Bullaburra, New South Wales
Bullaburra New South Wales | |||||||||||||||
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Rhondda Valley | |||||||||||||||
Population | 1,230 (2016 census)[1] | ||||||||||||||
Postcode(s) | 2784 | ||||||||||||||
Elevation | 769 m (2,523 ft) | ||||||||||||||
Location |
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LGA(s) | City of Blue Mountains | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Blue Mountains | ||||||||||||||
Federal division(s) | Macquarie | ||||||||||||||
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Bullaburra is a small town in the state of New South Wales, Australia, in the City of Blue Mountains. It is one of the towns that stretch along the route of the Main Western railway line and Great Western Highway which pass over the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. Bullaburra used to have a service station but it was demolished in 2008. Bullaburra is an Aboriginal word meaning clear day.
Description[]
Bullaburra lies west of Lawson, and east of Wentworth Falls. The population together with Lawson was 3637 at the 2001 census. Bullaburra has a railway station served by NSW TrainLink's Blue Mountains Line, and a playground. Two reserves, Red Gum Park and Sir Henry Parkes Park, are nearby, Red Gum Park being on the south side of the town. Minnatonka Falls are a feature of the park. Another notable landmark is Rhondda Valley, a large property just west of Bullaburra. The Blue Mountains National Park, which is a World Heritage Site, is situated not far to the north and south of the town.
History[]
The name Bullaburra is an Aboriginal term meaning "blue sky" or "fine weather". In late colonial times, it was originally known as Colridge and much of its land at one time was owned by Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of New South Wales. It was among one of the last towns to develop in the Blue Mountains.
Bullaburra railway station opened with its name on 16 February 1925.
Bullaburra sits within the world heritage-listed Blue Mountains National Park of the Greater Blue Mountains Area, where the town has been in the closeness of its national park since the year 2000.
Bushwalks[]
A walking track was constructed through the area in 1931. The Railway Department had agreed to supply electricity to the Blue Mountains Shire Council from the power station at Lithgow and a transmission line was put through from Blackheath to Lawson with a track to provide maintenance access. The authorities then decided to promote this track as a walking trail, which was duly opened on 21 November 1931. The surveyor who planned the track was A. Bruce, as a result of which the track eventually became known as Bruce's Walk. It passed through the north side of Bullaburra on the way to Lawson.
A pamphlet was published to publicise the walk, which passed through a variety of scenery, including glens and ridges. However, from World War II onwards, the track was forgotten and neglected. Parts of the track were also blocked off when the council constructed Greaves Creek dam in 1942 as a local water supply. Much later, however, a local walker named Dick Rushton found a copy of the pamphlet published in 1931 and set out to clear and mark the track. In 1980, he led a party of walkers along the section of track between Bullaburra and Wentworth Falls, and in 1983 he created a written guide to the track.
By 1986, Bruce's Walk had come to the attention of two other walkers, Jim Smith and Wilf Hilder, who organised a group of volunteers to clear the track between Bullaburra and Wentworth Falls. In the process, they found many artefacts and features, including signs, shelter caves, seats and picnic tables. This part of the track was officially opened on 24 May 1986, by Alderman David Lawton. The opening was attended by 118 people, including Dick Rushton, who was by then eighty years old.[2] (This opening was condemned by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Mayor of the Blue Mountains City Council.) Other stretches of the track, from Wentworth Falls to Medlow Bath, were also cleared by the volunteers and opened later in 1986.[3] The track, however, is still patchy and largely without signposts, and is not shown on the topographic map for the area.
On the south side of Bullaburra, Red Gum Park offers some scope for walks, with tracks starting from De Quency Road and Cottle Road. The main feature of the park is Minnatonka Falls, situated not far from the residential area in Boronia Road. Tracks go by the falls and part of the way down the creek that flows from the falls.[4]
Cottage in Bullaburra
Minnatonka Falls after little rain
General store in Bullaburra, circa 1930s
The same shop in 2008
References[]
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Bullaburra (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- ^ How To See The Blue Mountains, Jim Smith (Second Back Row Press), 1986, pp.64-66
- ^ How To See The Blue Mountains, p.45
- ^ Katoomba Topographic Map, 8930-I-S, Department of Lands, New South Wales
External links[]
Media related to Bullaburra, New South Wales at Wikimedia Commons
- "History of Bullaburra", Mid-Mountains Historical Society
- Blue Mountains Tourism
- Blue Mountains City Council
Coordinates: 33°43′33″S 150°24′46″E / 33.72583°S 150.41278°E
- Suburbs of the City of Blue Mountains