Coonamble is a town on the central-western plains of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the Castlereagh Highway north-west of Gilgandra. At the 2006 census, Coonamble had a population of 2,549. It is the regional hub for wheat growing and sheep and wool. The name for the town is taken from the Gamilaraay word guna (faeces) and -bil (having a lot of).
The architecturally distinguished convent of the Brigidine nuns in Coonamble was dismantled and transported 600 kilometres to Pokolbin, where it now houses Peppers Convent resort.
Although Coonamble had been a major sheep industry region in the 1980s to 2000, there has recently been an increasing interest in cattle rearing. The summers can have temperatures reaching up 40 degrees Celsius and in winter, there are days as cold as 0-1 degrees Celsius. Most recently Coonamble has gained media coverage due to their mass floods over Christmas 2009.
Bushrangers
Johnny Dunn the bushranger and last of the Ben Hall gang was captured near Coonamble after a gunbattle with Police at Christmas 1865.
Schools
Coonamble has three schools: Coonamble Public School, St Brigids Catholic School and Coonamble High School.
Rodeo
Coonamble hosts an annual rodeo that is the largest campdraft/rodeo in the Southern Hemisphere around 1,000 people annually come to compete in the rodeo with an average of about 4,000 spectators.
- Category:
- Local business