Goulburn, New South Wales

Rocky Hill War Memorial

After getting in some beach time at Kiama, we made our way across the great dividing ranges and inland towards the M31, which brought us to a New South Wales country town called Goulburn. The town was established in 1833, to accommodate farmers who had bought blocks of land for farming in the region. By 1841 Goulburn had grown to include a courthouse, police barracks, many churches, a hospital, post office and with it about 1,500 residents. In 1863, Queen Victoria declared the town a city unofficially. After many years of legal battles it was officially declared a city in 1885 thanks to the Crown Lands Act made in 1884. Through all these years, Goulburn has been the regional hub for wool sales and other agricultural activities.
Today, the oldest inland city of Australia is still a regional hub with a population of 22,890.

We discovered more information regarding A. Proud who served in World War I at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. 

We had half a day in Goulburn so we thought we would take a drive around town. The main attraction in Goulburn according to some is the Big Merino, which is the world’s largest standing concrete constructed sheep. It is one of Australia’s 150 useless big things, its pointless, but quite fascinating to look at. Our drive took us into the town to have a browse around, a descent presence of heritage listed buildings represent its oldest inland city in Australia name. On the hill south of the town appears to be a “castle like structure”, which grabbed our curiosity. We found out it was a memorial made for world war one, so we made our way to the hill. Up the top of the hill gives you wide open views of the New South Wales countryside and a nice aerial view of Goulburn. Going through the gates brings you to this beautiful stone conglomerate tower structure that was commissioned in 1925. The inside welcomes you with a stone tablet of people in the region who enlisted in world war one. It was a surprise to find someone by the last name of Proud on there, unsure if there is any ancestry, but will trace it back some time. Going up the staircase is a display of beautifully framed photos from the war times, leading you up to the top of the tower for more views over the town and countryside. After our self guided town tour of Goulburn, we went for a look out at Bungonia National Park.
 
Making our way home from Bungonia made for a really fulfilling day in Goulburn. It was a good way to break up the trip from Kiama to Canberra. Although Canberra was only another 90 kilometres to drive, it was worth stopping the night in Goulburn and taking in this quaint New South Wales country town. National parks, heritage buildings and a relaxed country vibe made for a worthwhile visit.