Few buildings in Australia can claim to be as old as this one. Old Government House sits in Parramatta Park, on a rise above the Parramatta River, and was begun in 1799 under Governor Hunter. It is the oldest surviving public building in the country, a plain, graceful Georgian house where successive governors lived and worked, including Lachlan Macquarie, who added to the estate. It forms part of the UNESCO listing of Australian Convict Sites, which recognises how the penal colony shaped the nation.
The reason for the site lies in the river. Parramatta, from the Burramattagal word often said to mean the place where eels lie down, was the second European settlement in Australia, founded in 1788 because the soil beside the river was better than at Sydney Cove. The Burramattagal people had lived here for thousands of years, fishing and gathering along the same water. The park, which was once the governor's domain, still carries that double history in its old trees and open lawns.
For riders it is an easy and civilised stop in the middle of a big city. Parramatta is Sydney's second heart, and Westmead is right beside the park. The roads here are busy: the M4 and Parramatta Road carry heavy traffic, and weekday peaks are slow. A weekend morning is far pleasanter, when the park gates open and joggers, cyclists and families spread across the grass. Fuel, food and coffee are everywhere, from the cafés in the park to the long strip of eateries in Parramatta itself.
From here you can head north-west toward the Old Great North Road, built by convicts in the 1820s and 1830s to link Sydney with the Hunter Valley, and still a magnificent piece of stonework in places, with retaining walls and culverts that have outlasted the traffic. Beyond lie the Blue Mountains, a short ride away. Summers are hot, often above thirty-five degrees, with storms in the late afternoon, and autumn is the nicest season.