Central NSW – Orange

Orange – The Colour City

Orange turned out a bit of a surprise package – we did not expect such a lovely town with extensive parks and recreational areas. Orange is apparently called the colour city due to the four distinct seasons with their related colours – the autumn colours were out in all their glory while we were there, winter can be cold and snow is not uncommon, spring is green with lots of flowers and summers are hot and dry.

Orange was originally established in 1822 as a convict settlement called “Blackman’s swamp”. It was was re-named Orange in 1846 by Major Mitchell in honour of the Dutch Prince William of Orange. The discovery of gold in nearby areas helped to establish Orange as a trading centre. Orange is surrounded by the Carbonne and Blayney council areas which are rich cool climate agricultural areas. As a result the area has plentiful a food and wine entertainment with roadside stalls, restaurants and wineries.

Cook Park

We found this lovely National Trust listed park by accident on our first reconnaissance of the town and it was a right little gem. It is obviously well used by the locals and has displays of native animals, a begonia house and areas to entertain the kids with the duck pond being rather popular!

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Botanical Gardens

After the lovely Cook Park we had high expectations of the Botanical gardens, but were a bit disappointed as the most impressive area was the entry gates!

     

 

 

     

 

Lake Canobolas and Lake Canobolas

The area around Orange is part of a volcanic chain along Eastern Australia, running from North Queensland to Victoria. Mount Canobolas at 1395m  is the highest point in the central west. There is a road to the summit and a lookout and display at the top. There are a number of walking tracks but they were far to challenging for Alan with his walking stick! Unfortunately it was quite hazy so the photos are not very interesting.

Lake Canobolas is located at the base of the mount and has been developed into a beautiful recreational area.

           

 

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