From country squires to stunning opal mines, travelling the Kamilaroi Highway, in NSW’s far west, offers you a quintessential Aussie bush experience.
The Kamilaroi Highway traverses some of NSW’s quirkiest and historically rich outback towns. And being a relatively new road, it’s in good nick with little traffic. So sit back, enjoy the scenery and explore the many attractive towns along the way.
The start of the Kamilaroi Highway is at Willow Tree, 55km north of Scone – which gives you the perfect excuse to grab some Hunter Valley wines to toast those dazzling outback sunsets (but make sure you don’t drink and drive).
The first major town on the Kamilaroi is Quirindi. It was once the main service centre for the early Liverpool Plains grazing runs; the sheep and cattle brands set in the town’s pavements are a reminder of its pastoral heritage. The landscaped streets are lined with some wonderful historic buildings, including the old picture theatre, which has lots of memorabilia hanging on the walls and still shows films every now and again.
In addition to the broadacre farming that has replaced the livestock stations, Quirindi is famous for its polo horse studs. The annual polo carnival was first held here in 1893 and runs every August.
You’ll get a great view of the road ahead from Who’d-a-Thought-It Lookout, and nature lovers should take the short drive out to Old Quipolly Dam where the local council has put up a birdhide in the serene wetlands setting.
If you want somewhere to stay, Lynda and Peter Hatfield at Castle Mountain Farmstay (see box, over page) provide comfortable accommodation and three meals a day on their 810 hectare sheep and cattle property not far out of town.
An easy hour’s drive from Quirindi, through the last hills you’ll see for a while, brings you to Gunnedah.
Known as the Koala Capital of the World, Gunnedah is home to a thriving population of urban koalas. You can spot them walking along the streets or sitting in the gum trees that have been planted especially for them all over town. Locals phone the latest sightings to Visitor Information staff, so call in and ask.
If you don’t catch them on the streets, head out to Waterways Wildlife Park on the Oxley Highway. Owner Nancy Small started caring for the town’s orphaned and injured koalas 20 years ago.
Nancy now has over 500 native animals – emus, wombats, kangaroos, possums and birds – that she cares for on her four hectare property with the help of locals. She’ll take you into the koala enclosure for a pat and a cuddle with some of the tamer town mascots. The Park is open seven days, 10am–4pm (other times by appointment). Cost is $5 for adults and $2.50 for children (5–15). For more details call 6742 1826.
Gunnedah is also believed to have been the inspiration for My Country, one of Australia’s most-loved and oft quoted poems. The poet, Dorothea Mackellar, often visited her brothers’ properties in the district, and the town pays homage to its favourite adopted daughter and other bards of the bush with a trail of poetry plaques throughout the town. Pay a visit to the ‘lyrical loos’ where bush verse is etched on the back of the cubicle doors and recorded poetry readings play over the speaker system.
For the best view of this ‘land of sweeping plains’, head to Porcupine Lookout, south of town. And if you have time, go to Lake Keepit, 35km from Gunnedah on the Tamworth Road.
Narrabri, an hour’s drive from Gunnedah on the Highway, is one of the main centres of our cotton industry. To learn more, visit the Australian Cotton Centre, next to Narrabri’s Visitor Information Centre. Questacon, the National Science and Technology Centre in Canberra, set up the displays here, so it’s great fun for kids. Open seven days from 8.30am–4.30pm. Cost is $8 adults, $7 concession, $5.50 children (6–17 years) and $19 family (two adults and up to four kids). Group tours are available but you need to book ahead. For more details call 6792 6443 or visit www.australiancottoncentre.com.au.
Just over 50km east of Narrabri is Mt Kaputar National Park; its peak has been described as an ‘ecological island’ that rises up out of the flatness of the black soil plains. You can enjoy some great bushwalks in the area, which trail through a variety of vegetation, home to a wonderful array of animal and bird life. There are also spectacular rock formations, such as Sawn Rocks and Waa Gorge, and you can stay in rustic cabins run by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
The Pilliga Scrub provides another fun day trip in the Narrabri area. The family sedan will handle the road out to Pilliga township (though you’ll probably need a 4WD to go further). Stop at the Australia Telescope Compact Array – six massive dishes that run along a 3km railway track at the CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility, which is open every day and admission is free. For more details visit www.narrabri.atnf.csiro.au/public/. You can then explore Yarrie Lake, thought by many to be a meteor crater.
