Gilgandra

Our last stop on this trip was Gilgandra. We got there late afternoon so had a quick look around some of the shops before heading to find some accomodation.

Where we stayed

The Alfa Motel on the road towards Dubbo. It was really cheap for a family room. We were all in together, something that doesn't really worry us after doing it a number of times over the years. It was a smallish room, but fine for one night. We were at the back of the property, still not far from the road but it was quiet at night. There was a swing set right next door which kept the kids occupied for a little while. 

What we did

We had a walk along the 'Windmill Walk' in the evening. It was quite pleasant as the sun was setting. It's a tarred walkway along the edge of the river which has a number of windmills along it & was right across the road from the motel. The most interesting was an art piece. The other windmills really didn't look much different to us (well other than some having 3 legs & some having 4!)

'Ghost of Christmas Past'
Made by Year 7 students at Gilgandra High in 2005

Photo taken by DD6 on my phone!!

The next day we visited the Rural Museum & the Cooee Heritage Centre. The Rural Museum had some old buildings set up with old furniture & decorations. There was a hospital room, a school, church etc. The big shed is full of old machinery, farm equipment, telephone exchanges & lots of other random old items that are interesting to look at. Our kids had a ball running around taking photos of literally everything!

The Cooee Heritage Centre is attached to the Information Centre. The Cooee's were a group of 35 men who left Gilgandra in 1915 to walk to Sydney to join the war effort. Along the way they gathered 263 men through recruiting drives in the towns they walked through. There is a gallery in the centre outlining the walk & showing some items from the march. There are other galleries in the centre as well. One had a great display of photography. The other has a collection of items collected from around Australia. 

The rest of our time we spent having a look at some of the shops. There was an antique shop that was interesting to look at as well as the usual variety of other shops. Around town there are metal cut out figures, here mostly swaggie type figures or men in uniform.

A mural depicting the Cooee March. The figure in the photo
above is at the left of the mural.

Where we ate

We weren't sure where the best place for dinner was. After looking at the room service menu in the motel room & seeing butter chicken on it, both DS10 & I voted for room service. We weren't sure what we could get DD12 that would be gluten free, but hubby was talked into getting her butter chicken. For a kid that doesn't much like spicy food, she ate every bit of the chicken & rice - she wouldn't eat the sauce. The butter chicken was absolutely delicious! DD6 had a huge chicken snitzel, while DH had a steak. All the food looked great.

Brunch the next morning we went to Rock Cake Bakery, sort of styled like an old diner. The kids were impressed with the couch that was like the back of a car. DH & I had bacon & eggs while the kids enjoyed cakes - including a gluten free jaffa cake for DD12. The bacon & eggs weren't huge, especially when I didn't get toast with it, but it was enough. The coffee was again country coffee, but not too bad.

Lunch we had at a takeaway shop in the main street - either called Cafe 41 or Gilgandra Fish Shop (google maps shows both names, but when searching for it Cafe 41 doesn't come up) Nice food there too. DD12 & I had grilled fish & chips, once we checked the chips were gluten free. The other meals looked good too. They made sweet potato scallops which I would have had if I hadn't decided I need to not eat wheat!! There was a nice shaded area outside where we ate - including a nice mural around the wall.

We left after lunch to head home. Had one more stop along the way - a waterfall DH had been shown by a work mate called Hickeys Falls. 

Gulargambone

One of those 'how on earth do you pronounce it' towns that Australia seems to have plenty of! As the word means 'plenty of galahs', think of the first part of the word as Galah & the rest as it's written & you'll have it. On the sign it says 500 people, but I'm guessing as with most country towns it's probably less.

The first thing that greets you as you drive into Gulargambone (from any direction apparently) are large corrugated iron galahs. These are all through town as well & look really cool. There's even one hanging upside down on a TV aerial (though I didn't manage to get a photo of it).

One of the corrugated iron galahs - this one was in the park

Where we ate

2828 Gulargambone

We'd heard about 2828 as being the place to eat so that's where we went. The menu is basic, there was the choice of 3 things the day we were there. Two kids tried the bolognese bake, which they loved. DD12 & I shared a steak sandwich with caramelised onion & salad (but without the bread), while hubby had the same with the Turkish bread. We all enjoyed our meals. 

There's also a burger place at the other end of town & a Hotel.

What we did

2828 is also a gift shop & information centre. While we were eating lunch, they played the DVD showing how 2828 came about which was very interesting. The community came together to renovate the building & it is run by volunteers. They hold various functions during the year including the yearly 'Dinner under the Stars'. A variety of Tourism awards have also been won. They also helped with building the corrugated iron galahs. We bought a few souvenirs - DD6 was in love with a galah finger puppet + I got a few postcards. There was also a variety of tin wall hangings - I bought a Christmas tree that looks like it has been made from a pressed tin ceiling. 

As well as shopping in 2828, we went for a walk around town. There is a walk along the river which was quite pleasant & didn't take too long. It was signposted as an Aboriginal walk, showing some of the Aboriginal heritage of the town. Kids were very excited to see fish in the river!

River walk

One other shop we went into was a craft type shop. It had a random variety of stuff & DD6 was really happy to get a mug with elephants on it! The shop had obviously been a takeaway shop in a previous life - the counter was still there along with the mirror behind it. The sign out the front said coffee & milkshakes so I guess they made those as well.

Main St of Gulargambone

We didn't stay here as we were driving through. Looks like there is a hotel/motel & a caravan park. Pretty good for such a small town. We enjoyed our short time there & have already had requests from the kids to go back!!