Wee Waa Motel has 20 rooms that offer a variety of accommodation, as well as an a la carte menu in the Billabong Restaurant and Bar. High quality food with a daily chef’s special from Monday to Thursday, great desserts and coffee selections. The motel also has a function centre for weddings, birthday parties and more. No group is too small to enquire.
Crossroads Hotel
Crossroads is a stylish, refurbished hotel with 24 modern one and two bedroom apartments, a restaurant with indoor and relaxed outdoor seating, bar facilities, tenpin bowling and a conference room. It is located in the heart of the Narrabri CBD. Room service is available within restaurant hours.
Crossroads also has a 2 lane bowling alley that can be hired for small groups or parties.
10.30am – 10.00pm Monday to Fridays.
11am – 9pm Saturday and Sunday.
The Outback Shack
An incredibly unique Australian dining experience, the Outback Shack serves a variety of meals from snacks to delicious mains, coffee and desserts in a truly memorable setting.
The ‘Shack’ is full of historical memorabilia, mainly sourced from local properties and features a stunning mural of the main street of Narrabri from yesteryear. Clever technological effects ensure that your dining experience will be full of surprises.
The delicious menu and attentive staff complete the outback adventure… this restaurant has to be seen to be believed.
It leaves other themed restaurants way out in the rain. Book a seat on the veranda to really impress your guests.
On Lee Chinese Seafood Restaurant
A quality Chinese and seafood restaurant serving lunch specials daily.
Narrabri Sporties (Bowling Club)
The club is open 3 days a week, Thursday 11.00am – 10.00pm, Friday 10.00am – until late and Saturday 9.00am – until late
The restaurant is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday serving great meals for lunch(12.00pm – 2.00pm) and dinner(6.00pm – 8.00pm ) and can cater for groups of up to 250 people.
Adelong Motel
27 ground floor units situated in the town centre, off the highway. Next to the Narrabri Sporties (Bowling Club), opposite Woolworths.
Our accommodation has all the features you’d expect in a big hotel: free parking, swimming pool, restaurant and laundry. If you’re traveling to Narrabri for business or pleasure – or even a bit of both – consider the Adelong Motel your home away from home.
From spacious bathrooms and free wifi, to widescreen TVs, clean air conditioning, and the most comfortable beds we could find, your stay in Narrabri is sure to be enjoyable if you stay at the Adelong Motel.
Proudly situated in the heart of Narrabri’s CBD, the Adelong Motel is close to local bars, restaurants, banks and shops.
Close To
The Crossing Theatre
TAB Narrabri Sporties
Supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths etc)
Fast food outlets
Restaurants
Features
Free Internet
Air Conditioning
Free on-site parking
On-site Restaurant
Self-service laundry
Modern rooms
Quality accessories
Tea and Coffee-making facilities
Work desk
Mount Kaputar National Park
Erupting volcanoes created the Nandewar Ranges and the magnificent Mount Kaputar National Park (Cap–you–tar) between 17 and 21 million years ago. The skeleton of these volcanoes now provides a picturesque background for the residents and visitors of Narrabri Region and a magnificent attraction beckoning exploration.
From the 1512-metre summit of Mount Kaputar, 52km east of Narrabri, you will be treated to panoramic views encompassing a staggering 10 per cent of NSW. This rugged wilderness rises spectacularly from the surrounding agricultural plains. Whether you’re a nature lover, photographer, bushwalker, camper or simply seeking a little solitude, prepare to be spellbound by the grandeur of this landscape of lava terraces and volcanic plugs.
The National Park protects a wide variety of plant communities, including semi–arid woodlands, wet eucalypt forests and subalpine heaths. It’s also home to a host of animal species and provides a haven for many threatened species – including bats, birds, wallabies and quolls. Keep an eye out for the native giant pink slug! It often appears after rain, and is unique to Mount Kaputar National Park.
Mount Kaputar has a range of walks to suit all tastes, from pleasant bush ramblings to strenuous climbs. A guide for the marked walking tracks is available from the Narrabri Region Visitor Information Centre or NPWS office in Narrabri.
For more information on some of the most popular attractions within Mount Kaputar National Park please click on the links below.
Camping & Accomodation
Two campsites are available in Mr Kaputar National Park at Dawsons Spring and Bark Hut. Both have gas barbecues, hot showers and toilets. Caravans are not allowed in the park, however box trailers are permitted.
The park also has three cabins, each with a minimum two-night stay. They are fully self contained, sleep up to six people, have a slow combustion heater for winter (wood provided) and are cool in summer. The cabins also contain limited cooking facilities including a microwave, refrigerator, toaster, crockery, cutlery and kitchen utensils, hot showers and tea and coffee facilities, and environmentally friendly septic toilets.
Cabin bookings are essential and may be made up to six months in advance. Bookings can be made through the National Parks and Wildlife Service website. At 1500 metres above sea level, the cool sub-alpine environment of Mt Kaputar is a stark contrast to the hot dry plains below.
Pets are not allowed in the National Park.
NOTE: Caravans and motorhomes are not allowed on the road to the Mount Kaputar summit due to its narrowness. For this reason caravanners are best to base themselves in Narrabri and make day trips into the Park. Caravans are able to be towed to Sawn Rocks, though overnight stays are not permitted.
Kamilaroi Stories
The indigenous people of Australia have been sharing their stories orally for tens of thousands of years. To this day virtually all Aboriginal history is handed down as oral history. Combining this oldest form of sharing knowledge and culture, with the latest of technology, Narrabri Shire brings you Kamilaroi Stories.