For lunch drop by the Cuttabri Wine Shanty – an old Cobb & Co pub – in the middle of the scrub and, after, enjoy a free health spa at the Pilliga hot artesian bore baths.
Heading towards Walgett, crop farms give way to cattle country. Watch out for emus as well as herds of cattle and sheep which tend to block the road.
The Burren Junction Bore Baths is a popular stop for caravanners and campers. This is another of the bores that taps into the Great Artesian Basin, and locals swear by the healing powers of its mineral-laden waters. Admission is free and the baths are open every day. For more details visit www.walgettshire.com/Townships/burren_junction.html.
There are some great farmstays around Walgett such as Caloola, a 3240 hectare grazing property on the banks of the Barwon River; Willie Retreat in the Macquarie Marshes, with bunk-style accommodation set up in the shearing shed; Nomads at Cryon; and Bungle-Gully at Come-By-Chance.
The jewel in the Walgett Shire crown is Lightning Ridge, which is definitely worth the 40-minute detour off the Kamilaroi Highway. The paved streets extend only a couple of blocks before they disappear into a rabbit warren of gravel tracks through to underground mines (operating and abandoned).
At the upper (paved) end of town, sagging cottages and ramshackle miners’ pubs stand cheek-by-jowl with stylish jewellery stores and art galleries.
Meanwhile, out in the opal fields, the kitsch and quirky Bottle House, Cactus Nursery and Walk-in Mine alternate with Amigo’s Castle, an elaborate rambling mansion that ‘Amigo’ has been building stone-by-stone for as long as anyone can remember. The Bottle House (call 6829 0618), Cactus Nursery (call 6829 0429) and Walk-In Mine (call 6829 0473) are open seven days from 9am–5pm. Admission to the Bottle House and Cactus Nursery is $5 for adults. Charges for Walk-In-Mine change so check when you’re there.
The Visitor Information Centre sells ‘car door’ touring route maps for $1. Follow the numbered and colour-coded car doors around the town which point to all the top attractions.
For a truly outback bush experience, take a detour on your way back to Walgett to the Grawin and Glengarry opal fields. The Club in the Scrub is an absolute riot – a golf course fashioned out of red dirt … you can only imagine what the clubhouse looks like!
Back on the Kamilaroi, head to Brewarrina where the Barwon and Darling River flow through what is said to be the oldest manmade structure on earth: the Brewarrina Aboriginal Fish Traps, dating back thousands of years.
This elaborate network of rock weirs and pools stretches for around half a kilometre along the riverbed from the town weir and was built to catch fish as they swam upstream.
Today, Bre (as the locals call it) is still known as the fishing capital of the west thanks to its pristine waters and abundant yellow belly, bream, catfish and cod. Quiet camping areas along the Barwon, like Four Mile, offer the perfect setting if you want to get away from it all.
You’re almost there … from Brewarrina it’s just an hour to Bourke. You are now officially in the ‘back country’ where a roadside tree can suddenly ‘erupt’ in a burst of pink as a flock of corellas takes off, and the rare red-tailed black cockatoos are a regular sight.
If you’re expecting Bourke to be a dusty, red dirt outpost, you’re in for a shock. Watered by the Darling River that slices through the centre of this trim and tidy town, Bourke is an agricultural hub surrounded by citrus orchards, lush trellises laden with table grapes, the largest jojoba plantation in the Southern Hemisphere and vast cotton farms.
The town is lined with buildings from the 1800s and monuments like Poets’ Corner (honouring Henry Lawson, Will Ogilvy and Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant) and the gateway mural on the Nyngan Road, painted by outback artist John Murray.
