Baulkham Hills  New South Wales

About 30km north-west of Sydney’s CBD, Baulkam Hills is a tranquil, leafy, semi-rural place of ponies, general prosperity and four-wheel drive vehicles.

But it wasn’t always this way. Originally, the land round here was taken up with convict farming settlements and life for those residents was a far cry from today’s.

In 1804 in the neighbouring burgh of Castle Hill, Irish convicts staged a notorious uprising and sought their freedom in a desperate march to Parramatta but they were defeated by government soldiers at the battle of Rouse Hill.

Baulkham Hills Shire is one of the largest urban local government areas in NSW, stretching north from Parramatta to Wiseman's Ferry on the beautiful Hawkesbury River. It encompasses areas of secluded and remote bushland, delightful rural vistas, and many charming villages rich in Aboriginal and pioneering history.

Many leading Australian companies are based in the shire's industrial areas, which include the world-standard Norwest Business Park and Castle Hill Trading Zone.