Dubbo has many attractions, including a cellar door at Red Earth Estate, and historic – and somewhat spooky – site Old Dubbo Gaol. For the region’s connections with indigenous culture, take a First Lesson Cultural Tour with Wiradjuri elder Peter Peckham.

As you head west, Nyngan is the last agricultural town before sun-kissed wheat fields give way to red earth. The town’s bright-red, historic Railway Station houses a museum detailing Nyngan’s boom-and-bust heritage.

At Cobar, you’re now deep in the outback. The town’s grand colonial churches, pubs and houses are a reminder of Cobar’s first flourishing during the 1870s gold rush, which you can learn more about at the Great Cobar Heritage Centre, set to reopen soon following renovations. Gold and copper are still being mined here; Fort Bourke Hill Lookout allows for a gobsmacking look into an open-cut mine.

Wilcannia, once one of the busiest inland ports in Australia thanks to the wool trade, is now slumped in the gum-scented heat of the outback. Sandstone colonial-era buildings – police station, post office, grand homes – attest to the settler history of this atmospheric town on the Darling River, which shimmers with sunsets and the silhouettes of paddling pelicans.

Head towards Broken Hill over scorched orange plains and silvery saltbush. The immensity of the landscape is both intimidating and exhilarating. You’ll want to linger for heritage buildings, museums and varied restaurants. Broken Hill has also been a vibrant creative centre since the 1960s, and boasts dozens of art galleries and studios and the largest regional public art gallery in NSW.