Explorers Way, New South Wales

Follow the Explorers Way to the areas opened up by the pioneers who crossed the Great Dividing Range to discover the riches, including gold, on the other side. Climb up through the towns of the Blue Mountains then stop at Pearson's Lookout near Lithgow to see the world's second biggest canyon, the Capertee Valley on the way to Mudgee.

Where there's good wine, there's good food and the historic Mudgee/Gulgong area. Toast the memory of larrikin bush poet, Henry Lawson. A whirl round Mt. Panorama at Bathurst is a driver's must do - go in autumn if you love to see European trees changing their colours.

Dubbo is effectively the capital of western NSW, an oasis of fertile agricultural lands and visit the Western Plains Zoo here. Following in the footsteps of the explorers head up through country towns and villages to the Warrumbungles where east meets west on the Great Divide