I was very pleased because I thought we were going to pass through Gulargambone. Why I want to see Gulargambone I don't know, I think it is because it has such a great name. Perhaps one of our bush poets wrote about it. AD Hope is not a bush poet but he did put Gulargambone in his poem Country Places which is about "weird names, some beautiful, more that make me laugh."
Anyway, it turns out we were not a Gulargambone but at Giralambone -- which proudly announced itself as a Tidy Village winner. It can't take a lot of effort to become a tidy village ... mow the front lawns of the one or two houses and take a beaten up car or two to the dump. There is not a lot here, the general store and the skeleton of the old railway station which gave it birth.
As it happens Giralambone does have a literary connection. It's the historic location of the incidents in the story "The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith" by Thomas Kaneally. [Opps wrong. The schoolteacher Helena Kerz murdered in the incident is buried here, the location of the events was Breelong]
Ha!
ReplyDeleteI just had a look at it on Google maps.
I thought the road between Moree and Gundy was straight - it ain't a patch on the Nyngan/Bourke road!
I'm sorry to disappoint you about the Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith thing. Jimmy and Joe Governor and their companion Jacky Underwood murdered members of the Mawbey family at Breelong. Breelong is on the Castlereagh Highway between Gilgandra and Mendooran. I was recently at a dedication ceremony for an interpretive sign in the rest area at Breelong telling the story of the massacre. Gulargambone has a really good cafe located in the old cinema. It's worth a visit.
ReplyDeleteDoing my research too quickly. The schoolteacher killed in the jimmy Blacksmith incident it buried there. I will update the post. I will get to Gulargambone one day ... and Breelong too.
DeleteEllen Kerz was the governess. Breelong is quite pretty. I recommend a road trip heading up to Mudgee, then through Coolah and Binnaway to Coonabarabran, explore the Warrumbungles then head to Baradine. A big loop through the Pilliga Forest through Gwabegar to Pilliga then back to Coonamble. Then follow the Castlereagh River back to Gilgandra and Mendooran. Armatree is worth a look as are many other little hamlets in the region. You should check out my blog on Teh Castlereagh http://thecastlereagh.blogspot.com.au/
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