![]()
Southern Highlands
![]()
Mittagong: A major business and service town which serves as the gateway to the Southern Highlands from Sydney. Mittagong hosts a Dahlia Festival is held in February at Lake Alexandra. The Southern Highlands Food and Wine Festival is held each October and Jazz in the Highlands each November.
![]()
Bradman Cricket Museum
Bowral: a fashionable township in the Southern Highlands that has become a retreat for the wealthy and those who want the creature comforts of the city but still live in the country. It supports healthy tourism, dairying and vegetable growing industries. The Bowral Tulip Festival is held during the September school holidays each year. The Autumn Garden Festival is held every May.
Moss Vale: quiet but major administrative, service and railway centre in the Southern Highlands. The planting of European trees has given Moss Vale an English village feel. The Moss Vale Agricultural Show is held in March.
![]()
Berrima: an historic village, noted for its gaol and Court House. The National Heritage Council has declared the entire village an historic precinct.
![]()
Robertson: a small township near the edge of the Southern Highlands noted for its rich soils and undulating landscape. A farm near the township was the setting for the movie, Babe . It is the centre of a prosperous dairy industry.
![]()
Bundanoon: a quiet and attractive village, noted for its European-like countryside. Each April, the town hosts Brigadoon at Bundanoon, a 'Highland Gathering' festival featuring Scottish pipe bands, country dancing, Highland games and a street parade.
![]()
Kangaroo Valley: a small picturesque village surrounded by rainforest and situated beyond the Illawarra coastal escarpment. The National Trust classified the town in 1977 for its heritage value.
Great Southern
![]()
Goulburn: a regional administrative centre for the NSW Southern Tablelands, which is a major wool growing area. Goulburn was one of the nation's earliest inland settlements. It is a railhead on the Main Southern line and service centre for the surrounding pastoral industry and a stopover for those travelling on the Hume Highway.
![]()
Yass: an historical service town on the NSW Southern Tablelands that is surrounded by some of Australia's most productive sheep grazing country.
![]()
Fruit sculpture
Batlow: a pleasant rural centre on the low-lying mountains of the New South Wales south-west slopes. Batlow is known for its timber and fruit growing, particularly apples, pears, cherries, numerous varieties of berries and stone fruits.
![]()
Tooma: a small community of just over 100 people, situated in the eastern part of the Riverina district of NSW. It’s closest neighbours are Tumbarumba, Welaregang, Khancoban and the Victorian border. The township itself is in the valley of the Tooma River, not far from where the Tooma and Murray River join.
![]()
Queanbeyan: a regional centre in the Southern Tablelands and a city of 36,000 people which sits on the border of NSW and ACT. It services a strong agricultural and pastoral region.
![]()
Gundagai: a pretty, historic farming town built on the hillside overlooking the Murrumbidgee River . Its name is one of the most well known of Australian towns thanks to the legendary dog sitting on the tuckerbox. The popular verse which immortalised the dog refers to Five Mile Creek to the north of the town, which was a popular meeting place with teamsters, drovers, shearers and bush travellers.
![]()
The decommissioned HMAS Onslow on display at Holbrook. The town is named after a Royal Navy submariner, Lieut N.D. Holbrook.
Holbrook: a regional centre for a district that produces wool, wheat and other grains, lucerne, fat cattle and sheep.
It falls midway between Melbourne and Sydney on the Hume Highway, and makes for the perfect stopover on the dri
ve between the two cities.
![]()
Braidwood: an historic goldmining town surrounded by open country characterized by large groups of granite boulders scattered about. The entire town is classified by the National Trust and Braidwood is the first complete town to be listed on the NSW State Heritage Register. Braidwood also boasts about the fact that we still retain most of the Georgian town plan, one of the last left in Australia.
|
![]()
Albury railway station has the longest railway platform in the Southern Hemisphere
Albury: A major regional centre that is the twin city of Wodonga, which is on the Victorian side of the Murray (Albury is on the NSW side). The partly successful twin city concept was developed in the 1960s as a way of decentralising away from the capital cities.
