Best & Worst Country Towns Visited

[gav]

Worst would have to be Tennant Creek in the NT.

+1 for that. I'd add Coober Pedy to the list too.

 

[brianwh]

Hope this is not too far off the thread.

My wife and I regularly drive the Sydney Melbourne trip along the Hume Highway. It sometimes suits us to leave one or the other around lunchtime and stop over night. There are some great places in Victoria as mentioned but these are either too far from Sydney or too close to Melbourne. So we tried:

Holbrook - eating options very basic (that's as complimentary as I feel like being) and the heavy trucks thundering through all night meant that it was almost a relief to get up the next morning and leave. One positive - Morrisons at the southern end of the town has a great bacon & egg roll and coffee.

Gundagai - a better option but for the most part memorable for the wrong reasons. We drove into the town about 4pm and there was not a living soul that could be seen in the whole main street! A visit to the pub drew suspicious stares such as mentioned elsewhere. Meal at the RSL was passable.

Sounds very unflattering I know and perhaps if you got to spend more time in these places they would be a lot more appealing.

But as far as good stopovers go, that's just about the limit of the options.

 

[Bafana]

Binda in NSW for the win, with Crookwell and Gunning scoring high.

Goulburn rates but it's an acquired taste.

 

[DocK]

Used to drive from Gold Coast, Qld to Gippsland, Vic every couple of years, down the Hume. If ever we were going to have car trouble (or a truck lose its tyre in front of us, or a roo or hundred decide to cross in front of us) it would be the stretch from Boggabilla to Moree. It's the most godforsaken stretch of road, and apparently a favourite for radar patrols. I find both towns depressing - they just seem to have a "down at the heel" atmosphere and appear sort of defeated. I imagine most young people can't wait to get out, and this seems to be a problem with a lot of Australia's towns.

Out of interest - can anyone offer an opinion on Tenterfield and Stanthorpe? We're thinking of spending a long weekend this year visiting a couple of the national parks and wineries in the area - but will avoid the Apple and Grape Festival. I'm sure winter woolies will be a necessity, but will it be worth it?

 

[gooner]

Orange, Mudgee and Cowra are all worth a visit in NSW. Interstate, Brisbane's not bad though mainly closed last time I went

 

[Tink]

Love Beechworth! Had many a Ned Kelly Pie at the Beechworth Bakery. I lived up the road in Yackandandah for a couple of years.

Yackandandah is a lovely town too Kennas, my friends children went to school there.

Two of my friends moved out that way a while ago now, one is in Kiewa and the other in Wandiligong

Wandiligong is gorgeous as well.

Another town I enjoyed out that way was Chiltern.

 

[ck13488]

BEST+WORST
Port Stephens - if i can sneak it in as a country town
It is a great place year round apart from christmas school holidays and easter.
Please stay away at these times as most of you overcrowd, rubbish, disrespect and generally decrease the peacefulness of the area.

 

[Boyou]

Orange, Mudgee and Cowra are all worth a visit in NSW. Interstate, Brisbane's not bad though mainly closed last time I went

When was that,gooner? ..the 50s?

When I first came to Bris,it was thought of as a big country town.Come a way since then.We have all the mod cons now!

Come back again ..we will keep the lights on for you!!

 

[Pivotonian]

Yackandandah is a lovely town too Kennas, my friends children went to school there.

For a town about the size of a flea bite, an amazing number of people seem to have lived in, been to or known someone from Yackandandah.

I have been there several times, as a good friend of mine grew up there.

Never ceases to amaze me.

 

[Mofra]

Good - Millewa; fantastic wineries close by, Cheese & Mustard factory with free tastings, great places to stay.

Bad - Sale. Lived there for a number of months, just the worse in bogan attitudes/behavior you can imagine.

 

[gav]

Bad - Sale. Lived there for a number of months, just the worse in bogan attitudes/behavior you can imagine.

LOL this is where I grew up (well, on a farm very close by). It's a lot worse now than it used to be, hence so many of the young ones leaving as soon as they finish school. If you think Sale is bad, I suggest you never visit Moe or Bairnsdale.

