EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

The gracious city of BATHURST , elegantly situated on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range 209km west of Sydney, is Australia's oldest inland settlement. Its beautifully preserved nineteenth-century architecture makes it worth a weekend visit from Sydney, to browse the antique shops and mellow out in one of the city's many cafés. The settlement was first founded by Governor Macquarie in 1815, but Bathurst remained nothing more than a small convict and military settlement for years, only slowly developing into the main supply centre for the surrounding rich pastoral area. It was the discovery of gold nearby at the Lewis Ponds Creek at Ophir in 1851, and more later the same year on the Turon River, that resulted in a goldrush which changed the life of the town and the colony for ever. Soon rich fields of alluvial gold were discovered in every direction and, being the first town over the mountains for those on the way to the goldfields, Bathurst prospered and grew. The population increased dramatically: in 1885 Bathurst was proclaimed a city, and in the late 1890s it was even proposing itself (unsuccessfully) as the site for the capital of the new Commonwealth of Australia.

Although there's still the odd speck of gold and a few gemstones (especially sapphires) in the surrounding area, modern Bathurst has reverted to its role as a community in the centre of some of the richest agricultural land in New South Wales, a pastoral and fruit- and grain-growing district. It's also a tertiary education centre, with many students attending the Mitchell campus of Charles Sturt University. For anyone heading west, it's still the first stop beyond the mountains, and the gateway to the Outback. In October and November, visitors are also drawn to the big annual motor-racing meeting - centred around the famous F.A.I. 1000 endurance race - at the Mount Panorama Racing Circuit.