Cotton in the fields outside Gunnedah

Gunnedah (and Curlewis)
Major town in the heart of the New South Wales wheatbelt.
Gunnedah is a sizeable country town of some 10 000 people, situated on a sloping ridge above the Namoi and Mooki Rivers in the wheat belt of northern NSW, 434 km north-west of Sydney and 264 m above sea-level. The wheat grain silos loom over the town. Wool, beef cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep, lucerne, barley, cotton, oilseeds and sorghum are other primary industries. The town possesses the largest beef-cattle selling centre in the state (the auctions can be viewed every Tuesday). Gunnedah is situated upon one of NSW's largest coal seams which is currently being exploited by three mines. The town also has a major abattoir, a brickworks, livestock feed companies, a flour mill and saw mill.

The Gunnedah area is home to the largest koala colony to be found in NSW, west of the Great Dividing Range. They can be seen on local farms, in the remaining woodlands and even in town.

Gunnedah calls itself 'Town of My Country', a reference to poet Dorothea MacKellar (1885-1968) who spent a great deal of time on a local property from 1905 (the year she wrote her best-known work, 'My Country', which is thought to have been inspired, in part, by the local terrain) until the late 1930s. Each year school children are encouraged to submit poetry for the Dorothea MacKellar National Poetry Competition for Schools.

The Gunn-e-darr people of the Kamilaroi tribe inhabited the area before white settlement. They associated the future townsite with a sizeable outcrop of white stone where the public school now stands in Bloomfield St. At the end of the 18th century they were led by a legendary warrior named Cumbo Gunnerah, known as the 'Red Chief', who became the subject of a 1953 novel by Ion Idriess.

The first European in the area was Alan Cunningham who passed to the north in 1827, en route to the Darling Downs. He was followed by Thomas Mitchell in 1831. The future townsite arose out of what was originally a principal crossing-place for teamsters on the Namoi River. White settlement began in the mid or late 1830s when John Johnston established the Bulomin run on the Namoi River, building his homestead and woolshed by the riverbank. Consequently the area was known as 'The Woolshed' until about 1860. The property was later renamed the 'Gunnedah'.

Other squatters followed Johnston. A survey of the townsite was carried out in 1854 and the first land sales took place in 1857. The soil proved arable and wheat-growing soon commenced. In 1866 the population was recorded as about 300. At that time bushranger 'Thunderbolt' (alias Fred Ward) robbed the patrons of the Carroll Hotel and then settled in for a party which was broken up by a party of mounted troopers. A gun battle ensued and Ward escaped though some horses and property he had stolen were recovered.

The railway arrived in 1879 and the town subsequently became the commercial centre of the north-west and began to expand. Cohen's Bridge was built over the Namoi in 1884 and the town became a municipality in 1885 with a population of about 1000.

Attempts to establish coalmining proved unsuccessful until the Gunnedah Colliery was established in 1900. New discoveries in 1978 greatly expanded operations. Also of some interest is the fact that Italian POWs worked on local farms in the Second World War.

AgQuip, the largest agricultural machinery field day in the Southern Hemisphere, is held each year in August. It attracts around 100 000 visitors. The Lake Keepit Sailing Regatta is held in June and the Tomato Festival in January. The town's markets occur on the third Saturday of the month at Wolsely Park in Conadilly St.

Things to see:  

Tourist Information
Gunnedah's Information Centre is situated in Anzac Park, at the eastern end of South St, tel: (02) 6740 2230. It provides pamphlets outlining a self-drive town tour and the Bindea Walking Track.

The Dorothea Mackellar statue opposite the Tourist Information Office

Dorothea Mackellar Memorial
Gunnedah calls itself 'Town of My Country', a reference to poet Dorothea MacKellar (1885-1968) who is memorialised in a life-size bronze statue which is also located in Anzac Park. Mackellar spent a great deal of time on a local property from 1905 (the year she wrote her best-known work, 'My Country', which is thought to have been inspired, in part, by the local terrain) until the late 1930s. 'Dawn' and 'Burning Off' are considered to have especially direct connections with the Gunnedah area. A broadcast of the author reciting her own poetry can be heard by tuning your radio to FM88 within 100 m of the statue.

Water Tower Museum
Also in Anzac Park is the Water Tower Museum where there is a collection of local memorabilia and photographs. A spiral staircase leads from the third floor to an observation deck from where there are fine views of the town. The complex was the first town reservoir (built in 1908 and operative until the 1950s). It is open from 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Tours can be arranged through the visitors' centre.

Heritage Buildings
Maitland St was the main street of the town until the 1864 flood prompted a rethink. The three-storey building at the Marquis and Abbott St corner was the first store in town, owned by a Mr Cohen. If you head eastwards then, to the right, in the next block, is a two-storey residence which was Mr Cohen's home. Adjacent is the old Sisters of Mercy convent (1879). Next door to that is the Commercial Bank building, the town's first bank. At Maitland and Abbott is a marker indicating the water levels of past floods.

The symmetrical brick courthouse at the corner of Conadilly and Abbotts St was built in 1879 to a design of James Barnet. The railway station in South St (the Oxley Highway) dates from 1879.

Arts Centre
The Creative Arts Centre in Chandos St is a permanent display of over 70 pieces of art and pottery, including a series of watercolours relating to Dorothea MacKellar's 'My Country'. There is also an extensive range of exhibitions and classes relating to a wide diversity of crafts.

The Old Bank Gallery is located at 284 Conadilly St, tel: (02) 6742 3944.

Red Chief Memorial
The Red Chief Memorial, on the footpath outside the government office block in Abbott St, honours the Aboriginal warrior, Cumbo Gunnerah, an 18th-century leader of the Gunn-e-darr people; a subgroup of the Kamilaroi tribe who inhabited the area before white settlement.