 

[bunyip]

Out of interest - can anyone offer an opinion on Tenterfield and Stanthorpe? We're thinking of spending a long weekend this year visiting a couple of the national parks and wineries in the area - but will avoid the Apple and Grape Festival. I'm sure winter woolies will be a necessity, but will it be worth it?

I like both places for a visit - by small country town standards I think they stack up as well as most places.
I was in Tenterfield last May and one thing I remember is the spectacular Autumn colours of the trees.

 

[nulla nulla]

Hope this is not too far off the thread.

My wife and I regularly drive the Sydney Melbourne trip along the Hume Highway. It sometimes suits us to leave one or the other around lunchtime and stop over night. There are some great places in Victoria as mentioned but these are either too far from Sydney or too close to Melbourne. So we tried:

Holbrook - eating options very basic (that's as complimentary as I feel like being) and the heavy trucks thundering through all night meant that it was almost a relief to get up the next morning and leave. One positive - Morrisons at the southern end of the town has a great bacon & egg roll and coffee.

Gundagai - a better option but for the most part memorable for the wrong reasons. We drove into the town about 4pm and there was not a living soul that could be seen in the whole main street! A visit to the pub drew suspicious stares such as mentioned elsewhere. Meal at the RSL was passable.

Sounds very unflattering I know and perhaps if you got to spend more time in these places they would be a lot more appealing.

But as far as good stopovers go, that's just about the limit of the options.

You should try Tarcutta. Half way between Melbourne and Sydney. A nice little Motel, a good pub, two petrol stations with realistic fuel prices and one of them does a great hamburger. And the locals are friendly to boot.

 

[Mofra]

LOL this is where I grew up (well, on a farm very close by). It's a lot worse now than it used to be, hence so many of the young ones leaving as soon as they finish school. If you think Sale is bad, I suggest you never visit Moe or Bairnsdale.

Congrats on escaping!

Have been to Bairnsdale a few times, and had a tire replaced in Moe once. Not a fan of either, although went out in Traralgon a couple of times (The Church!) and found it to be safer than King St (which isn't saying much these days).

 

[Mofra]

In terms of towns/areas, I should also point out I've been to a fair few towns on the NSW South Coast and it would have to be one of the most beautiful parts of Australia.

The Dandenongs East of Seville are also wonderful - did the Mt Donna Buang walk on Tuesday so started & finished in Warbiton, lovely little town.

 

[DocK]

I like both places for a visit - by small country town standards I think they stack up as well as most places.
I was in Tenterfield last May and one thing I remember is the spectacular Autumn colours of the trees.

Sounds nice - we don't get much Autumn colour here on the Gold Coast. Looks like there are a couple of national parks worth a visit, and if I can keep the kids occupied long enough to allow a bit of wine tasting, so much the better!

 

[GumbyLearner]

Worst: Nowhere Else, Tasmania.

If you try to fill up the car, post a letter or need to drop into the local store. They are all Somewhere Else. But beautiful countryside nonetheless.

 

[GumbyLearner]

Just found a great pic 3 kms out of Nowhere Else

 

[MrJones]

Margaret River, W.A. In and around. Everyone doing their own thing, friendly shop keepers, appetising breakfasts, excellent wineries, rugged windswept cliffs and beaches, large raw ocean swells, cave exploration, cool temperatures and quiet places for contemplation.

Totally agree Wysiwyg, great place to go for the weekend. Heaps of reasonable priced places to stay and of course the vino

 

[bunyip]

It's a long way from most of Australia, but the Atherton Tableland of far north Queensland offers some charming little towns and villages and tourist attractions in the most picturesque region of QLD and perhaps Australia.
A few Tableland towns that spring to mind are Malanda, Kuranda and Yungaburra.
The scenic beauty of the area is unsurpassed - brilliantly green high rainfall country, relatively high altitude a couple of thousand feet above the adjacent coastal lowlands, superb scenery with spectacular views, rainforests, mountains, waterfalls, volcanic craters, pristine rivers and creeks, mild year-round climate without the uncomfortable humidity of the nearby coastal regions.
Tourists are well catered for, and the area is only a short drive west of the coastal centres of Cairns and Innisfail....definitely one of my favourite places in the whole of Australia.
Do a Google search for 'Atherton Tablelands' and see what comes up.