Bullaburra, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Bullaburra
city = Sydney
state = NSW


caption = Rhondda Valley
lga = City of Blue Mountains
postcode = 2784
est =
pop = 1,236 (2006)
area =
propval =
stategov =
fedgov = Macquarie
near-nw = "Blue Mountains National Park"
near-n = "Blue Mountains National Park"
near-ne = Lawson
near-w = Wentworth Falls
near-e = Lawson
near-sw =
near-s ="Blue Mountains National Park"
near-se =
dist1 =
dir1 =
location1=

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.

Description

Bullaburra lies west of Lawson, and east of Wentworth Falls. The population together with Lawson was 3637 as of 2001 (Census 2001). Bullaburra has a station served by CityRail's Blue Mountains services, a railway siding, a small paint store 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 Area, is situated not far to the north and south of the town.

Bushwalks

A long 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 21st 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 Lake Greaves 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 24th May, 1986, by Alderman David Lawton. The opening was attended by 118 people, including Dick Rushton, who was by then eighty years old. [How To See The Blue Mountains, Jim Smith (Second Back Row Press), 1986, pp.64-66] (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. [How To See The Blue Mountains, p.45] 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. [Katoomba Topographic Map, 8930-I-S, Department of Lands, New South Wales]

ee Also

*List of Blue Mountains articles

References

External links

* [http://www.midmountainshistory.org.au/bullaburra.html "History of Bullaburra", Mid-Mountains Historical Society]
* [http://www.bluemountainstourism.org.au Blue Mountains Tourism]
* [http://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au Blue Mountains City Council]