Wee Waa - Places to See

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This was published 15 years ago

Wee Waa - Places to See

Cotton Tours
Information on tours to local cotton farms and cotton gins can be obtained from the Narrabri Shire Visitors' Centre on (02) 6799 6760. They are available during the picking season (April to June).

Heritage Buildings
The Imperial Hotel in Rose St was the first three-storied building in north-west NSW (1912). It has some fine cast-iron lacework on the balconies and a small square tower.

The small brick courthouse at the corner of Rose and Nelson Sts was built around 1880. By stark contrast is the very modern police station adjacent, supposedly built by mistake when the plans for a Snowy Mountains structure were incorrectly sent to Wee Waa.

Australia Telescope
A radio helioscope was established at Culgoora by the CSIRO in 1967. In the 1980s the Australia Telescope was built. Linked to the telescopes at Coonabarabran, Parkes and Tidbinbilla, it is the most powerful in the Southern Hemisphere, receiving radio waves from deep space by means of six gigantic dishes placed upon a rail track to allow for spatial readjustment. It is about 20 km south-east of town. Access is via the Old Pilliga Rd and the route is mostly sealed.

There is a visitors' centre at the complex with push-button displays and videos. It is open from 8.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. daily. Staff are available to answer questions from Monday to Friday, although they are also in attendance on weekends during public holidays. It is advisable to ring before visiting to ensure that the telescope is in full operation, tel: (02) 6790 4070.

Yarrie Lake
About 8 km south-west of the telescope complex (half of it gravel) is Yarrie Lake, a large pool of water (1.6 km in diameter) on the boundary of the Pilliga Scrub. It is believed by some to be a meteor crater. A waterbird haven, the lake is ideal for camping, swimming, sailing, waterskiing and other water sports. Ring (02) 6799 6760 to book for camping.

Winery
To access Cubbaroo Cellars head west along the main road towards Burren Junction for 31 km. Turn left onto the Cubbaroo turnoff, a gravel road, following the signs to the winery, tel: (02) 6796 1741. The cellar is built around a station store that is more than a century old.

Burren Junction
Burren Junction is a small town 51 km west of Wee Waa, on the road to Walgett and Lightning Ridge. Its most distinctive feature is the hot artesian bore bath, a large cement pool surrounded by tamarind trees and filled with warm water which has been flowing under natural pressure for over a century. There is a hotel in town and cabin accommodation.

Cuttabri
Cuttabri is a small village located 31 km west of Wee Waa along a dry-weather gravel road. The town's main attraction is an old slab-construction wine shanty built in 1882. A Cobb & Co coaching stop on the route between Wee Waa and Pilliga, it was issued with only the second wine shop licence in Australia and is the only one still operating in the country. It is open weekends and most week days but be sure to check before making the drive, tel: (02) 6799 6760.

Pilliga
Another 25 km along the same road (56 km west of Wee Waa), is the small township of Pilliga. It is, in fact, approachable from five directions, all of them dirt roads. Pilliga was once an important stop on the Cobb & Co route. Those days are recalled by the hitching rails outside the stores which are still used by local stockmen. Like Cuttabri it has a hot artesian bore bath in a tiled pool. Of some curiosity are the headstones of the Allum family, Indian hawkers who worked the western area in the 1880s. There is plenty of wildlife about the town, particularly kangaroos and emus.

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Pilliga Scrub
To the south-east is the Pilliga Scrub, a vast woodland area which was lightly timbered country before the arrival of Europeans. Heavy grazing on poor soils encouraged the growth of thick Australian timber, including the largest cypress pine forest in the Southern Hemisphere. This development gave birth to an active timber industry.

The scrub is at its most delightful in spring and it is home to a plenitude of wildlife, including significant koala colonies. However, the roads are strictly dry-weather-only so visit the Narrabri Shire Visitors' Centre first to inquire about conditions and to purchase a Pilliga Forest map, as there are 2700 km of confusing tracks crisscrossing the scrub. There are a number of camping spots and bushwalking trails.


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