Dunedoo, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Dunedoo icon ) is a village of 836 inhabitants situated within the Warrumbungle Shire of central western New South Wales
, Australia
. Dunedoo is well known to Australian travellers due to its distinctive name (A 'dunny
' is a colloquial Australian word for a toilet). The name is actually derived from a local Aboriginal word meaning 'swan', which are commonly found in the area's lagoons.
The town is located on the north-western edges of the Sydney basin
.
at the intersection of the Golden
and Castlereagh Highway
s. It is a relatively isolated township with the two nearest rural centres of Mudgee and Dubbo situated approximately to the 60 km south and 100 km west respectively. It is due to this isolation that Dunedoo has many facilities not usually found in villages of this size. Dunedoo largely functions as a service centre to the surrounding district which focuses on the production of wheat, cattle, mixed farming, timber, fat lambs and wool. As with many wheat-growing centres of western New South Wales the village's skyline is dominated by a large silo. Dunedoo also features a small hospital (Dunedoo War Memorial Hospital), two schools (a government administered combined primary and high school and a catholic primary school), a licensed hotel, a small commercial area, a small freight railway station as well as sporting and special event facilities. Dunedoo also features Catholic
, Anglican and Presbyterian churches.
and Wiradjuri
peoples.
Allan Cunningham
was the first British explorer to discover the area in 1823 while travelling Pandoras Pass over the Warrumbungle
ranges to the Liverpool Plains. Surveyors studied the area in 1832 followed by squatters who settled the region. The town was founded somewhere in the 1840s and was originally known as Bolaro and later as Redbank. Dunedoo remained a small village throughout the 19th century and the nearby town of Cobbora was considered to be the regional centre for many years. However, Dunedoo's population grew substantially after the construction of the Gwabegar railway line and the opening of passenger services in 1910.
Bolaro Post Office opened on 1 November 1876 and was renamed Dunedoo in 1909.
The first half of the 20th century saw many of Dunedoo's residents fighting in both the first
and second world wars
, documented by the war memorial currently found in the town's park. The gradual loss of railway services in western NSW affected Dunedoo in the 1960s with the loss of passenger railway services, however freight trains still commonly use the line. Other services, such as the village's cinema, have also been lost over time.
In 2002, Dunedoo appeared in an ABC
documentary entitled "A Loo with a View". Dunedoo is currently suffering the fate of many small regional towns of NSW
in that its population is gradually decreasing. Many locals fear that the town will eventually be deserted and thus many creative ideas have been floated as possible methods of reversing the current trend. The Dunedoo District Development Group had proposed to build "The Big Dunny" in the hope of attracting tourists, as the Big Banana
does for Coffs Harbour and big things
in other parts of Australia. The documentary centred on "The Big Dunny" proposal, it was to have been a three-storey high building featuring five-star toilets, visitor centre, viewing platform, and even a radio station. Local shire councillor and farmer Frank Gaden was against it, reckoning it would be an embarrassment. Feasibility consultant Ian Farlow concluded it would, unfortunately, attract only 30 visitors a day which would not be enough to make it worthwhile, and proposed instead an environmentally friendly self-composting toilet block. The council decided against the latter and in the end nothing was built.
2005 saw the town incorporated into the newly created Warrumbungle Shire, formed from the previous Coolah and Coonabarabran Shires. The town was briefly divided over the prospect of joining Coonabarabran Shire with many preferring the town be incorporated into the Mudgee-based Mid-Western Regional Council.
(Cfa).
and netball
). The Dunedoo Sports club has a 9-hole golf
course and 4 grass tennis
courts, as well as 2 squash
courts. Touch football
is also played there during the Summer months on part of the golf course close to the club building. Dunedoo also has a lawn bowls
club. Competitions are held regularly in each of these sports within the town. Dunedoo also participates in regional rugby league
and cricket
competitions. The local rugby league
team is known as the Dunedoo Swans. Their uniform features the colours green and white.
