The Taralga Tour

05 October 2024 / Author: Rod Nicholas Photos: Rod Nicholas and Simon Trickett

Last year’s lunch at Taralga’s Argyle Inn was truly terrific, so we’ve decided to do it all again.

Taralga is a great little town, built on land donated by the son of wool pioneer John Macarthur, cleared and developed by convicts in the mid-1800s.We were dining at the Argyle Inn, and then, maybe, exploring the town a little.

The Argyle Inn is the oldest still trading hotel in Taralga. First built in 1875 in the Victorian tradition, and modified in the later part of the nineteenth century and early 20th century, it has received a significant makeover and now hosts a kitchen producing simple and delicious food. What more could we want after a nice drive? Good weather? Yep, we were rewarded with a bright sunny day.

Today’s run was a blockbuster effort. I thought having 14 members along last year was good, but this time around I had 34 registered and 22 cars. On the day, however, I had four members (two cars) drop out—but still 30 members, 20 cars, that’s quite a handful.

We had ahead of us a run of, roughly, 150 km each way, through mostly nice country roads, with a bit of highway thrown in because, well, we don’t have much choice. There was zero chance of safely keeping that many cars in a convoy, but (as usual) I had provided a Google Maps link for the route and sound route directions, so I was reasonably confident we could satisfactorily waypoint the run. So, I split the group in two, barked a few orders and sent the first group on its way. About ten minutes later, the rest of us set off.

Exiting from Hall, our first turn was onto the Barton Highway from Hall, and I watched in my rear-view mirror as all the cars slipped in nicely. A few kilometres later we made the left into Nanima Road without a hitch and settled down for a trip to Gunning. I reccied this part of the trip the day before, and was more than pleased with the quality of the road. All roadworks had been completed, with a little bridge over what used to be an awkward dip and culvert crossing, and even Murrumbateman and Gundaroo Roads were in good nick, perhaps the best they have been for some time. I’d failed to warn our intended stop that they were to be invaded, but it didn’t seem to matter. By the time my group got to the Merino Café, the first lot were getting there refreshments, and a few of my mob wandered down the street to the Old Hume Café, which evened things up nicely.

For our next leg, we headed to Crookwell, via Grabben Gullen Road, then on to Taralga via the Taralga-Laggan Road.A few spots on the road were lumpy, but overall, it was pretty good. The roads travel through the countryside, up and down a bit, with some good curves for driving enjoyment. The 40 kms from Crookwell into Taralga, through the little township of Laggan, is especially good - the road surface mostly firm and wide, the scenery running past windfarms and through rural properties, and bends to bring a smile to the driver’s dial. My group were only a little behind the first lot as we pulled into the main street out front of the Inn.

Once again, lunch at the Argyle Inn was a delight! The Inn is a hidden beauty, not that it’s actually hidden (a large building in the main street is hard to hide) but it certainly doesn’t get the public attention it deserves.It is an attractive building inside and out, and the meal and service was superb, all at a most reasonable cost. Well worth a visit if you are down this way.

Although I had planned (sort of) a run home, folks started drifting off shortly after lunch. It turned into something of a free-for-all. Some headed back the way we came, others straight down the road to Goulburn and then either a direct route home along the Hume, or another coffee and cake at Roses in Goulburn, or on one of two or three routes back to our fair city (from Goulburn there is the Gurrundah Road or Range Road, or into Breadalbane and the Cullerin Road—each offering an interesting drive).

Whatever route was taken, I am confident that the 30 members who attended the lunch had a really good time on a day just about perfect for touring in an open top sports car with a bunch of good friends. Do we need anything else?