The Southern Highlands is over 2000 feet (700m) above sea level. It sits atop a plateau which straddles the Great Dividing Range.

To its centre it is about 150kms south west of Sydney (along the historic access route) and 80kms from the ocean directly to the east near Wollongong.

It is truncated on most of three sides by steep gorges and valleys, making travel near impossible, and to the east by the steep escarpment above Wollongong and the Illawarra region. A line of lesser hills and ridges allows approach from Sydney, and towards the Tablelands to the west, which when discovered, led to the opening of the continent.

Dense eucalyptus forests and scrub surround the Highlands. To the east this gives way to sub-tropical rainforest as you travel down the escarpment to the warmer coastline (best seen on a drive down the Macquarie Pass towards Wollongong, or the Meryla Pass to Kangaroo Valley, and on to Nowra).

Today of course you can get here by Freeway from the centre of Sydney in only an hour and a half, not the days it took in earlier times. The freeway passes through on its way towards Canberra, the west of the state, and south to Melbourne. (There is still no freeway over the Blue Mountains.)

Several prominent landforms rise above it - Mt. Gibraltar between Mittagong and Bowral - and Mt. Alexandra and Mt. Jellore to the north of Mittagong.

The former two are the remains of volcanic plugs left after the surrounding mountains eroded away.

The plateau sits atop sandstone. To the northeast and southeast the steeper valleys carry minor rivers and their tributaries, dammed at the Nepean, Avon and Cordeaux Rivers supplying water to Sydney in the north, and the Shoalhaven River for Nowra in the south.

The former floodplains of the Wingecarribee (it is now dammed, with little flow) sweep around between Bowral and Kangaloon, to the north of Moss Vale (at Bong Bong - an original site of settlement), through Berrima, past the former settlement of Joadja, westwards towards the Burragorang Valley and the Wollondilly River. Other lesser rivers (Paddys) and creeks join it.

These flatter lands hold mostly clay soils, and in earliest times were reported to have little vegetation other than grasses and shrubs. Imported grasses, however, were quickly planted here, and became the basis of sheep and cattle grazing.

Around these plains are some grey loam soils more suited to pasture. With the availability of fertilisers later in the nineteenth century these became productive farming land.

Needless to say, like most of Australia, these soils are thin and land clearing and overproduction have led to erosion in places.

(You can see how thin the topsoils are by looking at the cuttings alongside the freeway - the first few centimetres with grass on top quickly give way to clay and rock underneath.)

These are rich volcanic soils - the residue of former activity of Mt. Gibraltar.

These sweep to the east towards Glenquarry, Kangaloon, and towards Robertson.

In former times this was covered in dense jungle-like scrub, no doubt taking advantage of the rich soil.

When it was cleared it made rich grazing land - mostly for intensive dairying - and was planted with various crops, of which potatoes were one of the most successful.

Wingecarribee Shire Council, Civic Centre, Elizabeth Street, Moss Vale, NSW 2577 Phone: 4868 0706, Fax: 4869 1203 info@SouthernHighlandsBusiness.com

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