I spoke about Instagram tourism in the Bali post well, Coonamble couldn’t be further away from that, thank goodness. North, north west of Dubbo on the Castlereagh River Coonamble is a small sheep, wheat and cattle hub that had clearly seen better days. However, on talking to my morning coffee maker the population has been growing in the past few years or so which is a good thing.
While I am on the subject of the health of the town I learnt that country pubs are not the cash cows they once were. There is an absolutely beautiful old building with the proud sign above it “Sons Of The Soil”. Clearly this pub was a cherished part of town and it was a pub that supported the people of the town. Now? Well it’s just a beautiful façade of an empty and decaying internals with no hint of it being fixed. Just around the corner is another old (and apparently haunted) pub that clearly had seen better days and the out of town experienced pub owners, who thought they were on a winner, are now desperately trying to find a buyer to relieve them of this burden. Country pubs just no longer make money. The only reasons offered up included cheaper takeaway alcohol options and increase in wages and other costs. One other that I would like to throw up is the increase in holiday rental options. More houses are available for accommodation today and as such the rooms at the pub are not booked out as much as they once were.
Whatever the reasons and whatever your view on pubs and drinking culture, the pub was/is the heart of a town, a place where the town meets, a place where those on the land can come into town and catch up with friends, something much needed in the bush considering the suicide rate among farmers. They are a place that supports local sports teams, again a positive for the mental health of the young men and women of the town. And from a heritage perspective the buildings they are housed in are magnificent and a real part of our history that should be protected. So there are definitely positives in country pubs to thrive, here’s hoping they can.
Coonamble itself is a cute enough town with a few things happening but it is also a town close to Lightning Ridge, which let’s face it, has a little more to see than Coonamble. Australia’s national gem stone is the opal and Lightning Ridge is the home of the opal (not sure if that is a self appointed credit or not). The one thing that is true is that Lightning Ridge is famous for their black opals, clearly being the main spot for these unique gems.
An interesting discovery I made at our mine visit (pardon the pun) was that black opals are not in fact black. The main colour of the stone can range from white through to grey and on to black. The bits that make the striking colours are the silica within the rock and the way that the light strikes and passes through. This colour is intensified when on a black background and the result is absolutely amazing.
There was no room at the inn at Lightning Ridge so we had to stay in Walgett, a town made famous for me by being the home town of the rather simple secretary in the Australian (now cancelled) comedy Hey Dad. But it’s real fame, or probably more accurately it’s real infamy is that is pretty much the number 1 for crime in NSW. A good sign of this infamy was that our motel had a massive locked gate at night. But I think I know why the crime is so high. You can’t get a coffee or brekkie anywhere. Without these basics I’d be thieving stuff as well. Mind you we walked the streets early evening after a really nice night at the club and there was no sign of danger.
On the Sunday we drove to the Sculptures in the Scrub Walking Track in Timmallallie National Park in the Pilliga Forest, near Baradine. We were there in October which also meant that not only were we treated to some incredible sculptures but they all the wildflowers out in full bloom. I’m not a huge fan of sculptures but most of these were really quite good and I think that they were in amongst the bush and the flowers made a massive difference. There was one that was particularly impressive. It was quite simple, an indigenous man holding his infant child pointing out over the valley from his vantage point high on the ridge. That alone would have been impressive but what made it extremely impressive was when you walked down into the valley you get the revers view of this sculpture sitting high on the ridge. It really was clever and very cool.
The Emus were out in full force on the drive which was pretty cool. Have never really seen them before. Some fun facts about emus are:
- The male emu incubates the eggs and then raises them for the next 5-7 months
- In the meantime the female can go off with another fella
- The dad can sometimes adopt orphaned chicks
- The chicks start out with cream stripes
They are a very cool bird.
The following weekend we visited the Warumbungles and did a few walks. The Warumbungles are basically old harder volcanic rock that stands tall over the softer ground which had been eroded down. These pillars and peaks are quite striking and make for some impressive lookouts though getting up there is pretty hard work especially on the unseasonally warm day we went. It was still impressive even if you don’t get all the way up the top.
OK, I admit that Coonamble is not exactly remote but like Forbes, I really enjoyed exploring a part of NSW I knew little about but thought that I should know more. It has made me itchy to get to places such as Tenterfield, Broken Hill, Bourke, Menindee etc.
