NSW Youth Department organized a Camping Weekend 28-30 September 2007. Here is some info about the place:

"Nestling in the hills of the Turon River valley on the banks of the Turon River is Sofala, one of the most interesting and unusual of the old gold mining towns in New South Wales. A village with an authentic old world charm, Sofala can legitimately claim to be ‘Australia’s oldest surviving gold town’ as it developed on the back of Australia’s first gold rush.
The surrounding district is primarily superfine wool farms. Each farm has many relics and remnants of the goldrush. One such farm, turned tourist property, is Chesleigh Homestead, boasting 7km of the original Cobb & Co coach road to Hill End, O’Reilly’s extensive underground mines, and Chinamans Creek alluvial diggings are some of the many things to see.

To the north-east of Sofala is the Turon Technology Museum, to the west is the fascinating gold mining ghost town of Hill End. Excellent homestead accommodation is available at Sofala. Guides to the historic buildings of Sofala and surrounding area are available from the Sofala Souvenir Shop."

We all camped next to the Turon river, just on the outskirts of a small ex-gold mining town called Sofala. Visited the village on Sunday and did some gold panning in the river near where we camped in the morning and then visited a historical ex-goldmining town called Hill End in the afternoon. There were about 30 young and younger people for the weekend, including a visitor from Queensland.

To see a larger image, click on the picture.