Two of the best ways to see Bourke are on the paddleboat PV Jandra, which cruises along the Darling, and the three-hour Mateship Country bus tour, which takes you to some of the big farming concerns, including the cotton gin during the ginning season. The PV Jandra departs 9am, seven days and costs $14 adults, $10 children (6–16 years) and $12 concession. For more details call 6872 1321. The Mateship Country bus tour departs 2pm Mon–Fri and 9.30am Sat. Cost is $25 adults, $22 pensioners and $11 children. For more details call 6872 1222.
And if you really want to get to the back of Bourke, head 6km further out to North Bourke on the Mitchell Highway and raise the flag (or a beer) at the Back of Bourke Pub.
Bourke also offers some of the best accommodation in the outback, ranging from farmstays and backpacker digs to luxury B&Bs and guesthouses such as the historic Bourke Riverside Motel, set on the banks of the Darling.
Just down the road, Kidman’s Camp is a favourite for travellers who like to ‘rough it’ in a luxury-style log cabin positioned to face the rising sun. It’s perfect for catching up with fellow travellers over a billy tea … and to find out how the hell you get home again!
There’s plenty of accommodation options out west; from country manors and B&Bs to working cattle stations and luxury campsites.
CASTLE MOUNTAIN FARMSTAY just out of Quirindi is an excellent budget option, offering accommodation, all meals and farm activities from $42 per person, per day. Call 6746 2102 or visit www.castlemountain.com.au.
You can then afford to spoil yourself at ROSENEATH MANOR in Gunnedah, a gracious manor dating back to 1878 that has been fully restored as a luxury B&B. Call 6742 1906
If you prefer to rough it, the National Parks and Wildlife Service has rustic bush cabins for rent at DAWSON SPRINGS in Mt Kaputar National Park. Each accommodates six people and comes with cooking facilities and a heater, but you will need to BYO linen. Call 6792 4724.
En route to Walgett, try NOMADS CRYON, an old Aussie pub where the owners also line up seasonal jobs on local properties. Call 6828 5237 or visit www.nomadscryon.com.
In Lightning Ridge, check out the CHASIN’ THE TRAM HOLIDAY CABINS and visit an old Bondi tram converted into a souvenir shop (call 6829 0448), or dine in an old Taronga Zoo train next to the Sheepyard Pub and near the Grawin opal fields (call 6829 3932 or visit www.sheepyardpub.com.au). Camp for free at the Sheepyard Pub and visit the War Memorial, built from rock by locals and Vietnam veterans.
For stays in Bourke, the old Telegraph Hotel on the Darling River has been transformed into the elegant BOURKE RIVERSIDE MOTEL, circled by an award-winning rose garden. Call
6872 2539 or visit www.bourkeriversidemotel.com. Alternatively, stay in a luxury log cabin which faces the rising sun at KIDMAN’S CAMP, putting you officially at the back of Bourke. Call 6872 1612 or visit www.kidmanscamp.com.au.
For more details on events/attractions, call 1800 659 931 or visit www.kamilaroihighway.com.au.
One of the best ways to get a feel for the rich pioneering history of the north-west is by visiting the old cemeteries.
Local stonemason, Ray Collins, has restored the old gravestones at Wallabadah Cemetery, east of Quirindi. And just out of Boggabri, between Gunnedah and Narrabri, look out for four grave sites in the shadow of a rock formation known as Gin’s Leap. They belong to members of the Grover family who owned a nearby hotel in the 1800s. The daughter and her young son were killed when alcohol ignited an open slush lamp and caused an inferno.
Out in the Pilliga Scrub, west of Narrabri, a family of Indian hawkers, who once travelled the countryside selling their wares to far-flung property owners, are buried in a corner of the Pilliga township cemetery. And at the Brewarrina Mission site, you can retrace history wandering among the simple white crosses that mark the Aboriginal graves.
Walgett Cemetery is the permanent resting place of many local legends, and the historical society has put together a site map (available from the Walgett Visitor Information Centre) that details their tales of courage, spirit and determination.
And, finally, in Bourke Cemetery you can pay homage to eye surgeon Fred Hollows, who asked to be buried in the town where he did much of his early work treating trachoma in the local Aboriginal communities.
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