Kamilaroi Stories allows visitors to connect with Narrabri Shire elders via touch screen. Interviews were conducted with prominent local elders and compiled into an impressive interactive installation. From the comfort of the Visitor Information Centre, you can sit back and uncover the mysteries of the Kamilaroi language, hear dreamtime stories and learn about age-old traditions.
Acknowledging the importance of the traditional owners of our area Kamilaroi Stories is about both preservation and education. Upholding the oral tradition whilst allowing visitors the opportunity to understand and appreciate the ancient Kamilaroi heritage.
Kamilaroi Stories shares narratives and recollections of tradition, life and land by prominent local elders. In the future, we hope this project continues to grow into an important aural record for future generations.
Acknowledgment:
The Kamilaroi Stories project is on ongoing partnership between the Kamilaroi Community, Multicultural NSW & the Narrabri Region Visitor Information Centre.
Boggabri Historical Site
This striking rock face, towering over the Kamilaroi Highway outside Boggabri, has been known by many names over the years. Local Aboriginals knew it as ‘Cooloobindi’, whilst it was known as ‘Bullaballakit’ in the era when Sir Thomas Mitchell was exploring the Namoi Valley. In Cobb and Co coach days, it was known as ‘The Rock’.
The widely accepted origins of the current name follow the tragic death of a pair of ill-fated young Aboriginal lovers, a modern day Romeo and Juliet. The young girl promised to an elder of her tribe, the Kamilaroi, ran away with a young Aboriginal man from another tribe. Hotly pursued by Kamilaroi tribesmen, the lovers jumped to their deaths from somewhere along the top of this rock.
A Mr ‘Baldy’ Adams obtained a grant of land in the vicinity of this site to build a hospital but changed his plans and opened The Rock Inn in 1854. The hotel was a vital stopover point and a renowned landmark for 20 years. It closed around 1875 after new hotels were built in Boggabri, but parts of an old outdoor lamp from the inn remain on display at the Boggabri Historical Museum.
Mr David Grover, his wife Maria (nee King) and family operated The Rock Inn for many years. Maria and her sisters Charlotte and Elizabeth arrived in Australia on board the convict ship ‘Fanny’ in 1832. Mr and Mrs Grover are buried in a vault below the mountain, along with their daughter Mrs Russell and her two-year-old son John James.
Mrs Russell was 21 when she and her son suffered fatal burns during a fiery accident involving bulk spirit handling at a Mungindi Inn. The Grover family received word of the tragedy from a man on horseback. A horse team set out to meet the coach carrying the bodies back home to Boggabri.
Mrs Grover was buried next to her daughter and grandson 25 years later in November 1891, and Mr Grover was laid to rest beside them in October 1892.
The present vault was built in 1895 by a tradesman of Danish ancestry, Mr Christy Hansen, some 200 metres west of the original grave site. A small headstone to the left of the vault belongs to Mrs Grover’s niece MaryAnn Meins, who was the daughter of Charlotte and Edward Meins. MaryAnn died on January 17, 1858, aged 19 years and was buried close to the old Rock Inn. Her headstone was moved due to road reconstruction some years ago, and was damaged during the process.
This site stands as a silent sentinel over the grave sites. It also has a picnic area and an interpretive sign.
CSIRO’s Australia Telescope Compact Array
For something completely different, what about a visit to CSIRO’s Paul Wild Observatory? It’s also one of the most fascinating places in the country.
For instance, did you know that Australia is a world leader in radio astronomy and the Telescope at the observatory, CSIRO’s Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) is just part of the reason? ACTA was designed and built here in Australia and is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF), which is owned and operated by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency. The ATNF includes Murriyang, the Parkes radio telescope along with other telescopes, technologies and data archives.
One of the best telescopes in the southern hemisphere, ATCA is just 25km west of Narrabri! It consists of six huge antennas, weighing a massive 270 tonnes each, five of which can be moved along a 3km railway track. The sixth antenna is situated a further 3km west of the main track. Using this configuration the combined power of the antennas can simulate a single dish 6 km in diameter.
ATCA is the world’s faster gigahertz-band telescope for responding to explosions in the galaxy and beyond, like supernovae and gamma ray bursts. It’s been sued for gravitational wave research, such as following up on cataclysmic events like the collision of black holes, which produces detectable gravitational waves on Earth.
Open seven days a week, admission to the observatory is absolutely free. From interactive “hands on” displays like the “Whispering Dishes”, where the merest whisper can be transmitted a hundred metres by focusing with two small telescope dishes, a stopover at the Paul Wild Observatory is fascinating for all ages.
A theatrette has frequent screenings outlining the operation of ATCA and showing how astronomers use this impressive facility to reveal the secrets hidden at the far reaches of the Universe.
There are dozens of amazing photo opportunities. You can study working models of ATCA and other telescopes from the site’s history and read more about the research taking place.
Coach and school tours are very welcome, but advance bookings are essential.
Help to protect the science: The radio noise created by our modern gadgets like phones, smart watches and Bluetooth devices can overwhelm the weak signals from space that ATCA is trying to detect.
Please protect the science and research by switching your phone to airplane or flight mode and turning off other WiFi and Bluetooth-enabled devices before you arrive. Photography and digital video are welcomed when you visit, however please ensure that your device is in airplane or flight mode.
Astro Photography: Each year, there are workshops for astrophotography with the ATCA’s being the main feature, check out ATCA’s website for more details.