The New South Wales outback is one of those places that would not only have you experience rare and exciting adventures but will even touch your soul. The outback will display rugged beauty, dusty red earth, bright blue skies and endless horizons of scenery that would fill photo albums in minutes. The desert like habitat is home to many animals including the big red kangaroo and ibis birds.

The New South Wales outback incorporates the cities of Broken Hill, White Cliffs, Menindee, Wentworth and Cobar. The region has a spirited history with mineshafts and woolsheds as well as a wealth of Aboriginal heritage.

Broken Hill was named in 1844 by explorer Sturt but the mineral riches were not discovered until 1883. The town is situated in one of the driest areas of Australia and is surprisingly green and leafy thanks to water piped from the reservoir at Lake Menindee 110km away. Surrounded by national parks Broken Hill is where you can expect to see emus, wedge-tailed eagles, bearded dragons, shingleback lizard and red kangaroos.

The town of Bourke is quite isolated from other towns in New South Wales and is just as you would picture a real outback town. Hence the colloquial term "Out the back of Bourke". It is situated on the Mitchell Highway near the Darling River and is a service centre for a vast area of sheep country.

The town of Silverton is located 15 kilometres north west of Broken Hill. Silverton today is somewhat of a ghost town but once was a big community centre. Silverton is popular with film studios and the films "A Town like Alice" and "Mad Max II" were filmed here.

White Cliffs was born from the discovery of seam opal in the 1890's this is Australia's oldest commercial opal field. This unique area resembles a moonscape with over 50 000 craters, the result of 100 years of mining. The population, once 5000 in its heyday, now fluctuates and most inhabitants live underground in dugouts to escape the summer heat and winter cold. A truly fascinating place to visit.

Menindee is situated on the banks of the tree-lined Darling River. Menindee sits amongst the Overflow lakes that form the Menindee Water Storage Scheme. The lakes and river offer excellent water skiing, sailing, safe swimming and good fishing whilst being home to a great variety of waterbirds. The lakes and surrounding wetlands are an important breeding habitat.

Wilcannia was once the third largest inland port in Australia Wilcannia was once known "Queen City". Sandstone was quarried during the boom years of the 1880's and several beautiful buildings still remain as a remnant of that era.

Lightning Ridge is famous for its quality Black Opal, climate and lifestyle. It has a peaceful friendly atmosphere and is an area of contrast with old miners’ cottages and modern homes side by side. Black Opal was first found in the 1880’s and since, new opal fields have been developed, with the township becoming a centre providing services for miners and tourists.

New South Wales lies in the temperate zone and the climate is generally free from extremes of heat and cold. The greatest heat is usually experienced in the north west and out back regions of NSW. The coldest region is the Snowy Mountains, where winter frosts and snow are experienced over long periods. Rainfall varies widely over the state, gradually diminishing to an annual average of 180 mm in the far north west.

The climate along the coast is temperate and slightly humid in NSW and the temperatures get cooler the further south you travel along the coast. The deserts of the outback regions experience hot days and cold nights. Irregular floods and droughts occur in the north and western regions, some times due to the El Nino effect.