The Murrumbidgee River at Narrandera

 

Narrandera
Substantial service town in the Riverina.
This agreeable, gracious rural centre, with its historic buildings and cedar-lined streets, is located in the Riverina region of NSW, 562 km south-west of Sydney via the Hume and Sturt Highways and 152 m above sea-level. A town of 4649 people it has been declared an urban conservation area by the National Trust.

The area was occupied by the Wiradjuri Aborigines prior to white settlement. The place name is said to derive from a local Wiradhuri clan called the 'Narrungdera'. This word in turn is said to mean 'jew-lizard', 'place of the goanna or lizard', or 'caught frill lizard'.

Known with more certainty is the fact that Captain Charles Sturt passed through the district in 1829, probably the first white person to do so. There is a memorial to the explorer just west of the Newell Highway and north of the bridge over the Murrumbidgee as you enter the town from the south.

Buckingbong station, south of the river, was taken up in 1839 by the Jenkins family. 76 800-acre Narrandera Run was the first local station north of the river. It was taken up by Edwin Flood in 1843. This site increased in importance at the end of the 1840s when gold was discovered in Victoria. Drovers diverted their stock routes south to transport meat to the new goldfields and the Narrandera Run proved a good spot for a river crossing.

This trend was intensified during a major flood in 1852 when the creeks became impassable. John Dill built a punt and Edward Flood began pushing for the development of a village on the northern side of the river later in the 1850s. Tension arose between contenders for the northern and southern sides and the government surveyed both in 1860.

The village was proclaimed in 1863 though initial development was slow. Early Australian novelist, Thomas Alexander Browne (who wrote as Rolf Boldrewood), described the fledgling town as 'two hotels, a small store and a large graveyard' in 1865. An experienced squatter he had moved to Narrandera in 1864 as the manager of his brother-in-law's sheep station, 'Bundidgerry', 8 km from town. He tried to dispense with shepherds by fencing off the property and killing the dingoes and eagles with strychnine. However, he abandoned the run in 1869 after a severe drought and moved on to Sydney.

Browne served as a magistrate on the Narrandera bench and began his writing career in 1865 with a description of a kangaroo hunt while he was incapacitated after being kicked by a horse. His first publication was in England the following year. Browne's most famous novel Robbery Under Arms was based on the era's bushrangers.

The population of Narrandera increased from 142 in 1871 to 1142 in 1881 when the railway arrived. As a railhead and steamer port it was most important town in the Riverina from the 1870s to 1914 when the population reached about 3000. The milling of local timber got under way in this period with local red gum and cypress supplying timber to all of the Riverina.

Although it was gazetted as a borough in 1885 the drought and general depression of the early 1890s stalled expansion and Narrandera's industrial base declined and never really got going again. The town became a rural service centre with the closer settlement of the early 20th century. The development of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (see entry on Leeton) brought fertility to the dry plains and diversified primary production to include rice, citrus, cereals, stone fruits, wool, lucerne, fat lambs and poultry.

Noted poet John O'Brien wrote his verse collection Around the Boree Log and other verses (1921) during his 27-year stint in Narrandera where he went by his real name, Father Patrick Hartigan, parish priest of St Mel's Catholic Church. The volume included such well-known pieces as 'Said Hanrahan', 'The Old Bush School', 'At Casey's After Mass' and 'Tangamangaloo'. His other volume, posthumously published in 1954 was, according to his wishes, entitled The Parish of St Mel's. in honour of his parishioners.

 

Things to see:  

 

St Mels Roman Catholic Church

 

Narrandera's Historic Walk
A pamphlet outlining a walk that takes in the town's heritage buildings is available from the visitor's centre in Narrandera Park, on the Newell Highway. The National Australia (formerly CBC) Bank at the corner of East St and Twynam St is a two-storey building of rendered masonry with a detached kitchen, coach house and stables at the rear. Built in 1884 the delicate iron lacework decoration is particularly pleasing. At the same corner is the red-brick Federation-style post office, erected in 1900 with terracotta roof and some inappropriate extensions.

The site of the courthouse and police station (c.1900), at the corner of Larmer and Cadell Sts, includes the former police station (now the inspector's residence), cell block and outbuilding, constructed c. 1870. The railway station and stationmaster's residence (c.1885) are in Whitton St.

The town's old hotel buildings are the Royal Mail Hotel (1868) at 137 East St (the exterior has been altered and for the worst though the interior is substantially the same), the Narrandera Hotel at East and Larmer, and the Star Hotel. Although erected in the 1860s the Narrandera Hotel (largely unaltered) was initially called the Railway Hotel based on the expectation that the railway, when it did arrive, would pass through the southern part of the town, but the floods of 1870 made it clear that the railway would have to be situated on higher ground. Hence the Star Hotel, at Whitton and Arthur Sts, was built adjacent the station when it did arrive and was also called the Railway Hotel. The present building was erected in 1916 and is now a guest house. The old wooden bridge on the Newell Hwy, at the southern end of town, was built c.1886.

