Jittery premiers and chief ministers need only the slightest provocation to pull up the drawbridge again, so the reward hardly seems worth the risk to be too ambitious when it comes to travelling.

Confined to NSW anyway, creative locals might be inclined to reduce the scale again and explore their own region to see the best of Australia (including its geographic diversity and its quirkiness) in miniature.

For a taste of Tasmania-style high country, a short drive south to Oberon and surrounds - home of trout, the occasional summer snow and bracing mountain air - should suffice.

Jenolan Caves and Kanangra Walls are major attractions in our backyard, but familiarity has, perhaps, bred a bit of contempt - or at least complacency.

A sense of the emptiness of the nation's interior is achievable by driving a couple of hours west and moving beyond the major population centres to some of the tiny villages sitting on the vast plains.

For Canberra-style political history, try Parkes and its connection with its Father of Federation namesake Henry.

And for Glenrowan bushranger country, make it Forbes and Eugowra and its echoes of Ben Hall and the Escort Rock gold robbery.

Portland's The Foundations mural is a much closer option than the Silo Art Trail across western Victoria's Wimmera and there's more than a hint of the Northern Rivers' hippy belt (though dissimilar weather) in some of the offbeat stores along Katoomba's vertiginous main street.

Hill End and Sofala can stand in for Kalgoorlie or Broken Hill, at a pinch, for mining and frontier history and outback art.

Finally, our region can't offer coastal scenery, of course, but you can get an approximation of it, in the right light and at the right angle, at Burrendong Dam, Wyangala Dam or coming in to Lake Cargelligo near Condobolin.

The border battles will eventually be a memory, but they might do us all a favour if we have the right spirit - and apply a bit of imagination.

What better place to explore than the region just outside your back door?