EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

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 is a pretty place full of trees, including many European varieties; it claims to have four distinct seasons, and the chilly winter always sees one or two snowfalls. Its major industry is apple growing , based in the apple orchards southwest of the town. You can find apple-picking work here from late February or early March for a period of about six weeks, while cherry picking takes place from late November to early January; contact the Employment National (tel 13 3444). Many growers have rough accommodation on their properties but demand often outstrips supply, so bring a tent. The Orange Visitors Centre on Byng Street (daily 9am-5pm; tel 02/6393 8226, fax 6393 8220, www.orange.nsw.gov.au ) 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 . Scottys on Summer at 202a Summer St prepare gourmet sandwiches, while the Union Bank Cafe at 84 Byng St has a good range of vegetarian dishes and Cafe 48 , at 48 Sale St (BYO), offer praiseworthy Southeast Asian curries. For something a little more special, Sloozi's on Summer Street (tel 02/6563 1314; dinner Tues-Sat) serve tasty food in a convivial, casual atmosphere, whilst Selkines on Anson Street (tel 02/6361 1179, dinner Tues-Sat) offers the opportunity of an expensive foray into modern Australian cuisine. A recommended place both to stay and eat is the Metropolitan Hotel at 107 Byng St (tel 02/6362 1353, fax 6361 3806; $50-115), 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. Hotel rooms are clean and nicely decorated, and all have TV but no en-suite facilities, while the more expensive motel suites come with all mod cons. Alternatively, try the Hotel Canabolas at 248 Summer St (tel 02/6362 2444, hotelcanabolas@cww.otec.org.au ; $70-90), which has live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Pickers could consider the two caravan parks , both a few kilometres from the centre: to the north, the Colour City Caravan Park on Margaret Street (tel 02/6362 7254; cabins $20-35); and to the east, the Canabolas Caravan Park , 166 Bathurst Rd (tel 02/6362 7279; cabins $35-50).

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; tel 02/6861 1777, www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au ) has a 25-minute audiovisual presentation, The Invisible Universe (daily 8.30am-3.30pm; every 30min; $3). Both towns have fast, reasonable internet access: at 195-197 Clannda St in Forbes, and 113-127 Rankin St in Parkes. Just east of Forbes lies the small township of ELLGOWRA , where in 1962 Frank Gardiner and his gang pulled off the biggest gold heist in Australian history. They took a total of $3700 in cash and 77kg in gold from a mailcoach - worth an impressive $1.3 million at today's rates.