![]()
Bungendore: a small town frozen somewhat in time, Bungendore offers numerous specialty shops and old stone, brick and timber heritage buildings, providing an evocative glimpse of 19th century life in rural Australia. It has become a major tourist centre in recent years, popular with visitors from Canberra.
Areluen: one of the most famous goldmining boom towns in NSW. Today it is little more than a few buildings in a beautiful valley noted for its orchards (especially peaches) and picturesque valley location.
![]()
Bombala: a small rural centre in far south-eastern NSW. The area is known as a premier trout fishing district. The town lies on the banks of the Bombala River.
Snowy Mountains
![]()
Tumut River
Tumut: an attractive timber and farming town nestled in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains. The town's distinctive Lombardy Poplars were planted in 1861. The Festival of the Falling Leaf is held each year in April-May.
![]()
Adaminaby: a quiet town in the Snowy Mountains that has become a popular trout fishing destination. Adaminaby is the gateway to the Northern NSW Snowfields and Mount Selwyn - the oldest ski district in Australia, where recreational skiing has been conducted since 1861.
![]()
Cabramurra: the highest permanently inhabited town on the Australian continent, situated at 1,488m in the western Snowy Mountains of the Great Dividing Range. Cabramurra was established in 1954 using prefabricated houses, as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme and associated Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. Only persons directly employed by Snowy Hydro, and their families, are permitted to live in the town.
![]()
Berridale: a small rural settlement on the way to the Snowy Mountains from Cooma. With its moonlike landscape, Berridale is a haven for photographers during each season. Many photographers utilise the granite boulders for shots whilst many will also take advantage of the Poplar trees that line the highway when they change from bright green to a lumious yellow during autumn.
![]()
Cooma: set amongst the rolling Monaro plains, and with snow-covered peaks in the distance, Cooma is the largest town in the Snowy Mountains and gateway to the State's alpine area.
|
National Parks: The national parks of the region protect a number of wilderness areas that are incredably close to two of Australia's larger cities. Morton, Budawang, Deua and Wadbilliga National Parks, part of the Great Dividing Range to the region's west, contain some of the most stunningly picturesque rugged mountain scenery in the country. Containing a variety of terrain from volcanic peaks to flat plateaux dissected by steep gorges, their hidden valleys hold rainforests, and heaths that fill with wildflowers in spring. These parks are a bushwalker's paradise.
![]()
Morton National Park: one of the largest parks in NSW, it protects a strikingly beautiful wilderness area that sits between the Southern Highlands and the Shoalhaven Coast. Its maze of dissected sandstone plateaux supports a wide range of plant communities, and a correspondingly diverse array of wildlife.
Pigeon House Mountain and the Byangee Range, The Budawangs
Budawang National Park: though access is difficult, the park being bounded by private property and permission must be obtained from landowners adjoining to gain entry, Budawang National Park is wild, angular sandstone country. Hidden valleys hold rainforests, heaths fill with wildflowers in spring. There is a rugged wilderness area, including the Budawang Range and the eastern escarpment of the Southern Tablelands, which is a popular spot for experienced bushwalkers. Its grand features as Shrouded Gods Mountain, the Byangee Walls, The Castle and more.
Wombeyan Caves: the underground world of Wombeyan is well lit with clear pathways to follow. Figtree cave is Wombeyan's magnificent self-guided cave. Wombeyan also offers the thrill of adventure caving in a wild cave, where crawling, climbing and squeezing. A less strenuous adventure involves stepping back in time to take a historical tour to explore by torchlight undisturbed passages in the footsteps of the explorers, seeing the magic of the cave as they did, more than a century ago.
