Fossicking, Glen InnesCredit: Destination NSW
The Fossickers Way, in New England, offers lots of opportunities to search for gold and gems.
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Explore the colourful gold rush history of New South Wales, visit remarkable outback communities, and try your hand at gold panning or fossicking for gems. You may not make your fortune, but you will have some memorable experiences.
Head to Hill End
Discover the heyday of the Australian gold rush in the 1870s at the Hill End Historic Site, a preserved gold-mining town about four hours’ drive northwest of Sydney. Start with a visit to the Hill End Heritage Centre, where a self-guided tour brings characters and stories to life through screen projections and interactive iPads. You can explore the remains of an 1890s miner’s cottage, and take a guided tour of Craigmoor, a lovingly preserved home built in 1875.
At Hill End’s Bald Hill tourist mine, join a guided tour to hear about the lives of miners during the gold rush. You can also visit nearby Valentines mine, the Cornish Quartz roasting pits, and the History Hill Museum, home to more than 10,000 goldfield artefacts, and 175 metres of underground tunnels.
The Hill End General Store & Café is a great place to stop for a bite to eat, or pick up some groceries and head to the picnic spot at the Bill Lyle Reserve in the heart of the village. Accommodation options include holiday cottages, campgrounds, National Parks heritage buildings such as Hosies (a former haberdashery) and the Royal Hotel, built in 1872.
Follow the Fossickers Way
Follow the Fossickers Way through New England, starting in picturesque Nundle, a 4.5-hour drive north of Sydney. Stop for lunch at the Peel Inn, a gold rush pub built in 1860, with a beautiful beer garden. Head to the Nundle visitor information centre and have a look through the Gil Bennet Collection while you’re here (it contains more than 1,300 rocks, gems and minerals). And don’t miss the Gold Mine Guesthouse, Café and Museum, where you can eat, sleep, find out all about gold rush life, and rent pans, a shovel and a pick so you can go fossicking for gold and sapphires in the Peel River. If you don’t find anything, you can buy a little bit of gold from the guesthouse instead.
The Fossickers Way passes through nine towns, including country-music capital Tamworth, and Glen Innes, renowned for some of the richest gem and mineral fields in the country (pick up a fossicking map from the visitor information centre). The town hosts the Minerama fossicking, gem and jewellery show each March.
There are lots of places to strike it rich (or at least have a bit of fun) along the way, including the Wooldridge Recreation and Fossicking Reserve near Uralla, where you can pan for gold and gems. There’s also the Billabong Blue Sapphire Fossicking Park near Inverell, which is known as Sapphire City (visit jewellery shops in the town while you’re here). . At the northern end of Fossickers Way, Emmaville, once a thriving gold rush town, is home to the Emmaville Mining Museum, where you’ll find a replica blacksmith’s shop and more than 4,000 minerals and gems.
Emmaville Mining Museum Credit: Destination NSW
The volunteer run Emmaville Mining Museum has over 4,000 mineral specimens and covers nearly every mineral sample local and overseas.
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Emmaville Mining Museum Credit: Destination NSW
The volunteer run Emmaville Mining Museum has over 4,000 mineral specimens and covers nearly every mineral sample local and overseas.
Red Earth Opal, White Cliffs Credit: Destination NSW
Take a guided tour at Red Earth Opal in White Cliffs.
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Red Earth Opal, White Cliffs Credit: Destination NSW
Take a guided tour at Red Earth Opal in White Cliffs.
Go underground at White Cliffs
Opals were first found in White Cliffs, an 11-hour drive northwest of Sydney or a 2.5 drive from Broken Hill in Outback NSW, in 1884. The town is known for its ‘pineapple’ opals, with a spiky shape — and even more famous for the unusual way in which many of its residents live: underground, to avoid the heat. The moon-like landscape is made up of thousands of hillocks; the remnants of earth dug up and discarded in the hunt for opals. A White Cliffs Bus Tour will give you a good overview of the town and its history.
To have a go at fossicking, head to the White Cliffs Outback Store (and information centre) to pick up a map, and just head out onto the opal fields (making sure to avoid fossicking on someone’s claim).
Take a mine tour with Red Earth Opal (also home to an opal gallery, bar and café), and visit the Stubbie House showroom, built from more than 6,000 beer bottles. Have a beer and rest your head at the White Cliffs Hotel, or if you want a subterranean sleep, stay at the White Cliffs Underground Motel (which also has an opal showroom) or the Fossicker’s Den.
Discover black opals at Lightning Ridge
Home to the rare black opal, the famous outback town of Lightning Ridge is a nine-hour drive north-west of Sydney. Follow a self-guided Car Door Tour (signposted with coloured car doors) to discover the town and surrounds, including the working opal field, The Grawin. It was here the Light of the Worlds, an opal weighing almost half a kilogram, was found in 1928. Call in on the Grawin Club in the Scrub for a cold beer, a feed, and a game of golf in the dust while you’re here.
Visit The Big Opal to take a guided or self-guided tour of a working mine, and tour the town or opal fields with Outback Opal Tours or Black Opal Tours. Call in on some of the many shops selling opals, visit the Chambers of the Black Hand to see underground sandstone carvings, and, if you can, time for your visit for the annual Opal Festival, held in July.
You’ll have plenty of motel and camping options, but for a real taste of the outback, head to Lorne Station, a 4,000-hectare property with cabins and camping sites. And at the end of a day’s exploring and fossicking, soak in the warm waters of the Lightning Ridge Bore Baths to ease your aching muscles.
