KANDOS

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Kandos, being 762 metres above sea level, has a cool temperate climate which produces stunning roses and abundant fruit, including grapes and olives.

Kandos weather can be both dramatic and changeable with sunshine, wind, thunderstorm and rainbow all on the same day.

Approaching Kandos from Sydney you see an aerial ropeway carrying buckets of limestone across a valley to the lego-like cement complex huddled into Coomber Melon Mountain. It is a rare image of nature overshadowing industry.

Kandos sprang from the imagination of a group of men who recognized that natural deposits of limestone, coal and shale near a railway line could grow into a cement industry; and that a hill covered with dense scrub could grow into a town.

After purchasing 100 acres they subdivided it into quarter acre blocks, yankee grubbed the streets and named their ‘private village’ Kandos, using the first letter of each of their names. Then they lured other enterprising men to the first land sale on August 14 1915.

Bicentennial Museum

Most of the shops, institutions and houses were built in the first two decades of the 20th Centaury.

The Bicentennial Museum in Buchanan Street began in 1919 as a Methodist church. This unique building is now on the Register of the National Estate. Built of concrete in the Californian ‘mission style’ it was furnished with comfortable sea-grass chairs. On a hot day it is the coolest place in Kandos.

St. Dominic's Convent

The scout hall in Dabee Road is a good example of an ash brick construction. Generations of children dashed through the turnstile and down the cement path, then stood to attention beneath the grand little entrance with its awning and pillars, green and yellow trim and proud scouting symbol.

Built by the cement works, the scout hall is one of many leisure premises which the cement industry provided for the workers and people of Kandos over the nine decades it has been here.

Enjoy The Sights

There is more to see in Kandos than a few fine buildings. Contained within forty streets, where there are no traffic lights, and no two houses are the same, Kandos is a town of idiosyncratic delights.

 Don’t make the mistake of thinking the Business area is contained in the first town block. Businesses are spread out along three blocks of Angus Avenue, interspersed with houses.

You are likely to see king parrots, galahs, cockatoos, koels, friarbirds, sparrows, blackbirds, wedgetail eagles, fairy wrens, spotted pardillos, double-barred finches, willy wagtails and the incomparable magpie. Magpies strut imperiously in parks and on verges. Sparrows hop and dart across lawns into Banksia rosebushes.  White cockatoos send up a communal screech. Brilliant red and blue parrots cavort on bare grey branches.

You will notice that Kandos is alive with the sounds of human endeavour.  They are isolated sounds very different from the indistinct drone of the city – a door slamming, a vacuum humming, a car revving, a garage door opening, a magpie warbling.

Tune into our local community radio for a country viewpoint.

International food companies have not discovered Kandos. You’ll find our fast food outlets are better, and there is plenty of choice.

For sit-down meals there is a range of restaurants, mainly informal. Small country prices for large country servings.

Taste-test the wine and oil of our local vineyards and olive farms. Seek out our local products at licensed premises and business outlets. Don’t go home without a bottle or two.

Pick up the brochure ‘Come For a Walk Around Kandos’ available from many local outlets, or download from www.rylstone.com.

 Enjoy the idiosyncratic features of our small town:

Country Shopping

Kandos district has a variety of accommodation options including

Students from Kindergarten to Year 12 as well as pre-schoolers are catered for in Kandos.

In the nearby town of Rylstone there is a district hospital. Two doctors provide medical services. There is a pharmacy and aged-care facility.

Kandos Bicentennial Industrial Museum in Buchanan Street overlooking Jacques Street contains much of the town’s history, including the production of cement and coal, railway travel, domestic life, war history and local history.

At www.rylstone.com you can find further information and download the following:

These  Kandos / Rylstone businesses are partners in promoting the Bylong Valley Way

Easy Driving ..........on Your Inland Adventure Trail

From the Bylong Valley Way to the Golden Highway and on to the New England Highway