Collector

Collector is on the Federal Highway, around 30 minutes from Canberra and from Goulburn. It is not a town that you would go far out of your way to visit, but if you are travelling the Federal Highway, it adds not more than a minute or two to your trip.

Its a bit close to Canberra to be useful as a stopping point on the way to Sydney. It is a reasonable place to consider stopping between Sydney and the Snowy Mountains, if you want to avoid the major centres. Collector still seems to struggle as town, bypassed by the highway, and difficult to compete with the highway services with fuel prices and convenience. There is no petrol in Collector as the store is closed.

Murrays Coaches will drop you in Collector from Canberra once daily, and they will pick you up again if you book in advance (they won't divert through the town unless there is a booking). This is not a popular destination for coach travel.

You could walk across town in around 10 minutes, if you wanted to. It is hard to imagine being in Collector without a car or bicycle.

Dreamers Gate is a sculpture on Church St, on a property by easily visible from the road. You really can't miss the large metal structure. It was made by an artist to honour his father, and is still in the process of being completed.

There is a weir in the town, with a small picnic area, and a bit of a walk alongside it. May make a change from highway services as a stopping point between Sydney and the Snowy Mountains. Swimming there wouldn't be advised.

Lake George is not far from Collector, usually home to a few grazing sheep. What appears on many maps as a big blue area is usually nothing more than grass a little greener than what surrounds it.

• Bushranger Hotel (On the main street, cannot be missed). There is some history here, with the hotel being the site of holdup by Ben Hall and his bushranger gang. The hotel was renamed in his honour. The hotel now can't decide whether it is a country pub, or a tourist themed historical pub, and it doesn't really succeed in being either. 

The general store has closed but there is a cafe in town, open Th-M 9AM-3PM.

There is no accommodation in Collector.

You can follow the freeway, north or south. If going to Canberra, you can travel the top of the range through to Gundaroo and onwards on Gundaroo Road into Gungahlin. It is a scenic, but much slower alternative. If going to Melbourne, you can shortcut across to Gunning, and save considerable time over taking the freeway back towards Sydney. If your destination is Sydney, then you have no option but to go back onto the freeway.