![]()
Yarrangobilly Caves: located in the Snowy Mountains region, these caves are worth a visit if you are ever in the area as they are some of the most beautiful caves in Australia. There are caves which can be self -guided or there are guided cave inspections such as the beautiful Jersey Cave, the wheelchair accessible Jillabenan Cave, (one of the most highly decorated caves in eastern Australia) or the immense North Glory Cave. The area has a rich Aboriginal and European history. As well as cave inspections undertaken with experienced guides, there are a number of short walks and the popular thermal pool for swimming.
![]()
Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme: the biggest civil engineering project ever undertaken in Australia. More than 100,000 people from about 30 countries were employed in the region on a project that lasted from 1949 until 1974.
![]()
Waterfalls: southern New South Wales has some of the highest waterfalls in the state. many of the steams which flow over them are fed by the melting snows of the Australian Alps.
Cooma Monaro Railway: a heritage railway based at Cooma Station. As the gateway to the Snowy Mountains area, Cooma originally was the destination for for almost 100 years of rail services. The railway uses locally restored CPH Railmotors. The full run for regular tourist services on weekends and holidays on the banks of the Numeralla River.
![]()
Mount Kosciuszko: Kosciuszko National Park is one of the best known and best loved national parks in Australia, attracting around three million visitors each year. The park is named after Mount Kosciuszko, which at 2,228 metres is Australia's highest mountain.
![]()
Barry Way/Snowy River Road: anyone who plans to travel between Melbourne and Sydney but wants to go the long way around through the heart of Australia's Alpine Country, Barry Way is the road for you. It is a combination of sealed and unsealed road linking Jindabyne in NSW high country to Lakes Entrance on the Victorian Gippsland Coast. There are some brilliant camping spots on the banks of the Snowy River, the drive is challenging and the alpine scenery awe-inspiring. More>>
![]()
Great Alpine Road: Australia’s highest year-round accessible sealed road that winds through Victoria's High Country. It is one of the few roads in Australia that passes through lofty mountains, valleys, forests, rivers, vineyards and farms, giving travellers the opportunity to sample the local food and wine, and fish, cycle, climb or ride along the way.
![]()
The Snowy Valleys Way: a great alternative to the boring Hume Highway, this touring route is perfect for travellers between Sydney and Melbourne who have a little time up their sleeve to detour via the Snowy Mountains (it only adds 65 km to the journey). The journey takes in "Man From Snowy River" country (Towong, Corryong), past the Kosciuszko Main Range and the towns of Tumbarumba and Khancoban; dams and power stations of the Snowy Mountains Scheme; the apple growing town of Batlow; before rejoining the highway at Gundagai.
|
| Visiting The Region: The Facts |
How to Get There: by road south from Sydney via Hume Highway; by road north from melbourne via Hume Highway.
By rail from Sydney either via the twice-daily Sydney to Melbourne XPT service. Trains stop at Moss Vale, Goulburn, Gunning, Yass Junction, Harden, Cootamundra, Junee, Wagga Wagga, The Rock, Henty, Culcairn and Albury.
The Canberra Xplorer is a daily rail service to Canberra (stopping at Mittagong, Bowral, Moss Vale, Bundanoon, Goulburn, Tarago, Bungendore, Queanbeyan and Canberra). The Canberra Xplorer service connects by coach to Bombala, Bibbenlake, Nimmitabel, Cooma, Bredbo and Michelago.
|
|
Best Time To Go: the inland region of southern New South Wales is predominantly a year round destination. It enjoys a mild temperate climate. Highland regions are much colder in winter, and are popular destinations for "Christmas In July" festivities.
The mountainous areas of the Great Dividing Range in the south east, which extend across the border into eastern Victoria, are the highest mountains in Australia and host an annual ski season between June (Queen’s Birthday long weekend) and 1st week in October. Outside the ski season, there is little or no snow, which sees a shift in the type of visitors from skiers to other recreational activities such as walking, riding, fishing etc.
|
|
|
