 About the area: the Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, bordered on the south by the state of Victoria and on the east by the Great Dividing Range. It is distinguished from other agricultural regions by its combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation taken from the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop into one of the most productive and agriculturally diverse areas of Australia. Major population and service centres in the Riverina include the cities of Wagga Wagga, Albury and Griffith.
The attractions that bring visitors to the region, or that may be enjoyed by those who are merely passing through, are quite different to those of Australia's more popular or well known destinations, which are traditionally on the coast. In the Riverina, the local industry is geared towards growing fruit, so one could rightly expect that the locals know a thing or two about food and wine. Such is the case - you are never far from a winery (the Riverina is in fact NSW's biggest wine producing region) - the Murray Riverlands, Hay, Griffith, and Rutherglen wine regions across the border in New South Wales are all close by, and the food served here is equal in excellence.
Bushrangers and riverboats feature prominently in the history and development of the Riverina and as expected, there are plenty of relics from the past to bring the riverboat and bushranging eras of yesteryear back to life. Hot air ballooning, sky diving, fishing, boating, paddleboating, horse riding, picnic grounds, unique wildlife, heritage buildings, festivals, art galleries, historic trains and planes, walking trails, country music, haunted houses, botanical gardens, agricultural shows, museums, producer's markets, rivers and ancient aboriginal culture are some of the many activities and places to see on a visit to the Riverina.
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| Cootamundra |
Hay sheepyards |
Murrumbidgee River |
How to Get There: by road north from Sydney or Melbourne via Hume Highway. The daily XPT train linking Sydney and Melbourne stops at Junee and Cootamundra.
Best Time To Go: The Riverina enjoys a temperate climate (but at the hotter end of the scale) so there is no particular season or time of the year that visitors are advised to avoid.
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Natural Attractions
- Corowa: Lake Mulwala
- Deniliquin: Edward River and the Island sanctuary; Blake Botanic Reserve
- Griffith: Cocoparra National Park; Binya State Forest (22 km north-east, via Yenda); Willbriggie State Forest (38 km south); Pulletop Nature Reserve
- Junee: Junee Wetlands
- Narrandera: Bundidgerry Walking Track (declared a regeneration area for a disease-free colony of koalas)
- Temora: Lake Centenary; Berrin Barran Nature Reserve; Ingalba Nature Reserve (14km west)
- Tocumwal: Ulupna Island Flora and Fauna Reserve
- Wagga Wagga: The Rock Nature Reserve (35km south west)
- West Wyalong: Cooinda Bushland Reserve; Buddigower Nature Reserve; Charcoal Tank Nature Reserve (8 km south); Lake Cowal; Bland, Barmedman, Duck and Back Creeks; Manna Mountain (60 km north-east); Barmedman Mineral Springs Pool; Gubbata Nature Reserve
Caves
Historic Places
- Cootamundra: bushranger Frank Gardiner's Lookout (13 km south)
- Corowa: Federation Museum; Globe Hotel (a former Cobb & Co. inn which hosted the historic 1893 pre-Federation meeting. The conference resolution was signed at the courthouse in Church Sreet; John Foord Bridge
- Deniliquin: The Peppin Heritage Centre; St Andrew's Uniting Church (features a window that replicates Da Vinci's 'The Last Supper')
- Griffith: Scenic Hill and Pioneer Village Museum (2 km north-east, former Bynya Homestead, 1879, old school, church and shearing shed, 'Fairview' cottage, 1880)
- Hay: Cobb & Co. coach pavilion (coach built locally in 1886); Hay Gaol Museum (1879); Hay Prisoner of War and Internment Camp Interpretive Centre; One Tree Hotel (1862, halfway to Booligal, made famous by 'Banjo' Paterson's poem 'Hay, Hell and Booligal'); Sturt's Marked Tree (a box tree famous for the markings which Charles Sturt carved upon it in 1829).
- Jerilderie: childhood home of Sir John Monash, one of the most respected and celebrated generals in the history of the Australian armed forces; post and telegraph office (where Kelly Gang members cut telegraph wires to the town)
- Junee: Old Junee, Junee Reefs and Illabo goldmining sites; The Roundhouse Rail and Transport Museum (1947, the largest circular railway roundhouse in the Southern Hemisphere when built)
- Lake Cargelligo: Lake Cargelligo and District Museum
- Temora: Rural Museum (includes Rock and Mineral Museum; Telecom Exchange Building communications museum; a slab cottage that was Sir Donald Bradman's first home)
- Wagga Wagga: Hampden Bridge (1895) and old wharf
- West Wyalong: The Bland Historical Museum; Billy's Lookout (former goldmining village)
Misc. Places of Interest
- Cootamundra: Sir Donald Bradman 's Birthplace (Bradman was born in Cootamundra on 27th August 1908; his parents moved to Bowral three years later); 'Captains Walk' featuring bronze busts of Australia's cricket captains; Bethungra Railway Spiral (23 km south - the main Sydney-Melbourne railway line crosses over itself and the southern line. Built in the 1940s, it is the only example of a 360-degree spiral in Australia)
- Corowa: Mulwala Mine Shaft and Communications museums
- Deniliquin: Waring Gardens; Pioneer Park; Stevens Weir (26 km north-west); The Australian Ricegrower's Cooperative Mill (the largest rice mill in the southern hemisphere with a milling capacity of 50 tonnes per hour)
- Finley: Aboriginal canoe tree, Rotary Park, which once stood by the Murray River
- Griffith: Regional Art Gallery; cannery; rice mill; distillery; wineries; Fairy Firefly Fighter Bomber World War II memorial; Dethridge Wheel memorial to the MIA pioneers
- Hay: Australian Shearer's Hall of Fame
- Jerilderie: Jerilderie Doll World; Jerilderie Native Fish Farm
- Jugiong: Asparagus plantation
- Junee: Endeavour Park 'living maze'; Crestwood and Kaybundah Lavender Farms; Junee Wetlands Aboriginal Resource Area.
- Leeton: Turkey Flat Ski Beach; rice mill; fruit cannery; fruit juice factory; wineries; Leeton Aboriginal Mission; Art Deco Architecture (21 buildings listed with the Art Deco Society of NSW's Register)
- Narrandera: Galore Hill (bushranger 'Mad' Dan Morgan is said to have hidden in the caves on its northern side); Hankinson ceramic fountain; 'Big Playable Guitar' (nearly 6 m long); Narrandera Park and Miniature Zoo; Inland Fisheries Research Station; Aboriginal Canoe Trees in Narrandera Park; Tiger Moth Memorial
- Temora: Agricultural research station; Temora Wheat Terminal (1970); Temora Aviation Museum; former Mother Shipton mine
- Tocumwal: Sportavia Soaring Centre; giant fibreglass Murray cod; The River Murray Heritage Centre
- Wagga Wagga: Kapooka Army Recruit Training Base; Royal Australian Air Force base; Botanic Gardens and Zoo (The Chinese Pavilion; Camellia Garden; The Tree Chapel with trees and shrubs of biblical significance; The Shakespearean Garden is designed as a knot garden; cactus and succulent garden; tree nursery; rainforest area; aviary; music bowl; miniature railway); Sturt Monument; Wiradjuri Walking Track; Charles Sturt University; RAAF Museum (10 km east, Forest Hill); Court House, Urana (c.1890)
- West Wyalong: Barmedman Mineral Springs Pool; DC3 Dakota Aircraft; Cooinda Bushland Reserve (exact replica of the 25-metre poppet head of the True Blue Gold Mine); Beckett's Yester Years (collection of historic buildings from around the district); Manna Mountain Aboriginal sacred site
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