New South Wales, also known as the Premier State, due to its being the first British colony in Australia. Orignally a penal settlement, Sydney  boasts of many attractions which relate toconvict and pioneer days

Modern attractions are Sydney Harbour and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, supported  by the Opera House, Darling Harbour, and a network of ferries crisscrossing the harbour  itself. Here is where the annual Sydney Hobart Yacht Race begins.

Sydney hosted the 2000 Olympic Games  and is famed for various sporting Stadiums. The city itself has many tourist attractions, the Centrepoint Tower, Kings Cross, the cafes and restaurants along the  wharves, Mrs Macquaries Chair and Kirribili House, The Domain, Bondi  and neighbouring beaches. The Queen Victoria Building, The Rocks, Old Sydney Town, Parramatta,  Bennelong Point  (named for a famous indigenous leader) - Sydney is full of  Australian history.

See more at the Sydney Visitor Centre

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Outer Sydney is bound by  the Blue Mountains in the West, and explorers in the early 1800s found their way across the Great Dividing Range and discovered what the  indigenous Australians had long known about. Fertile plains, the rivers Lachlan, Murrumbidgee, the Murray and Darling - a huge river system allowing grain and animal husbandry to flourish.   Mt Kosciusko, Thredbo, Orange are just some of the attractions found in the Blue Mountains.

In the far west is Broken Hill, famed for its silver mining boom, the opera singer June Bronhill and the artist Pro Hart , just two of many famous  citizens.

Going North we find Bourke, and beyond - the outback.
Going South from the Queensland border we come across  major regional  cities like Newcastle  and Maitland; we find the lush winegrowing areas growing areas of the Hunter Valley,  and towns like Parkes (radio telescope),Forbes and Dubbo with its world famous zoo.

South of Sydney we find major regional coastal cities of Port Kembla and Wollongong. Further South west, we find the major regional area of twin cities - Albury Wodonga, straddling the Murray River,  where many Federal government departments have a head office.

Going northwards inland, is found the Australian Capital Territory, the seat of Federal Government and the Australian Parliament - an area ceded by New South Wales just after Federation.

Visit the NSW Tourism Centre  to plan your trip.

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