Bungendore


A small town somewhat frozen in time, noted for its numerous specialty shops and old stone, brick and timber buildings.

Where is it?: 30 minutes drive from Canberra 265 km south-west of Sydney, 26 km north-east of Queanbeyan near Lake George, 701 m above sea-level.

Many of the town's important buildings were constructed in the 1840s. Bungendore's heritage listed buildings include the Old SES Building; Bungendore store (1918); village green; Carrington Inn and Restaurant (1888-89); Railway Station (1884), used in the filming of The Year My Voice Broke and the Mick Jagger version of Ned Kelly; 'Turalla' (c.1833-35); 'Carwoola' (c.1849)

Surrounding area


Captains Flat (45 km south): a small town nestled into a valley with the hills around scoured of trees by constant mining. It is a rare mixture of interesting historic buildings and rather rundown residential areas. Captains Flat was birthed as a result of mining for gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper and iron pyrites in the hills surrounding the upper reaches of the Molonglo River. The town boomed from 1881 to 1899 then went into a rapid decline until 1939 when rail access revived mining activity for another 23 years.


Deua National Park (17 km south of Captains Flat): the highlight of any trip to the park is to inspect the Big Hole, a limestone collapse which is nearly 100 metres deep and 50 metres wide. The walk to the Big Hole involves crossing the upper reaches of the Shoalhaven River and walking through some particularly beautiful countryside.




The Budawangs: a rugged mountain range largely located within the Budawang National Park and Morton National Park in New South Wales, Australia. The Budawangs have been declared a Wilderness Area. The Budawangs are very popular with bush walkers due to their impressive terrain and unique features. The Clyde River has its source in the Budawangs.

Since the Budawangs are only accessible from gravel roads, care should be taken after rain as the roads can become slippery. The northern parts of the area including the Clyde River valley are best accessed from the Braidwood Nowra road. There are two entrances in the northern part of the park. One is near Nerriga and requires walking through farmland to the area around Quilty's Mountain. The other (main) northern entrance is a not very clearly marked gate on the side of the road near Sassafras.

Origin of name: Captain Richard Brooks set up a stock station at Turallo Creek in 1824. That same year, botanist Allan Cunningham recorded the existence of this outstation in the area he called 'Bungadow'. The name is of Aboriginal origin, but its meaning is not known.

History: once occupied by the Ngarigu people, the first Europeans in the vicinity were the exploratory party of Charles Throsby. The village began around 1835 and mail started arriving as part of the Queanbeyan route in 1836. The settlement became an important crossroads which linked, and still links, Goulburn, Braidwood, Queanbeyan, Canberra and Cooma. The railway arrived in 1885 and the town remained a railhead until the line reached Queanbeyan in 1887. Queanbeyan emerged as the major town in the area, but Bungendore remained essentially a country village with a bush village atmosphere.

In 1894, gold was discovered at Bywong. In 1901, Lake George and Bungendore were proposed as sites for the nation's capital city. This did not eventuate, as the drawcard of Lake George failed to impress the visiting Commissioners of the time.

| Content © 2013 Phoenix Group Co. | Sales: phone 1300 753 517; email | Editorial: phone 0412 879 698; email | W3Layouts