New South Wales (Western NSW)

Since copper was discovered here in 1869, COBAR, just under 160km south of Bourke and the first real stop on the Barrier Highway between Nyngan and Broken Hill, has experienced three mining booms. Today, it’s home to the vast CSA Mine, said to be the most highly mechanized in Australia, extracting about 850,000 tonnes of copper every year. Earlier booms resulted in a number of impressive public buildings, among them the 1882 courthouse and the police station, as well as the Great Western Hotel on Marshall Street, whose iron-lace verandahs are said to be the longest in the state. 

Cobar’s most recent industry is emu farming: as more and more restaurants serve up bush tucker, the big birds are in demand. None of these things add up to a very compelling reason to visit; you stop here – if at all – to refuel before driving the long stretch to Wilcannia.

For more about the town, head for the Cobar Regional Museum (Mon–Fri 8am–5pm, Sat & Sun 10am–5pm; $3) on Marshall Street, which is also the local tourist office (tel 02/6836 2448). They can tell you about above-ground tours of the CSA mine (by arrangement on tel 02/6836 2001; free) and provide “Mud Maps”, roughly drawn maps showing places of interest around Cobar that are difficult to reach. Chief of these, and arguably one of the most significant Aboriginal rock art locations in New South Wales, is the Mount Grenfell Historic Site, a 72-kilometre drive northwest of town. The rocky ridge contains three art sites with over a thousand motifs – human and animal figures, including the emus which you’re still likely to see around the site, plus abstract designs and hand stencils. Older layers are visible beneath the more recent pigments, but there’s no way to tell exactly how old the art is. The adjacent semi-permanent waterhole explains the significance of the site for the Wongaibon people. 

The NPWS in Cobar, at 19 Barton St (tel 02/6836 2692), hands out a leaflet detailing the site, with its picnic and barbecue areas, toilets and limited water, plus a five-kilometre signposted return walk to the top of the ridge. To reach the site, head west along the Barrier Highway for 40km, then 32km north along a gravel road past Mount Grenfell Homestead to the picnic site.

There are a number of motels along the highway in Cobar; two to try – both with air-conditioning and pools – are the Hi-way Motel and the Cross Roads Motel, at the corner of Bourke and Louth roads; alternatively, there’s the Cobar Caravan Park.