Bordering three other states and encircling the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales was Australia’s first state and birthplace of agriculture in this country. It was here that the infant wheat and wool industry began in harsh and primitive conditions in what is now suburbia. New South Wales is Australia’s fourth largest state, yet it is home to one-third of the total population, and accounts for a great proportion of the country’s primary produce. The diversity of these industries is enormous.

In the lush, semi-tropical rainforest regions in the north, bananas and pineapple, macadamias and coffee flourish, alongside some of the country’s richest beef grazing lands. South, there is dairying and lamb, wheat in the west as well as pecans and olives, and a coastline bristling with fish and seafood.

The wine industry in New South Wales is phenomenal too. The Riverina alone produces seventy percent of the state’s wine grapes, yet the Hunter, Mudgee, Cowra and Orange regions spring more quickly to people’s minds. With wine comes gastronomy, and these areas foster fine dining and accommodation, gourmet goodies and many crops.

Mid-state, the Young area is the cherry and stone fruit capital, lovely in spring, even better in summer when the fruit ripens. Further south, the Riverina spreads, fertile and self-sufficient, a tribute to water and hard work.

South coastal New South Wales provides all that is rich and delicious – oysters, cheeses, berries, fruit wines and venison. The theme continues over the mountains on to the southern highlands where cool-climate foods abound.

Big city Sydney ties it all together with markets and dining options to suit every palate and purse. Cosmopolitan and fast-paced, lacking, some say, the elegance of Melbourne, this city more than makes up for any perceived shortfall with extravagant panoramas of beaches and bays and, in the west, the equally stunning Blue Mountains.

Regions of New South Wales

QUARANTINE INFORMATION FOR NEW SOUTH WALES

The Traveller's Guide to Australian Interstate Quarantine is an invaluable booklet to tuck into the glovebox when on a driving holiday. It lists each state with what you can take into it from any other state - its's complex as what you can take into Queensland for example may not be allowed into Tasmania.

www.quarantinedomestic.gov.au or Freecall 1800 084 881 for more details.