This drive is perfect for visitors to Sydney who’d like a taste of regional New South wales but don’t have a lot of time up their sleeve. The Southern Highlands has long been the perfect weekend escape for jaded Sydneysiders looking to get away and unwind for a while. There is something for everyone – markets, antiques books and speciality shops; quaint historic villages, all surrounded by rolling green hills, rain forest and national parks. The drive returns to Sydney via the picturesque Illawarra coast.
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Running between Coffs Harbour on the New South Wales coast and the inland city of Armidale, The Waterfall Way is a 200 kilometre drive along one of the most scenic routes in NSW. Passing through the picturesque New England Tablelands, the drive is a perfect deviation to make on a road trip between Sydney and Brisbane, allowing half the journey to be made on the coast road and half on the New England highway inland.
When travelling from Sydney to the Hunter Valley, it’s so easy to put the brain on auto pilot and take the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway (F3). There is a longer (an additional 32 kms), slower, but far more interesting way – it follows the pathway of the pioneer settlers through the Hawkesbury and Macdonald River valleys to Bucketty, then Wollombi and on to Cessnock in the Hunter Valley. Along the way you’ll see the workmanship of convict stonemasons who carved Australia’s fight cross country highway through the Great Dividing Range.
The discovery of gold in the Bathurst region in 1851 marked the beginning of the Australian gold rushes and a radical change in the economic and social fabric of the nation. In 1852 alone, 370,000 immigrants arrived in Australia and the economy of the nation boomed. The miners are long gone, but the settlements they built remain, and today they provide a fascinating gateway through which to experience the nation’s colourful past.
Being the third settlement in the colony of New South Wales, The Upper Hawkesbury is full of history and heritage, and as such is an ideal place to visit for those who have an interest in the early days of our nation. During its first 100 years, the colony relied on the Uppper Hawkesbury River for its food. Today, it is steeped in history, with sleepy colonial era villages, Aboriginal habitation sites and convict relics awaiting discovery.
The Darling River is one of the outback’s most famous rivers. Starting near Bourke in central NSW and draining into the Murray in Victoria the Darling River Run snakes itself through black soil farming country. The Darling River Run is a 730 km drive that follows the Darling River from the outback town of Walgett in north-western NSW to Wentworth on the Victorian border. It’s an amazing journey through isolated outback towns that were once thriving ports on the river – Bourke, Louth, Tilpa, Wilcannia and Wentworth.
