It's like someone took one of my favourite country pubs from England and plopped it down in the Hawkesbury.
Drive to Wisemans Ferry, take the ferry across the Hawkesbury, and drive north another 20 minutes. Just as the bitumen runs out you'll find the tiny village of St Albans. Cross over the one-lane wooden bridge and you'll nearly run right into the Settlers Arms.
This is an old convict-built pub. It's a large stone building with little, dark, wooden rooms. They serve pie & mash and fish & chips and ploughman's lunches and other savoury treats. It's a simple, tasty feed.
They have a the typical beers and wines and spirits available, but they also have their own hand-pumped ale. Proper, too, just below room temperature and tastes of twigs, like an ale should. I never drink anything else when I'm there.
There's a dining room inside, but I imagine it only gets used in the winter. Because everyone sits, eats, and drinks outside. There are dozens of wooden tables and benches outside, under the eaves, under the spanning trees. Dogs meander, children run: it's a great community feel. Out back there's green lawn and more tables and, likely on weekends, someone sining or strumming a tune.
If you in April, around Anzac Day, you might catch the St Albans Folk Festival.
http://www.stalbansfolkfestival.com.au/
It's held on the grounds just down the lane from the pub, and while it's worth the few dollars entry you can usually catch most of the musicians drinking and eating and playing for free in the grounds of the pub.
We'll often go up for lunch, just because it's a really nice drive. Go through Hornsby, and take the Galston gorge road for some hairpin descending turns (some with 5 km/h limits). read more
