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New South Wales (Western NSW) |
| Orange | |
| ORANGE, on the Mitchell Highway en route from Bathurst to Dubbo, is a small city on the eastern slopes of Mount Canabolas; coming from Bathurst, the drive is a pleasant one through undulating countryside, with the valley opening up before you. Orange, a town of leafy parks and trees is the centre of a huge apple and pear growing industry. The soils in the area are very fertile as result of lava flows, from the extinct volcano of Mount Canobolas, which have broken down over the millenniums. Nearby at Ophir was the first goldfield to be exploited with a sizable strike in 1851 , now a flora and fauna reserve whilst on the outskirts of town is one of the finest private mineral collections in the country at the Gallery of Minerals. | |
| The
Orange Visitors Centre on Byng Street (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat
& Sun 9am–4pm) has information on local attractions, which include
the Ophir diggings. The first gold field in Australia, established
in 1851 and only 30km north of Orange, the site is still much as the
diggers left it – beware of open shafts.
Orange prides itself on being rather cosmopolitan, and it has quite a café society and some well-regarded restaurants. Try Scottys at 202a Summer St, which prepares gourmet sandwiches; Union Bank Café at 84 Byng St, which has a good range of vegetarian dishes; Beau’s on Byng, further up the street at no. 123 (three courses for $25; BYO; closed Sun & Mon), a restaurant featuring local produce; or Café 48, 48 Sale St (BYO), for its praiseworthy Southeast Asian curries. A recommended place both to stay and eat is the Metropolitan Hotel at 107 Byng St, just up from the tourist office. It’s a huge old-fashioned country pub built in 1872, with a wooden verandah where you can sit and eat barbecued dishes, hot potatoes, damper and salad. Rooms are clean and nicely decorated, and all have TV but no en-suite facilities. Forming a triangle, with Orange at the apex, Forbes and Parkes to the west are also important regional towns. FORBES, on the Lachlan River, is a graceful old town famous as the stomping ground of the nineteenth-century bushranger Ben Hall, who is buried in the Forbes Cemetery. PARKES, 33km to the northwest along the Newell Highway, is well known for its Observatory which has a 64-metre radio telescope. The observatory’s visitors centre (daily 8.30am–4.15pm; free) has a half-hour audiovisual presentation, The Invisible Universe (daily 8.30am–3.30pm; every 30min; $3). Nangar National Park |
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| Situated
in the Nangar-Murga range West of Orange the park is an important wildlife
refuge with its forests and scrubs lying in an area which has been mostly
cleared.
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