Located at the base of the Blue Mountains on Sydney's western border, the Warragamba Dam is one of Sydney's main water suppiles as well as being a popular recreational area.
Grafton sits on a large plain and your first waypoint, Shannon Creek Dam, is just inside the mountains at the western edge of that plain. Explore the Mann and Clarence Rivers to the north-west of Grafton.
Copmanhurst, population 300, is a popular camping and kayaking spot on the Clarence River.
Casino is the 'Beef Capital of Australia' and has a population around the 12,000 mark. 12,000 people that is, the cattle population is much higher. It was originally named 'Cassino' after Monte Cassino in Italy, but a bureaucratic error led to the current spelling becoming official. C'est la vie.
Enjoy the of lush river valleys to the south east of Australia's Capital of Country Music: Tamworth. Tamworth YSTW is one of the few airports in the New England region with a control tower amd two parallel runways.
The Bathurst races have been a fixture of Australian culture for as long as I can remember. They fuelled the aspirations of many an Aussie teenager as they saved their pennies to get 'into the race' with their own version of an Aussie Supercar.
Visit Lake Wyangala Dam (built in 1935) and return via Charcoar Dam and the Mid Western Highway. Or, if you prefer, follow the rail line. Note: We also visit Carcoar Dam in the flight out of Orange.
Discovered by John Oxley’s Lachlan River expedition in 1817 at the junction of the Bell and Macquarie Rivers, Wellington is the second oldest New South Wales settlement west of the Blue Mountains.
There is a dog on a tucker box, and it's nine miles out of Gundagai. The statue was first erected in 1926, and it is a tribute to the life of a 'bullocky', a bloke who steers a team of bulls who pull a bullock dray, usually laden with timber. This is the job my grandfather started at age 13. A 'tucker box' is a food container.
Albury and Wodonga are sister cities sittinng astride the mighty Murray River on the N.S.W. and Victorian border. Lake Hume is a major source of irrigation water and hydro-electric power for the two states.
Bega is synonymous in Australia with a popular brand of cheese, the South East & Tablelands being a rich dairy producing region. The entire coastline in this region is breathtaking. Bermagui is probably derived from the aboriginal word permageua (canoe).
Bowral, Berrima and Mittagong are at the junction of greater Sydney and the Southern Tablelands. The area is a favourite weekend destination for Sydney-siders with it's charming manors, wineries, antique shops and tulip gardens.