City of Hawkesbury

City of Hawkesbury is in the far northwest of outer Sydney in New South Wales.

Understand
The City of Hawkesbury is a large semi-rural area to the northwest of Sydney. Some of Australia's oldest colonial settlements are to be found here, and have remained underdeveloped in the years since. The outward development of Sydney's suburbs has reached the area, and it could now be considered part of Sydney proper.

The Windsor area represents the third-oldest area of European settlement in New South Wales (after Sydney and Parramatta). Settlers arrived here in 1791 and called it "Green Hills". The town was inaugurated in a drive by Governor Macquarie to build cities worthy of the thriving new colony - it was named after Windsor in England, site of a royal castle.

Windsor can make an interesting trip into Sydney's history, well off the beaten path for most visitors. You can find graveyards and sandstone among the car-yards and supermarkets.

The town of Richmond was settled by Europeans in 1794 to set up farms and feed the new colony of Sydney.

Kurrajong is further to the north in the area, a very rural town that acts as an entrance to the Blue Mountains.

By car
If travelling from the Sydney Orbital network, Get yourself onto the M7, then take the Richmond Road exit. Then follow Richmond Rd north until it turns to Blacktown Rd and continue following it until you get into Richmond. Or, turn off to George St to head to Windsor. From Penrith, follow Richmond Road (A9) up north. If you want to avoid tolls, follow Old Windsor Road (A40/A2) and Windsor Road (A2) from Parramatta, heading north.

Heading to Kurrajong and Bilpin means following Bells of Line Road (B59), while heading to Hawkesbury means following Castlereagh Rd and Springwood Rd.

By train
Windsor and Richmond has the regular T1 Western Line and T5 Cumberland Line trains has train services from central Sydney to Windsor and Richmond every 30 minutes.

Get around
Although one of the earliest settled parts of Sydney, the area is largely rural with limited public transport. Getting your own car is going to be your best option.

There is one bus that serves the suburb of Richmond up to Bilpin. The bus runs only twice in the afternoon. There are busses which run around Windsor, Richmond and Kurrajong.

Connect
The City of Hawkesbury is on the edges of most 4G networks, don't expect to be dropping bars. As you climb the blue mountains on Bells of Line Road, some sections are very patchy.

Go next

 * The Blue Mountains to the east
 * The Wollemi National Park to the northeast
 * Wisemans Ferry to the northwest