 

Antiques Corner, an old residence in Narrandera

 

In addition to the visitor's centre, which has the 'Big (nearly 6 m) Playable Guitar' out the front, the Narrandera Park and Miniature Zoo has Aboriginal Canoe Trees, Queensland Bottle Trees, playground equipment, electric barbecues, toilets, birds and animals, and the Tiger Moth Memorial. The latter is an actual Tiger Moth aeroplane which is a tribute to the World War II trainee pilots who received elementary instruction on these planes in Narrandera between 1940 and 1945.

 

Parkside Cottage Museum
Adjacent the park, on the highway, is the Parkside Cottage Museum (02-6959 1372), housed in a century-old building. The museum has a number of interesting pieces but the most famous are the MacArthur Opera Cloak, a cloak made from the first bale of wool ever sent to England by the MacArthur family in 1816. There is also a snow shoe and a wooden snow ski from Scott's Antarctic Expedition, as well as period costumes, shells, minerals and gemstones. It is open daily for a small admission fee.

 

Hankinson ceramic fountain
The Hankinson ceramic fountain in Memorial Park (East St) was made by Royal Doulton. It is one of only two known to be in existence. The other is in India. It was given to the people of Narrandera by Alderman and Mrs Hankinson in 1922 in honour of those who served in World War I. Antique Corner is located at 126 Larmer St and adjoins the historic Yo Merry home.

 

Lake Talbot Holiday and Aquatic Centre
2 km south-east of town is the award-winning Lake Talbot Holiday and Aquatic Centre complex (02-6959 1211) with a 100-m waterslide, the extra-steep Rampage Slide, a variety of pools, terraced lawns, barbecues and waterskiing/boating facilities.

Lake Talbot Lookout, at the entrance to the Lake Talbot Caravan Park, off Broad St, affords a scenic view of the lake and surrounds.

 

The Bundidgerry Walking Track
The Bundidgerry Walking Track also starts in Broad St, extending about the lake and riverside. Maps are available from the information centre. The reserve along the river has been declared a regeneration area for a disease-free colony of koalas. The best time for a walk is early in the morning when there is plenty of wildlife about - kangaroos, parrots, currawongs, magpies, galahs, willie wagtails and kingfishers.

 

Flora in the area
Adjacent the Lake Talbot complex, on Broad St, is the NSW Forest Tree Nursery which sells seedlings for an enormous variety of native trees. It s open weekdays (02-6959 1223). Pine Hill Nursery is situated in a bush setting 5 km north-east of Narrandera on Harnett Rd (02-6959 1780). Robertson Gladioli Farm, 8 km west, on Paynter Siding, offers group tours by appointment (02-6959 2696).

 

John Lake Centre
The John Lake Centre is located at the Inland Fisheries Research Station where the aquatic inhabitants of the inland river systems are studied in an attempt to reverse the decline of native fish. For a small fee there are tours, featuring displays and an audio-visual presentation at 10.30 on weekdays. It is located 6 km south-east of Narrandera on Buckingbong Rd, off the Sturt Hwy (02-6959 1488). There are lawn and garden areas with picnic and barbecue facilities.

 

Galore Hill
Bushranger 'Mad Dog' Morgan is said to have hidden in the caves on the northern side of Galore Hill, 16 km north. This 500-ha nature reserve rises 200 m from an almost flat plain. It has birds, flowers and animals aplenty and contains an arboretum of 1600 trees from 300 species. A road leads to the summit where there are picnic and barbecue facilities and excellent views from the lookout tower.

 

MIA Forest Drive
The MIA Forest Drive lies to the west off the Narrandera-Leeton Rd. A map is available from the visitor's centre. It passes through woodlands, wildlife and the sandy freshwater beaches of the Murrumbidgee which are nice spots for camping, swimming and fishing. The Yank and Columbia Creeks, Gillenbah Lagoon, Lake Talbot and Yank Weird are also recommended fishing spots.

 

Other Activities in the area
40 km south-east is Berembed Weird, built in 1910 to divert water from the Murrumbidgee River into the main canal of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. There are barbecue and picnic facilities.

Narrandera also has a golf course, north of town, and hosts a number of festivals. The Camellia Show is in August, the TREE-mendous Festival in October, the Agricultural Show in September and the John O'Brien Folk Festival in mid-March.

 

 

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Narrandera