Sitting on the Murrumbidgee River, Wagga Wagga is a centre for industry, agriculture, and education in the area. The town boasts a beautiful Botanic Gardens with nine hectares of brilliant floral displays, exotic hothouse flowers and rainforest. In another park is the zoo and the former council chambers house and art gallery.
Wagga’s main attractions, though, are on the edge of the city. To the south, about a half-hour hike by foot, are the impressive Botanic Gardens at the base of Willans Hill, a huge place with such attractions as a walk-through bird aviary where over three hundred species flit about, a children’s petting zoo (aviary and zoo daily 9am–4pm; free), bush trails and picnic areas, specialist gardens of cacti and succulents, and a Chinese-style garden, plus a kiosk café. On the first and third Sunday of each month, a model train takes children around about for 80¢ a ride. There’s a Historical Museum on Lord Baden Powell Drive, by the Botanic Gardens (Tues & Wed, Sat & Sun 2–5pm) with a hotchpotch collection of old farm machinery, printing presses and a display of over 200 door knockers. Further to the south, the artificial Lake Albert is a popular spot for water-skiing. Canoe cruises are also available down by the Murrumbidgee River (tel 02/6925 5807).
Back in the centre, the City Art Gallery, 40 Gurwood St (Tues–Fri 11am–5pm, Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 2–5pm; free), is home to the National Art Glass collection, a stunning array of contemporary glass pieces, and the Carnegie Print Collection, with over five hundred originals from innovative Australian printmakers from 1940 on; if you’re lucky, Sally Robinson’s vivid Kakadu series might be on display.
On Sunday mornings a bit of life is sparked by the markets (7.30am–noon), at the Grace Bros car park on O’Reilly Street, which have secondhand clothes and books, crafts, local produce and cakes on sale. The Ngungilanna Culture Centre, 11 Gurwood St (Mon–Sat 9am–5.30pm; tel 02/6921 8982), is also worth checking out: run by the Wagga Advancement Aboriginal Corporation, it sells locally made crafts and clothes, as well as books, cards and paintings from around Australia.
Practicalities
The Wagga Wagga Visitors Centre, on Tarcutta Street, close to the river (daily 9am–5pm; tel 02/6923 5402), dispenses free handy driving maps. In town, the old Romano’s Hotel, on the corner of Sturt and Fitzmaurice streets, has been beautifully renovated; rooms are decorated in turn-of-the-century style, and some have showers. The Tourist Hotel, 97 Fitzmaurice St, has no-frills pub doubles, while The Manor Guesthouse, 38 Morrow St, is a good B&B next to the beautiful riverfront park. The best-situated caravan park is the shady and peaceful Wagga Wagga Tourist Park, Johnston Street, right on the town beach and five minutes’ walk from the main shops.
The Baylis/Fitzmaurice strip and its side streets provide fertile eating ground. Wagga Marketplace, a new mall on Baylis Street near the station, has a gleaming food court. For a snack, Café Delish at 14 Baylis St (Mon–Fri 8.30am–5pm, Sat & Sun 8.30am–3pm) has sandwiches, fresh juices and snacks. Other places to eat include the Bahn Thai restaurant at the Club Motel, 73 Morgan St, for authentic Thai cuisine, including a good selection for vegetarians (BYO), and the Kebab Place Restaurant, 152 Fitzmaurice St (BYO; Tues–Sat 11am–midnight), for really tasty Lebanese food. Romano’s Hotel has a modern and very stylish café/bar that makes a decent espresso and serves breakfast all day, and the slick Victoria Hotel at 55 Baylis St has an extensive bistro menu and upstairs balcony open Friday and Saturday nights. Head for the popular Café Europa (closed Sun), 44 Johnston St, for affordable pasta and pizza, or Il Corso at 16 Baylis St (closed Mon) for more upmarket Italian dinners made to order in an open marble kitchen. For Mexican, try Montezuma’s cosy wooden cantina at 85 Baylis St (lunch Wed–Fri, dinner Tues–Sun). The town’s trendiest watering hole – frequented by ABC radio staff – is No 96, at 96 Fitzmaurice St, a wine bar that serves brasserie-style meals. On the other side of the street, at no. 97, The Tourist Hotel has a great place to eat out back; Bernie’s Veggie Restaurant (lunch Wed–Fri, dinner Wed–Sat), serving an array of sumptuous, cheap meals, in an open-fire room with retro decor.
Wagga also has several huge clubs which provide free courtesy buses. Wagga RSL, on the corner of Dobbs and Kincaid streets, also has a Chinese restaurant and Friday-night piano bar, while the Wagga Leagues Club, Gurwood Street, has a good brasserie and live entertainment every Saturday. Maddison’s nightclub at 146 Fitzmaurice St (Wed–Sat) is Wagga’s in-vogue venue for bands and student shenanigans, whilst the Black Swan Hotel (alias “The Muddy Duck”) in North Wagga, close to the university, is also popular with the student population.