100 Towns

Mount David is a small town in the Oberon district.  In the early 1900s it was the location of a major copper mine.  In the 1920s the ore body run out and the mine closed and the town dwindled into the tiny town it is today. There is evidence of some new homes being built and the old church is a residence.  The extensions to it were in progress when we visited this town years ago and seemed to have totally stalled.  It's now up for sale.

Jenolan Caves is a popular tourist attraction in the Blue Mountains wilderness.  The limestone caves have attracted people in droves since their first discovery by white man in the 1830s despite being in a quite inaccessible spot.  Even today the road is steep, winding and narrow. The road comes to a dramatic end running through the Grand Archway and coming out the other side to the iconic Caves House (with a special place in the memory of many honeymooners), cafe and ticket office for tours to a wide selection of caves. Not a town as such, it is a busy spot especially in weekends.  A pleasant place to spend the weekend, though Caves House goes through times of being comfortable and vibrant to being plain run down.  The caves are fun and there are lovely walks by the lake and in the surrounding area.

Hampton is a small village on the road to the popular Jenolan Caves.  Perhaps in the days when the winding road was a more difficult drive Hampton was a welcome rest spot on the way.  Today it has a pub, the remnants of an old cafe and garage, a cluster of houses and two big wind turbines beating over the town.

Tarana is another railway town and the junction of a short 24km branch line to Oberon.  It's a tiny settlement set in beautiful rolling farmland. Today there is a church, another church that is now a residence, an artist's studio in the old schoolhouse, a closed cafe, a few houses and the old pub which appears to be doing a good job of catering for tourists. There are numerous rural retreats in the area where you can spend a weekend away from the city.  I think that would be very pleasant.

Rydal is a small town with of 80 people, about 40 houses and a couple of churches.  One of them is a Union Church which brought together the Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist congregations. Rydal's heyday, long gone, was in the early days of the railway. From 1870 for six years it was the end of the line so was a busy spot where goods were transferred from road transport to the railway.  Today the daily XPT service still passes through Rydal and will stop here if needed for passenger to alight and set down. This little village has a great community spirit. It has been a five times tidy town award winner. The annual daffodil festival in September is a highlight of its social calendar. At that time of year it is not just the daffodils splashing the countryside yellow -- the wattles are also in full bloom.

1. Burraga general store and petrol station 2. Copper smelting relics 3. Old truck in back yard 4. War Memorial Burraga had one of the oldest copper mines in the state, the relics of which can be seen outside the town.  As recently as the 1990s there was gold mining in the region and at the end of the operations the pit from the mine was flooded to form Burraga Dam which is now picnic, camping and fishing spot.  Forestry and farming are the main activities today though I notice that copper and gold mining is being explored again. The town is small with a population of around 100 people.

1. Anglican Church, Black Springs 2. Community hall 2. General store 3. Rural countryside 4. Fibro cottage The little 100 year old Anglican Church at Black Springs has recently reopened its doors for worship. There is also a stone Catholic Church as the district was first settled by Irish immigrants.  Today it is a small town in an area known for fossicking and forests. It has a general store, camping area, tennis courts, school, community hall and a cluster of unassuming houses. I have always liked this little town isolated as it is among tall pine trees. See where Black Springs is on the map.

1. Art deco hall now a craft shop 2. Ramsgate, Victorian private residence in the main street 3. Royal Hotel 4. Rural scenery 5. Lake Oberon 6. Pine forests 7. Mayfield garden, a magnificent grand scale private garden 8. Frosty morning Oberon is a town that is surviving well due to diversification. In addition to serving as centre for the rural sheep and cattle industry it is a major timber centre with a large amount of the district being cloaked in pine forests. It is also a favoured tourist destination especially if you have a car to explore the nearby villages, take in the splendid rural scenery or perhaps go to the Jenolan Caves and the Blue Mountains wilderness. You could also try trout fishing, gem fossiking or mushrooming in the pine forests.  Its freezing cold winters are also an attraction with occasional snow and frosty mornings almost guaranteed. The lush countryside is what attracted the early settlers and there was mining in the area.  But unlike oth...