Dunedoo is host to many festivals including the Dunedoo Bush Poetry Festival held annually in April by the Dunedoo District Development Group. The Dunedoo Show is held each February featuring carnival rides and several rodeo
-themed events including whip-cracking and bull riding. The town also holds annual ANZAC Day
marches and Christmas
parades in the main street.
Dunedoo has a community radio station, Three Rivers Radio. It broadcasts continuously on a frequency of 96.1 MHz. Programs include Sport, Good Music Cafe, Jazz, Great Musicals, Hymns, Chatter Box (Dunedoo Central School on air each week), St Michaels School alternate weeks, Good music all the time including Frank Bourke's old time orchestra each week.
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Dunedoo is well known to Australian travellers due to its distinctive name (A 'dunny
Dunny
Dunny or dunny can is Australian slang for toilet, either the room or the specific fixture, especially an outhouse or other outdoor toilets. It is often used to specify a distinction between a flushing toilet and a non-flushing toilet...
' is a colloquial Australian word for a toilet). The name is actually derived from a local Aboriginal word meaning 'swan', which are commonly found in the area's lagoons.
The town is located on the north-western edges of the Sydney basin
Sydney Basin
The Sydney Basin is a sedimentary basin on the east coast of New South Wales, Australia consisting of Permian and Triassic sedimentary rocks...
.
Geography and features
Dunedoo is located 399 m above sea-level on the southern bank of the Talbragar RiverTalbragar River
The Talbragar River is a river in New South Wales, Australia. It starts on the western side of the Liverpool Range near Cassilis and flows west to join the Macquarie River near Dubbo. The Talbragar does not start in a high rainfall area and is not much of a river at all really. It was first...
at the intersection of the Golden
Golden Highway
The Golden Highway is a highway in New South Wales, Australia.Designated as State Highway 84, it runs eastwards from Dubbo towards Newcastle on the coast and enables road transport to avoid travelling over the Blue Mountains to Sydney....
and Castlereagh Highway
Castlereagh Highway
The Castlereagh Highway is a state highway in New South Wales, Australia, also extending some kilometres into Queensland. It has been given the route number 55. The highway was recently extended past Gilgandra to include state route 86...
s. It is a relatively isolated township with the two nearest rural centres of Mudgee and Dubbo situated approximately to the 60 km south and 100 km west respectively. It is due to this isolation that Dunedoo has many facilities not usually found in villages of this size. Dunedoo largely functions as a service centre to the surrounding district which focuses on the production of wheat, cattle, mixed farming, timber, fat lambs and wool. As with many wheat-growing centres of western New South Wales the village's skyline is dominated by a large silo. Dunedoo also features a small hospital (Dunedoo War Memorial Hospital), two schools (a government administered combined primary and high school and a catholic primary school), a licensed hotel, a small commercial area, a small freight railway station as well as sporting and special event facilities. Dunedoo also features Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, Anglican and Presbyterian churches.
History
Before European settlement Dunedoo and the surrounding area was occupied by the KamilaroiKamilaroi
The Kamilaroi or Gamilaraay are an Indigenous Australian people who are from the area between Tamworth and Goondiwindi, and west to Narrabri, Walgett and Lightning Ridge, in northern New South Wales...
and Wiradjuri
Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri are an Indigenous Australian group of central New South Wales.In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in Condobolin, Peak Hill, Narrandera and Griffith...
peoples.
Allan Cunningham
Allan Cunningham (botanist)
Allan Cunningham was an English botanist and explorer, primarily known for his travels in New South Wales to collect plants.- Early life :...
was the first British explorer to discover the area in 1823 while travelling Pandoras Pass over the Warrumbungle
Warrumbungles
The Warrumbungles is the name of a mountain range and National Park located in northern New South Wales, Australia. The nearest town to the Warrumbungles is Coonabarabran...
ranges to the Liverpool Plains. Surveyors studied the area in 1832 followed by squatters who settled the region. The town was founded somewhere in the 1840s and was originally known as Bolaro and later as Redbank. Dunedoo remained a small village throughout the 19th century and the nearby town of Cobbora was considered to be the regional centre for many years. However, Dunedoo's population grew substantially after the construction of the Gwabegar railway line and the opening of passenger services in 1910.
