Only 45 minutes from Tamsworth,Gunnedah is a thriving regional town known for its true-blue hospitality, exciting events calendar, excellent produce, and above all its well-deserved reputation as the world’s koala capital. The town is a must-do for lovers of the cute, furry marsupials, and you’ll also find so much more to fall in love with in this lovely country town.
After a tasty breakfast at a local café such as Jack and Jill’s, take a stroll around town. Keep your eyes peeled: a population of over 60 koalas lives within the town limits, and they frequently walk down the main street, relax in the parks, or enjoy a feed or a nap in koala-friendly tree corridors planted throughout town. The city of Gunnedah has collaborated with environmental groups to create innovative, best-practice sustainable development solutions to protect these threatened Australian icons.
The Civic Centre Cultural Precinct is a vibrant community hub displaying gorgeous local artworks, and is home to an information centre, a cinema, a theatre, an art gallery and the heritage-listed Town Hall. You can also enjoy the vibrant art scene at the Work of Art Community Gallery.
Gunnedah is renowned for being a beloved home and muse to the Australian turn-of-the-century poet Dorothea Mackellar: you can find a statue of Mackellar at ANZAC Park, as well as the Mackellar Centre, dedicated to promoting local arts and culture. The Centre includes the Jean Isherwood Collection, artworks created by the famed landscape artist, inspired by Mackellar’s seminal poem My Country.
Nature lovers will adore the Waterways Wildlife Park, a family-run zoo with very tame native animals to interact with. There’s also the Gunnedah Rural Museum, a fascinating informative collection of relics from bygone times: old motor vehicles, typewriters, rural machinery, and much more.
Gunnedah’s fertile soils have been made it an agricultural hub, and visitors can enjoy the bounty of the land at the Gunnedah Country Markets and Plains of Plenty co-op markets. The lush soils also make for beautiful verdant scenery: in particular, roadtripping to Mount Kaputar, the Warrumbungles and Coolah Tops will make for some beautiful snapshots to remember your trip by.