An hour south of Lightning Ridge, the town of Walgett is a former paddle steamer port, and the start of the 950km Darling River Run outback drive.
Artesian Bore Baths, Lightning Ridge Credit: Destination NSW
Relax in the naturally heated thermal pool at the Artesian Bore Baths.
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Artesian Bore Baths, Lightning Ridge Credit: Destination NSW
Relax in the naturally heated thermal pool at the Artesian Bore Baths.
Welcome Signage, Lightning Ridge Credit: Destination NSW
Sign welcoming visitors to Lightning Ridge.
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Welcome Signage, Lightning Ridge Credit: Destination NSW
Sign welcoming visitors to Lightning Ridge.
More Inspirational Stories
Art Gallery of New South Wales, SydneyCredit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoying a visit the the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.
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Come alive with the possibilities as you delve into Sydney’s dynamic arts scene and cultural institutions. Feel moved as you immerse in striking contemporary artworks at public and private galleries, and take in cutting-edge performances and exhibitions across the city.
Be moved by must-see cultural landmarks
Marvel at the ‘sails’ of the Sydney Opera House as you approach this iconic performing arts venue, then join one of several fascinating tours on offer here. Discover the building’s unique history and construction on an Architectural Tour, or go behind the scenes on a Backstage Tour. See a show from an ever-changing program of theatre, dance and music in one of the venue’s many impressive performance spaces, then head to the Opera Bar to take in the front-of-house harbour view as you enjoy seasonal fare and a refreshing drink.
Appreciate the striking art deco façade and waterfront location of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), across the water from the Sydney Opera House at Explore the diversity of Australian modern art as you view highlights of a collection of more than 4,000 works, including a significant body of works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. Take time out and digest the wonderful works you’ve just seen as you enjoy panoramic views across Sydney Harbour from the museum’s rooftop café.
Feel far away from the bustle of the city centre as you enter the Domain parklands next to the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and make your way to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the leading museum of art in the state. Step back in time to view colonial and 19th-century Australian works and European masters, as well as a dedicated gallery of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. Then explore Sydney Modern, the AGNSW’s dynamic new addition, to discover site-specific works by leading Australian and international artists.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney Credit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoy a tour in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
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Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney Credit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoy a tour in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, The Rocks Credit: Destination NSW
Friends arriving outside the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in The Rocks, Sydney...Artwork: Moon in a Dew Drop.Artist: Lindy Lee
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Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, The Rocks Credit: Destination NSW
Friends arriving outside the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in The Rocks, Sydney...Artwork: Moon in a Dew Drop.Artist: Lindy Lee
Immerse in art in cutting-edge galleries
Lose track of time as you explore a myriad of inner-Sydney art galleries. Delight in a dip into one of the world’s most significant collections of Chinese contemporary art at the White Rabbit Gallery in Chippendale, on the fringe of the city centre. Be intrigued by the selection from philanthropist Judith Neilson’s collection of almost 3,000 works created in China since 2000 by around 750 artists, before taking in the tranquil vibe at the gallery’s Teahouse as you snack on handmade dumplings and fine Chinese and Taiwanese tea. (You can also plan ahead and enter the ballot for tickets to cutting-edge performances at Phoenix Central Park, Judith Neilson’s risk-taking cultural centre a short walk from White Rabbit Gallery.)
Lean into the grand scale of Carriageworks, a multi-arts centre housed in expansive former railway workshops in Eveleigh, a five-minute drive or around a 15-minute walk from White Rabbit Gallery. Keep an eye on Carriageworks’ events page for visual arts exhibitions and new performance works.
Take your time exploring the many art galleries dotted around the hip inner-city suburb of Surry Hills. Enter the fascinating world of significant Australian artist Brett Whiteley at Brett Whiteley Studio, tucked away in a side street off Crown Street, one of the main streets running through Surry Hills. Take in the singular atmosphere of the late artist’s former home and workplace, with its unfinished paintings, art equipment, books and graffiti wall of quotes and images, and view one of the changing exhibitions of the artist’s works.
Find yourself challenged and stimulated by the conceptual and design-driven art at independent Surry Hills gallery China Heights, then take the short walk under the train tracks to 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in Haymarket. Learn about the Asian diaspora in Australia via contemporary art at this fascinating gallery run by the non-profit Asian Australian Artists’ Association Inc.
Thrill to a sense of discovery as you find leading commercial art galleries tucked away in the leafy streets of Paddington in Sydney’s inner east. Roam the side streets of this fashionable suburb to find the likes of Saint Cloche, where gallery director Kitty Clark fosters the city’s emerging artistic talents; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, one of the most influential commercial art galleries in Australia; and Olsen, founded by Tim Olsen to represent the late John Olsen, one of the country’s greatest painters, and showcase contemporary Australian artists.
White Rabbit Gallery, Chippendale Credit: Destination NSW
Women walking through an exhibition at the White Rabbit Gallery, Chippendale.
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White Rabbit Gallery, Chippendale Credit: Destination NSW
Women walking through an exhibition at the White Rabbit Gallery, Chippendale.
Brett Whiteley Studio, Surry Hills Credit: James Horan; Destination NSW
Brett Whiteley Studio in Surry Hills
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Brett Whiteley Studio, Surry Hills Credit: James Horan; Destination NSW
Brett Whiteley Studio in Surry Hills