The Goolgowi Post Office

Goolgowi (including Merriwagga and Gunbar)
Quiet town near the famous 'Black Stump'
Located 649 km west of Sydney via the Great and Mid Western Highways Goolgowi is the headquarters of Carrathool shire. If it was a little further west it could fairly be described as being 'beyond the black stump' (an expression used to describe incredible isolation) because nearby is Merriwagga which claims to be the home of the Black Stump.

32 km west along the Mid Western Highway en route for Hay is Gunbar, said to be an Aboriginal word meaning place of plentiful meat. Once a thriving township based on income derived from Cobb & Co. passengers and local station owners Gunbar is virtually a ghost town today.

The first run in the area was probably 'Honuna'. Gazetted in 1849 it later became a part of the 'Gunbar' run. The village grew around what began as a teamsters' campsite. A grog shop opened there, resulting in a drunken fight involving both whites and Aborigines over the issue of whether or not another keg would be opened. Lives were lost. An inn had replaced the grog shop by 1871.

In 1884 a new township was surveyed and laid out about 2 km from the existing site but owing to a lack of fresh water and shade settlement reverted to the previous site, which is where it stands today. The depression hit the town hard and people began to drift away. Today few buildings remain other than the Pioneer Memorial Church, built in 1934 to replace the original 1884 structure. Its unique stained glass window is a further tribute to the district's European pioneers.

22 km north of Goolgowi is Merriwagga, which claims to have the tallest hotel bar in the west.

The black stump at Merriwagga south of Hillston

Its other claim to fame is its association with the 'Black Stump'. At the Black Stump Picnic area is a pioneer wagon and a memorial stone which explains the legend. In 1886 a bullocky named Blain stopped at what has subsequently been gazetted as the Black Stump Tank, ten miles west of the marker. This was an overnight camp and watering place for wagon trains carting materials south to the paddle steamers on the Murrimbidgee River. Blain went looking for feed for his animals leaving his wife to make camp for the evening. When he returned he found her burned to death, presumably as a result of lighting the fire for the evening meal. It is said that, in the unsentimental and laconic mode associated with the Australian bush, he explained that she 'looked just like a black stump'. The idea of the 'black stump' has entered the vernacular as a reference point for the outward limits of imaginable distance in sayings such as 'beyond the black stump' and 'this side of the black stump'. Mrs Blain was buried in the Gunbar cemetery.

The Black Stump Hotel, Merriwagga

Things to see:  

Exploring Goolgowi
Pioneer Memorial Park in Goolgowi is a pleasant resting spot for the weary traveller. Another tribute to the early settlers can be found at the Goolgowi Hall where there is a huge wall hanging created by local women which presents an historical view of the township, juxtaposing past and present.

West of town are Palmyra Reserve, the basis of the Goolgowi water supply and a haven for waterbirds, and some commercial clay pits.

	Tourist Information
	Goolgowi Council Chambers 9-11 Cobram St Goolgowi NSW 2652 Telephone: (02) 6965 1306
	Hotels
	Royal Mail Hotel Xara St Goolgowi NSW 2652 Telephone: (02) 6965 1406
	Caravan Parks
	Goolgowi Caravan Park 44 Napier St Goolgowi NSW 2652 Telephone: (02) 6965 1331