Coonamble, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
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 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.
around 1,000 people annually come to compete in the rodeo with an average of about 4,000 spectators.
rugby league competition. The Coonamble Rams play in the Western Plains Competition.
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It lies on the Castlereagh Highway
Castlereagh Highway
The Castlereagh Highway is a state highway in New South Wales, Australia, also extending some kilometres into Queensland. It has been given the route number 55. The highway was recently extended past Gilgandra to include state route 86...
north-west of Gilgandra. At the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, Coonamble had a population of 2,549. It is the regional hub for wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
growing and sheep and wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
.
The architecturally distinguished convent of the Brigidine nuns in Coonamble was dismantled and transported 600 kilometres to Pokolbin
Pokolbin, New South Wales
Pokolbin is a rural locality in the Hunter Region of New South Wales Australia. It is part of the Singleton Shire Council Local Government Area and the city of Cessnock. The area is the centre of the Lower Hunter Valley wine region...
, 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.
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 HemisphereSouthern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
around 1,000 people annually come to compete in the rodeo with an average of about 4,000 spectators.
Radio station
Coonamble has their own local radio station, 2MTM 91.9FM, which has a wide variety of music from country to modern.Sports
The Coonamble Bears play in the Castlereagh CupCastlereagh Cup
The Castlereagh Cup is a rugby league competition in western New South Wales, Australia, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. For all intents and purposes the competition is effectively the Group 14 senior competition.-Teams:...
rugby league competition. The Coonamble Rams play in the Western Plains Competition.