New South Wales

Lachlan

Where the wheat belt gives way to the outback

Out past Parkes, the country opens up and the sky takes over. This is the Lachlan's slow middle stretch, and Condobolin is its capital: a river town with a paddock full of sculpted utes on its doorstep and Mount Tilga, the claimed dead centre of New South Wales, just up the road. Cool off at Gum Bend Lake, then push west to Lake Cargelligo, where the wetlands fill with pelicans, brolgas and half the waterbirds in the state. No crowds, no fuss, and sunsets that go on forever.