| Tips and photos of unusual, out-of-the-way State of New South Wales attractions, posted by real travelers and locals. Map |
 | State of New South Wales Off the Beaten Path | Tips 1 - 10 of 32 |  |
 My first lyrebird by TheWanderingCamel
There's a shelter shed and picnic area in the Point Lookout area - watch out for cheeky currawongs though who think your picnic is their midday snack.
Within its 71,000 hectares the New England National Park offers protection to a wide range of environments including Snow Gum Woodland, Heath, Cool Temperate Rainforest and Sub-tropical Rainforest. All these environments may be sampled via the extensive walking track system that traverses the higher areas of the Park whilst fire trails give good access to the lower regions of the Park. The Park's rainforest areas are World Heritage listed and there are a number or rare and endangered plants growing within the park.
Simple accommodation and camping is available in the Park. Leave a Comment
|
 | |  |
 Peace by TheWanderingCamel
This is just one of many lovely scenic drives through this country in the region of the Macleay River valley. The region also offers other places of interest such as the Smokey Cape Lighthouse and historic Trial Bay Gaol. It's a paradise for birdwatchers ,fishermen and divers alike and with over 80% of the coastline here protected by National Parks it is a truly special and spectacularly beautiful place. Leave a Comment
|
| | |
If you really want to get away from it all into an area of truly magnificent rugged wilderness, Oxley Wild Rivers National Park is hard to beat. 90,000 hectares of spectacular gorge country, crisscrossed with some 500km of rivers and waterfalls (including the Wollomombi Falls, one of the highest falls in Australia) and the country's largest area of dry rainforest, the park (a World Heritage site) is home to a huge variety of plant, animal and bird life - much of it rare and endangered. Good road access, well marked walking trails, camping and picnicking spots, water holes that are safe for swimming, stretches of river suitable for canoeing all combine to make the park a great destination yet still big enough to really feel you have truly left the beaten path. If you want to see the falls at their best, go soon after rain - and don't forget your camera.
Click main photo for panorama Leave a Comment
|
| | |
 A set from the movie "THE
DISH" by K.Knight
Space exploration hit a peak when the Apollo 11 spacecraft flew to the Moon and Neil Armstrong made his famous "small step" speech. The mission was run by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). A non-stop communication link with Apollo 11 could not be made from NASA's Goldstone station in California.
When the signal from Apollo 11 could not be picked up at the California base, two Australian facilities communicated with the spacecraft and relayed the information to Mission Control at Houston. These facilities were the Parkes Observatory, 25 kilometres north of the town of Parkes, and the Honeysuckle Creek tracking station near Canberra.
On 21 July 1969, the television images of the moonwalk were transmitted through Honeysuckle Creek for the first eight minutes and then through Parkes. Australian TV viewers saw the images 300 milliseconds before the rest of the world. Leave a Comment
|
| | |
 Radio telescope. by K.Knight
Set in a shallow valley 20 kilometres north of Parkes in the Central West of New South Wales, the giant 64 metres Parkes Radio Telescope is the 2nd oldest and the 3rd largest single dish fully steerable radio telescope in the world. An education liaison officer is on duty at all times to assist with the exhibits and to answer any enquires. Dish Cafe on site and open daily. Great selection of coffee and gourmet and snack foods. Licensed.
Open Daily from 8.30am - 4.15pm. Closed Christams Day and Boxing Leave a Comment
|
 Windamere Dam by SmilingTraveller
The trip by car from Sydney takes about 3.5hrs, but the scenery on the way out is lovely. Just before you arrive in Mudgee you will pass by the scenic Windamere Dam.
As well as wine there is an emerging industry of olives in the area and Mudgee is also famous for honey.
Some of our favourite vineyards are:
5 Corners Wines & Gallery - their Shiraz was voted best in Australia at the 2003 Boutique Wine awards.
Abercorn - very modern premises and also a great selection of wines. Love the purple!
Petersons Glenesk Estate - once again, delicious, award winning reds.
Knights Vines - it's a must to try the Lancelot's Liqueur Muscat.
There are many others that you should try also. Just pick up a copy of the Mudgee Gulgong brochure when you arrive in Mudgee. This little gem is full of advice, things to do, maps, etc.
