Explorer Country Attractions

Burrendong Dam is an artificial lake with leisure facilities.

The little country town of Condobolin (pop. 3500), established about 1840 and lies on the Lachlan River, in the center of a red-soil plain (wool, lamb meat, wheat). Mount Tilga, to the north of the town, is the geographical center of New South Wales.

Dubbo (pop. 28,100) was formerly an important staging post for herds of cattle on their way to Victoria; it is now noted for its cattle market. There are also large cattle and sheep farms round the town.

There is a Museum, the Old Dubbo Jail, and handsome 19th C houses for visitors to see.

Western Plains Zoo is Australia's largest wildlife park (area 300ha), with animals from all parts of the world roaming in natural surroundings.

The Zoo is home to over 1,000 animals including some threatened species.

The double town of Forster-Tuncurry (pop. 14,540), the two parts of which are linked by a modern bridge, lies on both sides of Wallis Lake. It is a popular holiday resort with excellent facilities for water sports and fishing.

Near the town are more than a dozen good beaches. The beautiful Lakes Way runs along the shores of Myalls, Smiths and Wallis Lakes.

Gilgandra (pop. 5160) is a small country town at the junction of the Newell, Oxley and Castlereagh Highways. Its economy is based on timber, wool and grain. Once famed for the windmills which drew up artesian water but have now been replaced by electric pumps.

The pier which supported the first bridge (1884) over the Castlereagh River can still be seen. The Gilgandra Observatory has a 300mm telescope and an exhibition on space travel.

The well-preserved small gold-digging town of Gulgong (pop. 2050) is familiar from its appearance on the A$10 note. Also featured on the note is the well-known poet Henry Lawson, who lived in the area as a child. During the gold fever of 1870 some 20,000 people came to the town to look for gold, but 10 years later they had all gone.

Gulgong is a town of narrow winding streets with many old wooden houses and shops, the Prince of Wales Opera House (1871) and the Gulgong Pioneer Museum.

The township of Hill End lies amid the rugged hills and gorges of the Central Tableland between Bathurst and Mudgee. In gold rush days it was a fabulously wealthy town with a population of over 30,000 in 1872, 50 hotels and a nearly 2km long row of shops. After 1874, when the gold was worked out, the gold-diggers departed, leaving only ruins and memories. The old hospital has been restored and now houses a museum.

Lake Cowal is one of the largest lakes in New South Wales and a waterfowl sanctuary.

Molong (pop. 1540) is famed for its wool and its wheat. It was founded in 1845 as a state cattle station, and a copper mine was opened in the same year.

The town features a museum housed in an old inn. 4km east, marked by trees with Aboriginal carvings, is the grave of Yuranigh, the Aboriginal guide who accompanied Sir Thomas Mitchell on his expedition to Queensland in 1845-6. This grave is an historic site.

Mudgee (pop. 7440) is one of the oldest towns to the west of the Blue Mountains. Laid out in 1838 to the design of Robert Hoddle, who later planned Melbourne, it lies in a beautiful setting on the Cudgegong River.

Many old buildings have been preserved in the town center (churches, railway station, Town Hall, Colonial Inn Museum, police station, post office).

The little town of Wellington (pop. 5440) is famous for the Wellington Caves, 9km south of the town. One of the caves is noted for its giant stalactite, another for its rare cave coral.

Once a gold-mining settlement, West Wyalong (pop. 3800), situated at the junction of the Mid Western and Newell Highways, is now the business center of a prosperous wheat, wool and mixed farming area. It has an interesting museum with a scale model of a gold mine.