Some of the towns include:

Albury (Pop. 42,005) - An important pastoral centre, with an estimated five million sheep in the area, but it is also the industrial and commercial heart of southern New South Wales.

Balranald (Pop. 1,285) - In the far southwestern hinterland of NSW, this solid settlement was once dubbed the town 'at the very end of the line'. Balranald is on the Sturt Highway, the major road transport link between Sydney and Adelaide, and it serves the surrounding rural community engaged in grain, sheep and cattle production and viniculture.

Bathurst (Pop. 26,920) - Australia's oldest inland settlement, a gracious city of wide, tree-lined streets, historic houses, fine public buildings and an abundance of open squares, parks and monuments.

Clarence Town (Pop. 810) - Famous for its hardwoods (blue-gum forests) and hence, its timber trade during the early 1800s. By 1890, flour mills, tobacco factories, a tannery, hotels and stores were part of a thriving commercial life. The last decade of the nineteenth century saw the demise of the town after four consecutive years of floods, the arrival of the rail transport, an economic depression and taxes imposed on the tobacco industry. The death knell happened in the 1900s when a fire raced through the town. A small number of pre-1860s building are still standing albeit a little dilapidated.

Griffith (Pop. 15,940) - Famous for its vineyards and production of rice, citrus fruits and the nation's second largest poultry enterprise. I have been told, perhaps incorrectly, that it has a large mafia presence.

Hay (Pop. 2,695) - Has always been an important centre of transport and communications. It was a port for the riverboats which plied the Murrumbidgee River as well as being an important staging depot.

Lake Cargelligo (Pop. 1,205) - An old gold town that began in the 1870s. The opening of the railway in 1917 led to expanding agricultural interests and the lake draws watersports enthusiasts.

Orange (Pop. 31,925) - Historic churches, well-established parks and the respectable public buildings give Orange a look of prosperity. The area surrounding the city is abundantly fertile, producing not only apples, but a wide variety of other fruits and vegetables as well as wool, cattle, sheep, pigs, fodder crops and canola. No oranges however! Town was named after Major Thomas Mitchell (after William, Prince of Orange, who later became the king of the Netherlands).

Ungarie (Pop. 342) - Being the second largest settlement (!) in Bland Shire, it has a reputation for either being in flood or dry to the point of disappearing and so the district is prone to summer dust and winter mud.

Wallerawang (Pop. 1,935) - The convenience of the Lithgow coal seam and the growing need for electric power put Wallerawang on the map. A variety of grazing and agricultural activities are pursued in the surrounding valleys but the giant 1,000-megawatt power station dominates the region, an impressive but incongruously industrial sight in such a rural region.