Bolaro Post Office opened on 1 November 1876 and was renamed Dunedoo in 1909.
The first half of the 20th century saw many of Dunedoo's residents fighting in both the first
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and second world wars
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, documented by the war memorial currently found in the town's park. The gradual loss of railway services in western NSW affected Dunedoo in the 1960s with the loss of passenger railway services, however freight trains still commonly use the line. Other services, such as the village's cinema, have also been lost over time.
In 2002, Dunedoo appeared in an ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
documentary entitled "A Loo with a View". Dunedoo is currently suffering the fate of many small regional towns of NSW
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
in that its population is gradually decreasing. Many locals fear that the town will eventually be deserted and thus many creative ideas have been floated as possible methods of reversing the current trend. The Dunedoo District Development Group had proposed to build "The Big Dunny" in the hope of attracting tourists, as the Big Banana
Big Banana
The Big Banana is a tourist attraction in the city of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia, featuring a large walk-through banana. Banana-related products are shown or sold, and the grounds of the building are a banana plantation, a souvenir shop and restaurant...
does for Coffs Harbour and big things
Australia's Big Things
The Big Things of Australia are a loosely related set of large structures or sculptures. There are estimated to be over 150 such objects around the country, the first being the Big Scotsman in Medindie, Adelaide, which was built in 1963....
in other parts of Australia. The documentary centred on "The Big Dunny" proposal, it was to have been a three-storey high building featuring five-star toilets, visitor centre, viewing platform, and even a radio station. Local shire councillor and farmer Frank Gaden was against it, reckoning it would be an embarrassment. Feasibility consultant Ian Farlow concluded it would, unfortunately, attract only 30 visitors a day which would not be enough to make it worthwhile, and proposed instead an environmentally friendly self-composting toilet block. The council decided against the latter and in the end nothing was built.
2005 saw the town incorporated into the newly created Warrumbungle Shire, formed from the previous Coolah and Coonabarabran Shires. The town was briefly divided over the prospect of joining Coonabarabran Shire with many preferring the town be incorporated into the Mudgee-based Mid-Western Regional Council.
Climate
Dunedoo has the drier end of the Humid subtropical climateHumid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a climate zone characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters...
(Cfa).
Sport and culture
Dunedoo features many sporting facilities including Robertson Oval (used for rugby leagueRugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
and netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
). The Dunedoo Sports club has a 9-hole golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
course and 4 grass tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
courts, as well as 2 squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
courts. Touch football
Touch football (rugby league)
Touch is a field sport also known as Touch Football, or in some countries as Touch Rugby. Touch is overseen worldwide by the Federation of International Touch . Touch has traditionally been played in Australia and New Zealand but the sport has expanded internationally and features many regional and...
is also played there during the Summer months on part of the golf course close to the club building. Dunedoo also has a lawn bowls
Bowls
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...
club. Competitions are held regularly in each of these sports within the town. Dunedoo also participates in regional rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
competitions. The local rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
team is known as the Dunedoo Swans. Their uniform features the colours green and white.
Dunedoo is host to many festivals including the Dunedoo Bush Poetry Festival held annually in April by the Dunedoo District Development Group. The Dunedoo Show is held each February featuring carnival rides and several rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
-themed events including whip-cracking and bull riding. The town also holds annual ANZAC Day
ANZAC Day
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all...
marches and Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
parades in the main street.
Dunedoo has a community radio station, Three Rivers Radio. It broadcasts continuously on a frequency of 96.1 MHz. Programs include Sport, Good Music Cafe, Jazz, Great Musicals, Hymns, Chatter Box (Dunedoo Central School on air each week), St Michaels School alternate weeks, Good music all the time including Frank Bourke's old time orchestra each week.