Tallong - Definition

Tallong is a tiny village in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. It is located about 1½ hours’ drive from Sydney, the capital of NSW, and about an hour from Canberra, the nation’s capital. In the 19th Century the village was known as Barber's Creek.

Once a thriving agricultural community, known particularly for its pome fruit orchards, especially apples and pears, Tallong was destroyed in the Chatsbury bushfires of 1965. Its economy did not recover and the award-winning fruit industry folded. Many residents moved; the Post Office and small businesses closed.

Modern Tallong is saved from obscurity by a few unique factors:

• The discovery of the Tallong Midge Orchid (Genoplesium plumosum), a tiny flower that grows nowhere else on earth, brought the village to the attention of botanists and conservationists. This orchid is now a protected species.
• Tallong has the oldest surviving single-teacher schoolhouse in Australia.
• There are two splendid lookouts over the Shoalhaven Gorge (a 1500-foot drop to the Shoalhaven River) and Morton National Park; Badgery’s Lookout and Longpoint Lookout, both of which attract day trippers.
• The country campus of Santa Sabina College is located in Tallong.
• The 21st Century boom in the real estate market in Sydney brought the affordable land in the Southern Villages to the attention of home buyers, investors and speculators. Property value has almost tripled in some areas.
• The annual Tallong Trail Ride in support of the Rural Fire Brigade attracts riders from as far away as Sydney.

Tallong today is a hamlet of agrarian and trade workers, cottage industries and commuters who work in the neighbouring towns of Goulburn, Moss Vale and Mittagong, or who make the commute to Sydney or Canberra. It has significant populations of older residents who are pensioners (retirees) and weekend residents who use the Southern Highlands as a retreat from the fast pace of city life.