Bowral, New South Wales

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Bowral (34°30′S, 150°24′E) is a town located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire.

Bowral is perhaps the best known of the towns and villages that comprise the Southern Highlands, and in recent years has become the commercial centre of the Wingecarribee Shire. Bowral is home to the world famous Bradman Museum which celebrates not only the achievements of Bowral's favourite son, Sir Donald Bradman, but also a wealth of world sporting information and memorabilia. Bowral is also the setting for "Tulip Time", a Spring celebration where over 100,000 tulips and 25,000 flowers are planted in the town centre. Held every September to October, Tulip Time has become one of Australia's leading floral festivals. Bowral lies at the heart of the Southern Highlands BOOKtrail, Australia's first booktown project. Bowral also has great facilties like a local skate park where many skate comps are held, it also ofers a movie thetre and a sleazy brothal just over in Berrima, a close by town.

The population of Bowral is over 10,000 (recorded at 10,402 on census night 2001) and growing rapidly due to the completion of the M5 freeway from Sydney and linking to Canberra.

The population swells during winter, when thousands of visitors book into the local hotels and B&Bs to enjoy romantic fires and secluded winter getaways. Spring is also very popular with gardening enthusiasts who come to view some of the world's most beautiful formal gardens designed by landscape luminaries such as Paul Sorensen who designed the gardens of Invergowrie.

Bowral is overshadowed by Mount Gibraltar which is 861m above sea level.