For something different, when you've had enough of tasting the delicious wines, take a 28km drive out to the village of Lue to visit Lue Pottery. Once there you will be taken on a delightful, informative tour of the workshop. The pottery is both original, beautiful and very reasonably priced. The guy who runs it is full of stories of his hippy past.
The Honey Hive in Church St, Mudgee is great for honey, jam, mustards, sauces etc from the Mudgee region. You are able to try all before you buy.
There are some great places to stay and many restaurants, pubs and cafes to dine in. A few suggestions are:
Eltons Brasserie for breakfast
Poet's Corner for lunch
Red Heifer Grill - Lawson Park Hotel for dinner Leave a Comment
|
| | |
 Warragamba Dam by K.Knight
The dam wall is 142m. high, 351m across; 8.5m wide at the top and 104m. at the base; 94.5m wide at spillway.
The dam capacity is 2 million megalitres (4 'sydarbs') and the lake is 80kms long and covers 7500 hectares.
The catchment Area totals 9000 square kilometres (from Robertson to Goulburn, Crookwell and Lithgow. Outflow from Wollondilly, Coxs, Kowuring, Nattai and Wingecarribee Rivers.)
How to get there....
From Sydney: Head for Parramatta then take the Western Motorway to Penrith; at Penrith turn left at the interchange into Mulgoa Road towards Wallacia; at Wallacia turn right into Silverdale Road, then follow the sign on the right at Farnsworth Road to Warragamba. Leave a Comment
|
 Warragamba Dam by K.Knight
There is a Visitor's Information Centre with exhibits explaining the dam and its history and a swimming pool adjacent to the Dam area.
Warragamba Dam is the largest concrete dam in Australia, and one of the largest dams in the world used specifically as a metropolitan water supply. The dam wall itself has over 5 kms of galleries inside it to allow access for checking the dam for movement, seepage and water pressure. Leave a Comment
|
A few kilometres inland from the Pacific Highway, sitting almost exactly halfway between Sydney and Brisbane, the little town of Bowraville presents a nigh-on perfect image of small town Australia. It was timber that brought people to the district - the whole of this region was once home to magnificent stands of Australian cedar. Wholesale logging in Victorian times has seen nearly all the cedar gone but timber is still an important industry in the region and Bowraville is still by and large a timber town though recent years have seen the by-now-familiar influx of escapees from the city that have brought elements of change to small towns like this.
Cedar brought folk here, and much of the town is built of cedar - inside and out. Verandah posts and wooden churches are two distinctive aspects of the industry to look out for as you walk around the town.
But Bowraville is more than a quaint collection of historic buildings and new-age fancies. Local community spirit shines out in two buildings that face each other in the middle of that main street. The lovingly restored Art Deco picture theatre is a model of what a small community can do when they pull together - stop at the cafe for a coffee and ask if someone can show you around - and, over the road, a band of dedicated enthusiasts maintain a small military museum dedicated to a local hero - Frank Partridge VC . Do stop by - a small donation will gain you admission. Leave a Comment
|
| | |
 Captain Thunderbolt -
bushranger by TheWanderingCamel
Where there was gold, there were bushrangers. The first strike at Uralla came in 1851 and, by the following year, the rush was on. Fred Ward - a "currency lad" (ie a native-born Australian in the early years of the colony) aka Captain Thunderbolt - was a horse thief with a long string of convictions and imprisonment behind him - decided bushrangering would give him richer pickings and so began a six-year career of mail-coach robbery and theft up and down the goldfields of NSW. He met his death at the hands of the Uralla Constabulary and is buried in the town cemetery.
Local legend painted Captain Thunderbolt as something of a gent, and time has softened the impact of his misdeeds. Today, Uralla celebrates its infamous folk hero with, not only the statue, but also a museum exhibition - including an effigy of his body! and a plaque in the cemetery that tells his story.
With its gold-mining past, Uralla is an interesting little town to stop in and spend a while. There are several buildings dating back to the days of the gold rush and, as is often the case in such historic towns, a smattering of antique-cum-junk shops - a browser's delight. Leave a Comment
|
| | |
More State of New South Wales Tips |
|
