Day 2-3 Moree
We left Toowoomba and headed off to Moree via the Gore Highway – a pretty drive, although the word “highway” is used a bit loosely to describe parts of it, especially considering how many trucks use it. This route takes you through Milmerran, (and you can tell you are getting further west by the number of buildings that have murals painted on them), then down to Goondiwindi for the obligatory photo of Gunsynd, the Goondiwindi Grey. It’s interesting reading the plaque on the statue a week after the 2025 Melbourne Cup. Half Yours won more than four million dollars in that one race. Gunsynd’s total race winnings – from 54 starts – was just over $280 000. Then over the border we went, thrust an hour forward in time and instantly on to better roads (though NSW-ers still find cause to complain about them).
I’m not exactly sure what I expected to find in Moree, but from the looks on some people’s faces when we told them we were not only visiting there, but staying for a couple of nights, I guess I was bracing myself for something akin to the recently remodelled Gaza Strip, and that I should sleep with a cricket bat next to my bed, lest someone tries to murder me in my sleep.
But instead, Moree presents itself as an iconic country town, with a pretty main street lined with ficus and olive trees, wide footpaths, some gorgeous art nouveau and art deco architecture, more dealers in giant farm machinery that you could ever imagine, and a double-fronted business named Logan and Co which is one-half furniture and bedding and one-half funeral director..
Look, this is not to say that Moree doesn’t have its problems – you can definitely read about those elsewhere if you Google search – but in terms of towns that make me feel scared when I visit, this one doesn’t even rate (Wilcannia, anyone?). One of the casualties of youth crime was the big rocket in what was formerly known as Rocket Park. It has been replaced by a rope climbing tower, which, if you squint, could be mistaken for a rocket…shape. But the original rocket, remains – a steel monument to all things space travel, like many identical ones erected across the country, paying homage to the moon landing and Australia’s role in getting them there. Of course, the entrance to the ladder allowing climbing access is now welded shut, because this rocket was erected in 1972, when we were just interested in kids having fun and didn’t care about them hurting themselves. Like those steel slippery slides that would give you third degree burns in summer and give your backside frostbite in winter. If you know, you know.
I was a bit disappointed in the Moree public baths, not because they aren’t impressive, because they are, with several pools and a water slide and renovations under way. More, there is nothing there to reflect the role they played in the civil rights movement in this country, when Charles Perkins and the Freedom Riders rounded up the Aboriginal kids and staged stand-offs to allow them equal access. If you want to find out more about this, I can thoroughly recommend the two-part documentary “The Pool”. I don’t think it is on Iview anymore (What are you doing, ABC?), but I think you can find it on Prime. I know, I couldn’t believe that a two-part documentary about swimming pools would hold my attention either, but there you go. Here’s the trailer:
Apart from the waterslide, the main reason you would go to the baths is for the artesian water, but it seems to me from driving around that pretty much every caravan park and hotel has their own thermal swimming pool, which makes the baths even a little bit more less special.
Of course, we weren’t really there as tourists, but to catch up with my cousins Lee-Anne and Debbie. I only met these two fantastic women for the first time at my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary party at the beginning of 2024. Far than being disappointed to surrender my position as the eldest grandchild on my paternal side, it has been wonderful to welcome them into the fold. The whole story is complicated, albeit not that uncommon. We share a grandmother, Edie Gray . Their mother, Mary – my aunt- was brought up to believe she was my grandmother’s sister, when in fact she was her daughter. Because of what would now seem to be ridiculous social mores, and the decisions of two men in the 1930’s, an enormous rift was created in our family, one which has now begun to fill, albeit too late for Edie and Mary.
Lee-Anne and her husband have called Moree home for more than 40 years, raising their children there and building a successful business. She speaks of the town with great fondness, sadness about its problems, but very proud none-the-less, and I look forward to heading back again to see more of the area under her guidance. Time spent with them was all too short, but not too short for her to show us a few things that don’t appear on the traditional “things to do in Moree” lists.
1. The Amaroo Tavern
Well yes, this is just a pub, but how many pubs have a beer garden with a kids’ playground featuring a DC3 plane? Not only is it there, but the kids can climb the stairs to go inside and pull the leavers and make the flaps move. From memory, that is more interactive that the QANTAS museum in Longreach, where you could go inside the plane, but everything was protected behind sheets of perspex. Even the big kids in my group couldn’t resist. Tasty food too – I had the fish tacos. Delicious.
2. The Gift Barrell
This an unassuming little store on a side street. It was started more than 40 years ago as a way for farmers wives to generate extra income for the family in times of drought by selling homemade relishes, baked goodies and handicrafts. A small portion of each sale goes to the collective to cover rent. Insurance and what-not, but the bulk of each sale goes to the producer. The shop is staffed completely by volunteers. On the day we visited, Maureen was behind the counter, who was thrilled to see us (although dragging her away from her Kindle). I wouldn’t say she had been flooded with customers that day, but this is a fantastic initiative and says much about the country spirit. Between Debbie and myself, we certainly bolstered the coffers, picking up some gifts, and Mark bought some Thai Chilli Sauce made by none other than Lee-Anne!
3. Assef’s
I only half-joke that my favourite shop in all the world is Mr Cheap’s in Lightning Ridge. This is not just because it is where I bought my first ever pair of Rocko’s thongs (thought that alone s cause for celebration), but because it services a town by supplying EVERYTHING and every nook and cranny is taken up by stuff. Well, Assef’s is like a top end version of that. It sells, clothing brands from Billabong, Country Road and RM Williams (of course), to Calvin Kein. It sells giftware and kitchenware, and after the closure of the local Toyworld, found space to open a toy section. And it was busy (maybe not Westfield busy, but definitely Moree, busy!). According to Lee-Anne, Assef’s is something of an institution in Moree, and another one of those businesses that is proud of its town. No Rocko’s, but a decent range of Havianas.
The Tent, The Trailer, The Caravan 