Since 1978, the village of Bundanoon in the NSW Southern Highlands has adopted this mysterious moniker every April for its annual 'Bundanoon is Brigadoon' Festival, Australia's premier Highlands gathering. Heck, even road and railway signs inexplicably change to Brigadoon for the weekend.

While some parochial locals will try to convince you that a phantom bogeyman dressed only in a kilt swaps them over in the dead of the night, Alaistair Saunders, vice president of the annual shindig, explains "actually they're changed over on the Friday during our set up, but the bogeyman sounds better".

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 there will no Highland gathering this year, but it got your akubra-clad columnist thinking. Is Bundanoon magical enough without its annual influx of caber tossers and tartan warriors? So earlier this week I drove the two hours up the highway for my own highland fling.

It's not my first visit to the village whose name derives from 'Bantanoon', an Aboriginal word meaning 'deep gullies'. As an 8-year-old I fondly remember lying on a grassy knoll at the back of a tumbledown Bundanoon guesthouse trying to make out shapes in the clouds with my sister. It led to a lifelong obsession with seeking out faces and forms in nature and yes, ultimately to this column's regular 'simulacra corner'.

So four decades on, is Bundy still weaving its magic?

Well, if first impressions count, it's a resounding yes.

One of the first things you notice when crunching through leaves up the tree-lined main street, currently ablaze with autumn colour, is the genuine friendliness of the locals. People here actually smile and say hello to you, even if you are from out of town and resemble an out-of-place over-grown boy scout toting a camera and wielding a notepad.

Oh, and it's not just the two-legged locals who are happy to see you. If you are lucky you might also spot Bundy's two most famous residents - a couple of miniature donkeys, Freddie and Mr Percival, on their daily walk through town. They are only five years old but will be lifelong friends and live to about 50. Talk about cute.

Rolling out the welcome mat isn't new for Bundanoon'ites; during the town's heyday in the 1930s, 68 guesthouses catered for city dwellers yearning for a country escape. Most arrived by rail for the fresh air and to explore the wilds of Morton National Park, complete with its canyons, spectacular lookouts and waterfalls. Back then, Bundy gave the Blue Mountains a run for the honeymoon capital of NSW.

The popularity of the motorcar resulted in Sydneysiders exploring further afield and the town's fortunes waned for the best half of 60 years. But now, thanks to a sudden COVID-19-induced surge in tree changers, Bundanoon is once again booming. Big time.

Guesthouses are being lovingly restored and quirky airbnbs are popping up in just about everyone's backyard where, once the sun sets, couples cosy-up around open fires sipping local wines while outside cuddly wombats roam and ghost fungi glows.

Ghosts of a different kind haunt the historic halls of the Bundanoon Hotel, a mock Tudor-style drinking hole in the centre of town. Don't worry, the ghosts are friendly. Well at least according to the publican who named a beer after one of the most often spotted spectres. Ask for a pint of 'Marys Ghost Ale'. Gee, beer and ghost sightings. Sounds like a match made in heaven.

Surrounded by sprawling English-style plantings, the pub boasts arguably one of country NSW's best beer gardens. Here kids play hide 'n' seek beneath (and in) the branches of towering pines while under a canopy of fairy lights, grown-up wine and boutique beer connoisseurs quench their thirst and tuck into wood-fired pizza.

While the pub is the pulse of the town, the imposing Victorian-era European Gasthof-style three-storey Pill Factory on the other side of the heritage-listed train station is Bundanoon's most photographed building. Built by Welsh homeopath William 'Gus' Nicholas in the late 1800s as a centre to produce pills and potions for people seeking miraculous cures for their ailments, the striking sandstone structure has since had many guises including a German restaurant and private home. You can stay there now if you want to fork out over $1500 a night but you can have 36 guests, so per person that's actually not too bad.

Good ole Gus, recognised by some as the Father of Bundanoon, is buried in the nearby Holy Trinity Church graveyard. The current stone church is the second on the same site that Gus helped to build. He watched the first, built of timber, burn to the ground in the 1904 bushfires, when miraculously all that survived was a single bible. Really.

Across the road at the Uniting Church, musician Lillian Calverley played the organ at every major event at the church for almost seven decades. Lillian had worn out three organs and was well on the way to her fourth when she died in 1988. Apparently she only missed one wedding or funeral in 66 years, and at times she played at all three events for the same person. Remarkable. A bit like Bundanoon itself which, while it may lack the hype and expectation of nearby Bowral and Berrima, continues to enchant visitors, with or without its annual arrival of haggis munching bagpipers.

Getting there: Bundanoon is an easy two-hour drive from Canberra. Go via Sutton Forest (with an obligatory stop at the Everything Shop) and come back along the Highland Way through the little-known villages of Wingello, Penrose and Tallong (take the short diversion to Long Point lookout, you won't be disappointed). Take your time as once on the highway there are lots or roadside stalls peddling fresh produce.

Bundy on tap: BYO water bottle. In 2009 Bundanoon became the first town in the world to ban the sale of plastic water bottles. This was mainly in response to plans by a multinational company that planned to build a water extraction plant in Bundanoon.

Look out for: Scattered around town are a number of sandstone sculptures crafted by master stonemason Ken Macdonald. There's a wombat, gang gang cockatoo, lyrebird and many more. I bet you can't find the frilled-neck lizard. Sandstone from the same quarry in Bundanoon was used in the construction of Canberra's Old Parliament House.

Stay: While there are no longer 68 guesthouses as in the 1930s, there is a wide array of accommodation choices to suit most budgets. My pick is the Bundanoon Bijou, a vintage-chic loft experience recently opened by dynamic duo Greg Miller and David Small who most recently ran The Globe Inn in Yass. For large groups, splash out at the Pill Factory, or for a close-encounter with Freddie and Mr Percival, the two miniature donkeys, book into their owner's digs at Fulford Folly.

Did You Know: During World War II, there was an observation post on the roof of the town's Memorial Hall. Thankfully, no enemy aircraft flew over.

Winterfest: Bundanoon hosts an annual week-long celebration which embraces the chill of winter in the Southern Highlands. This year, it's on July 3-11. Mingle by the light of braziers, enjoy hearty food and warming drinks and listen to great music. See you there.

Clue: One of our city's first tennis clubs was based here, but which one?

Degree of difficulty: Easy - Medium

Last week: Last week's photo of an old road marker currently in the grounds of the Hall School Museum & Heritage Centre stumped everyone. "It was moved to the museum grounds many years ago and since then its original location has been the subject of endless speculation, reports Allen Mawer who believes, based on distances, "that it originally stood at Bookham and that B is for Binalong and Y is for Yass".

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and suburb to tym@iinet.net.au The first email sent after 10am, Saturday April 17, 2021, wins a double pass to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema.

Earlier this week Anthony Munn stumbled upon this 'giant' gum leaf (likely from a Blue gum) on the ground near O'Connor Enclosed Oval. After the stampede of emails from readers who recently jostled to be crowned the grower of Canberra's tallest tomato plant, I'm somewhat reluctant to ask if anyone can better this 28cm long whopper?

Still in the world of gum trees, Sarah Hnatiuk reckons this old yellow box located in a patch of woodland between the National Arboretum and Aranda Bushland Nature Reserve looks like the head of a donkey or dog (looking to the right). What do you think?

CONTACT TIM: Email: tym@iinet.net.au or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick