Sydney Campbelltown

Campbelltown has become a very diverse suburb in Sydney. It is easy to get to Campbeltown by railways or the M5 motorways.

Campbelltown has many cute cottages, some of which are very ancient. Some cottages also have 2 or 3 floors with a big terrace. Some of the bungalows are as old as the 19th century. There are very ancient buildings of the Victoria, Gothic and Georgian era. Visitors who love ancient buildings and townships should not miss this town. It takes you back to the good olden days.

History of Campbelltown

Campbeltown has a story to tell about how it became historic. Cattle were brought here by the First Fleet in the year 1788. The cattle got spread. The Aboriginals spotted the cattle. The Tharawals left behind rock art site which depicted these cattle. Early Britishers identified these sites somewhere between Camden and Liverpool.

Some other places which were identified were the well endowed green fields. John Macarthus believed that there was enough potential for sheep rearing here and requested the Government to grant him 5000 acres of land and promised the Government about the potentiality here.

Governor Macquaire affirmed that he wanted to build a township. This is how Campbelltown came into being; it was named in memory of his wife Elizabeth.

Rich heritage of Campbelltown and Cultural Walk

Visitors would be enthralled when they take a walk through the streets of Campbelltown. The historic images and the buildings of the Gothic, Victorian and Georgian origin would leave the visitors spellbound and it would take them back to the ancient times.

Things to Do

Visitors could also have a good time adventuring into golf, horse riding, skating at the parks and many more fun activities.

Tourists could also enroll for short term golf courses.

Markets in Campbelltown

Campbelltown is a shopper’s paradise. There is plethora of items related to ancient crafts and arts items.
There are bargain markets which are open on every alternate Sunday. The Bradbury market has a full-fledged shopping centre which has a variety of arts and crafts. Lovers of arts and crafts would love this place every bit.

Lodging and Boarding facilities at Campbelltown Hotels

There are many options to choose from; right from the economy class hotels to the luxury hotels. Tourists can decide the hotels as per their budget. There are economy hotels at Motel Formula 1. Visitors who have brought their families along can choose family suites. Rydges hotel is a very elegant hotel which is close to the central part of the town and it boasts of a four and half star lodging and boarding accommodation.

How can tourists get to Campbelltown

It is close to a sixty minute drive from Sydney. There are railways which are quite convenient if you have to travel from one place to another. Similarly if you love driving, then it is advised you take the M5 Motorway and exit at the Campbeltown exit.

More Visitor Information:

Visitors can take guidance from the Quondong Cottage for more details.

Watsons Bay

Watsons Bay is privy to many firsts and is situated at the southern tip from where you enter the Sydney Harbor. The Tasman Sea is to its east and the Harbor itself to its west presents a wonderful view of Sydney in all its glory. The vantage point from the Harbor is a real treat and covers the city of Sydney in a wide range.

Watsons Bay is the place where the Governor of Sydney Mr. Phillip initially set foot on and this is also where the most ancient fishing settlement made its bow. As mentioned earlier, Watson’s Bay has a distinguished history of firsts to its credit.

This Bay is where the first Doyles Restaurant was set up and the current site has been a witness to the first sale of fish by Doyle way back in 1845. You can stop buy for a good meal at this place or better still, pick up a quick one from the Doyles outlet just next to the wharf and savor it feeding some seagulls. There can be nothing more relaxing than that for a visitor to soak in the beauty of the Bay.

To cove the area around the wharf, you have a number of routes that you can take. One route is where you cross the nude beach called Lady Bay and proceed till the Hornsby Lighthouse at the Southern tip. You can also take the more circuitous route via The Gap and pass Signal Station and the majestic Macquarie Lighthouse to visit the Dunbar wreckage site.

Getting to Watsons Bay is not a problem with all options of driving down by car, taking a bus or the ferry being open to you.

If you plan to drive down, you need to get out of the city and take the route by Oxford Street, which will lead you to Old South Head Road before taking you to Watsons Bay.

Bus No.324 from Circular Quay takes you directly to Watsons Bay and you can also choose the ferry from the Quay to take you there. This will be a good diversion from the usual rail and bus travel that one is normally exposed to in other cities.

There is enough culinary variety at Watsons Bay to cater to a wide taste and the number of eateries is a testimony to this fact. You need to allot the better part of a day to have a good look at what Watsons Bay has in store for visitors and only then you can have an unhurried leisurely time at this spot.

You can on the way back take the car by the Old South Head Road and go to Bondi Beach via Military Road

http://www.sydney.com.au/watsons-bay.htm

Camden Sydney

It is proximal to the central part of Sydney, but has managed to maintain its simplicity and rural lifestyle. This place is endowed with a country flavor and the freshness here is serene and calm. Tourists should make it a point to visit this picturesque place.

