Solo Steve On The Road: COONAMBLE, GULARGAMBONE and GILGANDRA NSW

From Baradine and the Pilliga Forest will be Gilgandra for the night via the Castlereagh Hwy and the Towns of Coonamble and Gulargambone. The Hwy crosses the Western Plains, table-top flat with fortunately some picturesque sections where Woodlands lined the road. in essence a rather boring drive though I am sorry to say rather boring Towns.
Coonamble (Aboriginal: "A lot of dirt") didn't inspire me. another Town that has an air of sadness or even inevitability that it must exist and that the population lives here not by choice. a medium sized place of 2975, a Main Street of Shops in need of a bit of character, 3 Pubs and a rather nice old white wooden Church, that I enjoyed. I can't tell you much about Coonamble as There was no Information Centre as far as I could see and without that it's Google time. Its the Town of Galahs. I didn't spy any, or was that one withe the boots and Akubra walking down the street?

A Peace Tree instead of a Town Clock at the Roundabout

Coonamble Council Chambers

The Old Plaza Theatre would look nice if restored

A delightful Old Wooded Church and Bell Tower

Pubs in Coonamble

The Junction

The Bucking Bull c1924

Tattersalls c1930

A short drive to Gulargambone and another disappointment. I imagined as a kid that Galargambone ("A place of Galah Parrots") to be the quintessential Country Town with lines of Horses (or Utes) down the main street and Cowboys sitting in front of the Pub sipping beers in the heat. Not so Readers, not even one Pub here and a Main Street that would fit only half a dozen Utes end to end. No People either, at least when I was there. The Town Emblem is the Galah of course and it advertises "The Corrugated Galahs of Gulargambone" as an attraction. Well they are in the Park at the end of the street. 3 or 4 metre high Iron Birds on poles, one upside down, with street signs right in front of them preventing a decent photo. The Info Centre, yes there is one was closed at midday, so no luck there. Another sad little town for me, I drove on.

Corrugated Galahs of Gulargambone

Gulargambone Post Office

This was best thing about Gulargambone

Gilgandra ("Long waterhole") is the Town of Windmills, what is it with these Icons? A collection of what looked like a half dozen, small Windmill imitations lined a walk in the Lions Park in Town .The Info centre was a surprise, quite big and modern with some attractive displays. The nice lady in attendance tried to help as much as possible to answer my queries regarding Gilgandra's Heritage. She did point out an interesting section that commemorated a Wartime Story that I had never heard about. In October 1915, 25 young Men decided to march all the way to Sydney to enlist as Volunteers. They took a month to reach their destination and amazingly picked up another 245 members on the way. On there arrival in Sydney a huge crowd apparently greeted them. Many original Photos and commentaries and a life size statue of a Digger dressed in the uniform worn for the march helped to further describe the event. It is worth a visit if you are ever near. Otherwise, the rest of Town is nondescript except for a couple of nice Old Pubs, the Railway hotel in particular and the odd nicer shopfront.. There was one strange thing, the Post Office seemed far from the other Buildings in the Main Street, around a corner and at least 500 metres away. It had a Pub across the road with some old Shops. It appeared to me that the Centre of Town had moved at some stage. no one could give me an explanation.
One good thing here was the Chinese Meal I had in Town for dinner, and the chatty Chinaman who wanted to here all about my travels, it was delicious and the best that I had had for ages.
I stayed at the basic "Stop and Rest" Caravan Park which was clean but overpriced at $25 per night. There are no Free Camping opportunities around Gilgandra.