The Marshall McMahon Inn (1867)

 

Wallabadah (including Goonoo Goonoo)
Attractive little village on the upper reaches of Quirindi Creek
Wallabadah is an attractive little village with tree-lined streets on the upper reaches of Quirindi Creek, beneath the mountains of the Peel Range and on the eastern rim of the Liverpool Plains. Situated on the New England Highway it is 60 km south of Tamworth and 359 km north of Sydney. Fine wool, stud cattle, turkeys, pecan nuts and prime lambs sustain the local economy.

The original Aboriginal inhabitants of the district were the Kamilaroi peoples who called the area 'Thalababuri' (its meaning is uncertain). The Kamilaroi tribe was subdivided into clans and classes which determined marital possibilities (girls being often betrothed in infancy and married by about 14). They wore opossum clothing and, for ceremonial or ornamental purposes, smeared themselves with red ochre and pipe clay, scarred their bodies and wore decorative headwear. The males hunted while the women gathered fruit. Weaponry consisted of elaborately carved clubs, spears and boomerangs and stone or flint tomahawks and knives. Fishing was carried out with the aid of weirs, spears and nets made of grass or bark.

The first European settlers began squatting in the district around 1830 and the Wallabadah Station (44 000 acres) was taken up about 1835. The current homestead (built in 1900) is 5 km east of the township.

A village emerged which was of some importance in the 1850s, being located at the road junction of the mail coaches which came from the north and north-west. This prospect proved too tempting for Thunderbolt, then the most notorious bushranger in the colony, who robbed the northern mail coach at Wallabadah in 1867.

The town was also of some importance as a service centre for the surrounding area. However, it was surpassed by Quirindi when the railway arrived at the latter in 1877. Wallabadah became a soldier settlement location after World War II.

Although it is an attractive landmark on the highway there is little in particular to see, other than a couple of historic buildings. Australia's first country racing club was established at Wallabadah in 1852 and the Wallabadah Cup is still held on New Year's Day (the current racecourse was built in 1898). There is a caravan park and picnic area on the banks of the creek and a small golf course.

Things to see:  

Historic Buildings
Along the Quirindi Rd, to the left, is the Anglican Church of the Ascension (1896 with 1912 additions). On the highway is the Marshall MacMahon Hotel which dates from about 1867. The original stone section has been incorporated into the present building. The Catholic Church (1910) is also quite attractive.

 

Goonoo Goonoo
Halfway between Wallabadah and Tamworth is Goonoo Goonoo (pronounced 'Gunny Ga-noo' and said to mean 'plenty of water'). It is one of NSW's most historic sheep stations. The property was granted to the Australian Agricultural Company in 1832. They received 600 000 acres here and at Warrah, west of Willow Tree, in exchange for a portion of their one-million acre Port Stephens grant. The land was selected and surveyed for the company by explorer Henry Dangar and stock began to arrive in 1834. Goonoo Goonoo became the company headquarters in 1841. What remained of the old property was sold by the company into private hands in 1985.

A number of old buildings, which once formed a semi-autonomous village, remain. The chapel is to the rear of the homestead (1840). There is a gabled rubblestone store cum post office with brick arches (1853), a large brick woolshed (divided into three gabled sections) on a hill, and a memorial fountain in remembrance of G.B. King, the son of Elizabeth Macarthur and Philip Gidley King. The property is halfway to Tamworth, just east of the highway along a side road. It is a working property and not really a tourist site but there are open days.

 

 

 

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Wallabadah