Come and Visit Morvern Valley Guesthouse.

A wide curve of road leads into Bundanoon and a handsome sandstone sign announces your arrival. Well maintained information panels in a newly landscaped bay provide a welcome to this small village at the southern end of the shire.

Morvern Valley was one of the original guesthouses in the 1930's

In the 1930's and 40's Bundanoon was a popular tourist destination and boasted more than 50 guesthouses. Holidaymakers came to experience the natural beauty of the area and enjoy the significant social life. Bundanoon now offers a range of accommodation in a popular art nouveau hotel, a motel and restaurant, as well as a number of guesthouses, B&B's, a YHA and self-catering houses. Bundanoon remains a popular destination, located on the edge of a spectacular section of the Morton National Park, and it is less than two hours from Sydney, Canberra and Wollongong.
Little had changed in the main street until the addition of local sandstone balustrades and planter boxes which complement the sheltered seating and gardens of Picnic Park.

The shops and awnings are just as they were in the 50's and that's the charm of the village. There is a sense of timelessness here. People meet and chat outside the newsagency, the butcher stocks some of the best beef in the highlands, the baker sells a range of old fashioned cakes and pies and the Good Yarn is a treasure trove of hand made baby clothes and knitwear.

It's a town where locals can visit the hairdresser, shop for gourmet foods at the deli and purchase a bottle of wine at the bottle shop and be home for lunch guests by 10 o'clock. It is home to over 2000 people, where mothers walk their children to school, and people enjoy life in a small community.

As a visitor to Bundanoon you can experience the unique character of the village by staying for a weekend or a few days. You will have time to visit the National Park, find unusual gifts at the elegant shops in the main street and even purchase plants to take home from either of the two nurseries.

Taste fine wines at nearby wineries; meditate at a local Buddhist monastery; or maybe a social game of golf is more your style - there is something for everyone at Bundanoon.
Ye Olde Bicycle Shoppe Café has great coffee, food and bicycle hire, the Primula offers hamburgers, meals and pizzas while the Bloomin' Café is open for lunch, morning and afternoon tea.

Bundanoon, like most small towns, has a popular Chinese restaurant where traditional specialties can be found. On the first Sunday of each month at the Bundanoon markets you will find a wide range of plants, produce and interesting stalls.


If you wish to experience Brigadoon, the famous annual Highland Gathering, then come to Bundanoon in April. If you are a cyclist, the VAUDE Highland Fling is held in November. A wine expo in February at Bundanoon showcases local wineries and the Garden Ramble and Quilt Show is held in October.

Visit the web site www.morvern-valley.com. for more information about attractions, accommodation and events.
Finding Bundanoon is the best discovery of all.

Description
Southern Highlands Shale Woodland is a variable community in terms of both structure and composition. The community may exist as tall open forest, grassy woodland or scrub; though it originally existed as woodland. The dominant canopy species vary across the distribution of the community. Common species throughout much of the community’s range are Mountain Grey Gum Eucalyptus cypellocarpa, Sydney Peppermint E. piperita, Swamp Gum E. ovata, Narrow-leafed Peppermint E. radiata and White Stringybark E. globoidea. Brittle Gum E. mannifera, Snow Gum E. pauciflora, Cabbage Gum E. amplifolia and Rough-barked Apple Angophora floribunda are less common. Camden Woollybutt E. macarthurii occurs throughout, but appears to be most common in the south-west of the distribution of the community, around Bundanoon. The shrub layer is usually open, though there may be denser patches of shrubs in some areas. As with the canopy layer, the shrub layer of this community varies (eg. typical species in the north-eastern parts of the distribution of the community include Oxylobium ilicifolium, Melalueca thymifolia and Olearia microphylla, while in south-western areas these species are rare or absent and Daviesia ulicifolia may be locally common). The groundlayer is usually diverse and dominated by native grasses such as Themeda australis, Austrostipa rudis, Microlaena stipoides and Austrodanthonia species. Common herb species include Gonocarpus tetragynus, Veronica plebeia, Hypericum gramineum, Poranthera microphylla and Viola hederacea.
Location and habitat
DistributionSouthern Highlands Shale Woodland is confined to a small area in the Southern Highlands. It occurs roughly within an area bounded by the Illawarra Escarpment in the east, Burrawang and Bundanoon in the south, Canyonleigh in the west and Berrima and Colo Vale in the north. Occurs in the Wingecarribee local government area, but may occur elsewhere in the Sydney Basin Bioregion. Habitat and ecology
Restricted to clay soils derived from Wianamatta Shale.
Occurs at elevations of between 600 to 800 m.
Generally found on gently rolling hills, though sometimes on steeper slopes in some areas.
Found in areas where rainfall ranges from 1400 mm in the east to 900 mm in the west.
Occurs mostly in scattered patches of less than 5 hectares in area, remnants are extensively fragmented; about 2000 hectares, or less than 5% of the original extent now remains.
Disturbed remnants are considered to form part of the community, including where the vegetation would respond to assisted natural regeneration.
Fauna species that may occur in remnants include Giant Burrowing Frog, (Heleioporus australiacus), Rosenberg's Goanna (Varanus rosenbergi), Glossy Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami), Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua), Regent Honeyeater (Xanthomyza phrygia) and Yellow-bellied Glider (Petaurus australis).
Regional informationThis species is found in the following catchment management authority regions. Click on a region name to see more details about the distribution, vegetation types and habitat preference of the species in that region.
Hawkesbury/Nepean
Southern Rivers
Threats
Continued clearing, degradation and fragmentation of remnants for agricultural activities (including pine plantations), and infrastructure and residential development.
Degradation of condition, with aging trees, lack of regeneration and weed invasion.
Continuous heavy grazing and trampling of remnants by grazing stock, resulting in ringbarking and losses of plant species (simplification of the understorey and groundlayer and suppression of overstorey), erosion and other soil changes (including increased nutrient status).
Harvesting of firewood (either living or standing dead, including material on the ground).
Invasion of remnants by non-native plant species, including noxious weeds, pasture species and environmental weeds.
Disturbance and clearance of remnants during road maintenance and upgrades.
Recovery strategies
Priority actions are the specific, practical things that must be done to recover a threatened species, population or ecological community. The Department of Environment and Conservation has identified 5 priority actions to help recover the Southern Highlands Shale Woodlands in the Sydney Basin Bioregion in New South Wales.
What needs to be done to recover this species?
Do not harvest firewood from remnants (this includes living or standing dead trees and fallen material).
Erect on-site markers to alert maintenance staff to the presence of a high quality remnant.
Encourage regeneration by fencing remnants, controlling stock grazing and undertaking supplementary planting, if necessary.
Undertake weed control (taking care to remove only target species).
Protect all sites from further clearing and disturbance.
Mark remnants onto maps (of the farm, shire, region, etc) and use to plan activities (e.g. remnant protection, rehabilitation or road, rail and infrastructure maintenance work).