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New South Wales (North NSW) |
| Gunnedah | |
| On the Oxley Highway, 76km west of the New England city of Tamworth, GUNNEDAH, with a population of over eight thousand, is one of the largest towns in the northwest. The lies north-west of the Namoi River, Gunnedah is one of the largest centres for wheat and stock sales in Australia. Cumbo Gunnerah, the respected leader of the Gunnedarr people, immortalised in Ion Idreiss' book "The Red Chief", was burried here in the late 1700s. In 1984 a bronze sculpture was erected in his | |
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town’s claim to fame is as the inspiration for the Australian poet
Dorothea MacKellar (1885–1968) and her patriotic verse My Country,
in which she pledged her undying love for what was then – and still is
now – a drought-stricken land. The opening stanza is familiar to most
Australians, who learnt it by rote at school:
I love a sunburnt country Gunnedah has one of the healthiest koala populations in the state: your best chance of spotting one, wedged high in the trees, is from the Bindea Walking Track that starts at the information centre in Anzac Park (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm). Should you want to stay, try the Billabong motel on Conadilly Street, by the main shopping centre – it’s handy and economical, with well-equipped, air-conditioned rooms and a swimming pool. The nearest caravan park is 1km east of town on Henry Street. Besides the usual pub bistros you can eat in more style at Sabatinas Italian Restaurant at the Regal Hotel or at Mackellar Restaurant at the Overlander Motel which offers basic, good value meals. |
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