Camden Sydney has been very vital in Australia’s economy . When it comes to wheat, wine and wool production, it has played a very significant part right from the ancient times.

History of Camden

The First Fleet arrived at this land along with some cattle. The cattle managed to flee from here and they lost their way. Later this herd was sighted by a hunter. The cattle fed itself on lush green vegetation. Soon the number increased to 40 cows and some bulls. John Hunter, the then Governor was astonished to see the beautiful pastures and eye-catching picturesque beauty of this place and named it as Cow Pastures. This is how Camden came into existence.

Belgenny Farm

This farm was built on lush green land of about 5000 acres by Lord Camden in the year 1805. He was instrumental in boosting the farming tradition in Australia.

Different types of fruits were grown, particularly grapes. Horticulture was initiated and it turned out to be a success. The wool industry also is one of the main industries in Australia.

Tourists can take a round around Belgenny Farm for an overview of the ancient history and the agricultural history of Australia. For more information, tourists could call on Phone +61 2 4655 9651.The ancient home of Maccarthurs is open to visitors during the month of September – 3rd weekend of this ninth month.

There are lovely walkways and tourists can take a stroll around these buildings. Visitors are also guided at the Visitor Information Centre at Camden.

Family Activities

The Camden Museum is located at John Street, no. 40. It is open to the public from 1100 hrs to 1600 hrs. Visitors could visit this place from Thursday to Sunday. It also has ancient displays and many traditional and historical books which can be purchased outright.

Other activities which tourists can indulge in are bicycling and horse riding. There are dedicated tracks at the parks. Children love to bicycle around these tracks.

Another very historic place is the Gledswood Homestead Winery. It boasts of a group of historic buildings of colonial origin. The Chisholm family owned these buildings in the year 1827. Some of the interesting demonstrations here are sheep shearing. Boomerang throwing is a major activity here. Even cow milking is another major demonstration. Visitors flock here in large numbers to watch these demonstrations.

For further information, visitors could call up on 061 2 9606 5111

Sydney History

Sydney has a history starting from the prehistoric era. The Sydney Harbor, previously known as Port Jackson was inhabited by the Aborigines for over forty thousand years. You can still find evidences of their existence through the carvings on the rocks at various places. Despite a lot of development that the city has undergone over the years these rocks still bear those marks and are considered to be worth seeing due to the sandstone content of the rocks rendering it convenient for those carvings.

The latter part of the 19th century saw huge digging to set up a canal in an area called Alexandria which threw up more proofs of the dwellings of the Aborigines and some more evidences sprung up when caves bearing some carvings were discovered in Glenbrook, indicating that the Aborigines had inhabited that place twenty thousand years ago.

Sydney beckoned the Europeans with the discovery of Botany Bay by Captain James Cook in the year 1770 and very soon Arthur Phillip formed the first colony in 1788 following orders from the British. Arthur Phillip actually arrived at Sydney Cove which was also known as Port Harbor and now the modern Sydney.

This incursion by the Europeans was obviously not well received by the Aborigines and the spread of diseases like measles, smallpox and chicken pox only added to their woes. This was because the Aborigines had yet to develop immunity to these diseases and despite the best efforts of Governor Phillip to limit interactions between the Aborigines and the settlers, there was no relief from these diseases.
In 1789, the worst catastrophe in the form of small pox spread rapidly taking a heavy toll of the Aborigines and belief has it that the epidemic was caused due to one of the Aborigines unsettling the death place of one of the French sailor who had expired of small pox. This has however been debated at length and has been found to be untrue. This epidemic meant that by the beginning of the 19th century, the Aborigines had lost 90% of their population that existed in 1788.

Thanks to the rush for gold to Australia in the middle of the 19th century, Sydney saw the influx of huge numbers of miners to tap into the gold resources leading to the population surging from about 40,000 to over 200,000 in just two decades. This also meant that the city infrastructure had to cope up and led to drastic improvements in the city’s port and rail networks. This continued till the middle of the 19th century and when people saw the opportunity in Victoria for gold, they started moving towards Victoria and thus began a period of competition between Melbourne and Sydney.

Australia became a federation and the question now was about recognizing one city as the capital and despite hectic lobbying from both Sydney and Melbourne, the country named Canberra which was a new city created as the capital and effectively settled the debate.
Rapid industrialization thereafter ensured the progress of Sydney and its population grew fast to cross the one million mark by the beginning of the 20th century.