He was buried adjacent this spot in a sitting position backed by a tree (known to whites as 'The Blackfellow's Tree') carved with totemic designs in his honour. His remains were exhumed and passed on to the Australian Museum in Sydney, along with a portion of the tree.

Little was known of Cumbo Gunnerah until King Bungaree, the last Gunn-e-darr full-blood, broke a tribal restriction and told a white friend about the warrior.

The original tree carving has been reproduced in bronze on the memorial. Gunnerah became the subject of a novel by Ion Idriess called The Red Chief (1953).

Gunnedah Rural Museum

Rural Museum
The Rural Museum, containing farm machinery, equipment, a gun collection, photography and other artefacts is located on the Oxley Highway, 1 km west of the post office. It is open seven days from 9.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.

Bindea Walking Track
The Bindea Walking Track is a 22-km walk which can be subdivided into a series of shorter loops, taking in the commercial and residential sections of town, the Porcupine Reserve, Porcupine Lookout and Avards Lookout. Kangaroos, wallaroos and koalas are often seen at the reserve late in the afternoon. A guiding pamphlet is available from the visitors' centre.

Town Tour
A self-drive signposted town tour takes you through the commercial, residential and historical aspects of the town. It starts at the corner of Conadilly and Abbott Sts and takes in Porcupine Lookout, the Eighth Division Memorial Avenue, lined with 45 flowering gums which honour those from the division who died in World War I. A pamphlet is available from the visitors' centre.

Porcupine Lookout
Porcupine Lookout is 3 km south-east of town on Apex Rd and has picnic facilities and fine views of the town and surrounds.

Woolshed Reserve
The Woolshed Reserve, next to Cohens Bridge on the Namoi River, is an excellent picnic spot.

Lake Keepit
To access Lake Keepit Recreation Area head 29 km east along the Oxley Highway towards Tamworth then turn left on to the Manilla Rd and follow the signposts for a further 5 km. It is ideal for all varieties of water sport - waterskiing, fishing, swimming, sailing, windsurfing and power boating. Children's facilities include a children's pool, a BMX track, a skateboarding area and roller-skating rink. There are barbecues, a kiosk, toilets, half-court tennis and a five-hole golf course. The kiosk sell fishing licences, along with bait and some tackle and it also hires out fishing boats, tel: (02) 6769 7693. You can also contact the kiosk if you are interested in the Lake Keepit Family Fishing Club. For further information on the Park contact the ranger on (02) 6769 7605. The Lake Keepit Soaring Club is also located at the lake, tel: (02) 6769 7514. For reservations at the caravan park, tel: (02) 6769 7620. A sailing regatta is held in June.

Manilla Ski Gardens
Beyond the turnoff to the recreation area there is another signposted turnoff on the left into a dirt road that leads, after 3 km, to Manilla Ski Gardens on the eastern side of the lake. There is an established caravan park, a kiosk, playground equipment, barbecues, boat ramps and fisherman's lodges, tel: (02) 6785 1686.

Waterways Wild Life Park
The wildlife park is 7 km west of Gunnedah on the Mullaley Rd (the Oxley Highway). There are emus, kangaroos, wombats, birds, lizards, possums etc. The entry fee is currently $2 for 5 to 15 years and $4 for over 15s. Ring (02) 6742 1826 or the Gunnedah Visitors' Centre to check the variable opening times.

Meridian Rest Area
There is a rest area, 27.5 km west along the Oxley Highway, located on the 150 Degrees East Time Meridian. This meridian was adopted in 1895 as the basis of the Eastern Australian Standard Time, which is ten hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. There is an information board, a sundial and picnic-barbecue facilities.

Oxley Memorial
38 km west along the Oxley Highway is Mullaley. 3 km south on the Black Stump Way is the Mount Mullaley Oxley Memorial.

Curlewis
Curlewis, 16 km south of Gunnedah, is a small town of about 500 people which has a hotel, a school, a general store and Joanne's Blue Gum Cottage, a ceramics studio open Tuesdays to Fridays from 9.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m (closing at 3.00 p.m. on Fridays) and from 10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. on Saturdays, tel: (02) 6744 1245.

	Tourist Information
	Gunnedah Visitor Information Centre Anzac Park South St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6740 2230 Facsimile: (02) 6740 2237 Email: tourism@infogunnedah.com.au
	Motels
	Alyn Motel 351 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 5028 Rating: ***
	Billabong Motel 339 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 2033 Rating: **
	Gunnedah Motor Inn 367 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 2377 Rating: ***
	Harvest Lodge 404 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 3400 Rating: ***
	Plains Motor Inn 111 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 2511 Rating: ***
	Red Chief Motel Henry St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 0833 Rating: ***
	The Overlander Motor Inn Lodge 40 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 2677 Rating: ***
	Hotels
	Club House Hotel 169 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 0755
	Court House Hotel 307 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 2144
	Imperial Hotel Barber St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 0176
	Parkview Hotel 141 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 2212
	Railway Hotel 41 Barber St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 1558
	Regal Hotel 298 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 2355
	Caravan Parks
	Tourist Caravan Park Henry St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 1372 Rating: **
	Restaurants
	Central Chinese Restaurant 357 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 3037
	Gunnedah Chinese Restaurant 334 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 0409
	Happy Valley Chinese Restaurant 285 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 0223
	Harvest Restaurant 404 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 3400
	Terry's Pizza's Civic Mall Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 2406
	The Mackellar Restaurant Cnr Conadilly & Warrabungle Sts Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 2677
	The Overlander Motor Inn Lodge Restaurant 40 Conadilly St Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: (02) 6742 2677