect the operation of the tour. Port Bus will not be held responsible for weather-based cancellations, or those closures made at the venue’s discretion.

Cancellation fees will be levied relative to the amount of notice given:

42 days or more—loss of deposit

29-41 days: 50% of fare plus deposit

30 days before and the Day of departure: 100% of the fare.