EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Before European settlers put weirs on the Macintyre River in the GOONDIWINDI area (pronounced "Gundawindee"), right on the New South Wales border, it was little more than a string of waterholes and lagoons, attracting a lot of birdlife and inspiring the Aboriginal name Goonawinna - "birds' resting place". The irrigation weirs now supply the huge demands of the local cotton and wheat industries, but this hasn't dented the varied birdlife, despite the constant stream of road train transports rumbling through at all hours.

Goondiwindi is best known in Australia for the racehorse Gunsynd, alias the Goondiwindi Grey , who won over half of his races through the early 1970s. There's a monument to him at the southern end of McLean Street, close to where the Macintyre River marks the state boundary. Nearby, also on McLean Street, the Old Customs House Museum (daily except Tues 10am-4pm; $2) has an eclectic gathering of anything old, from preserved snakes to steam engines. It predates the rest of the town and even the wood-paved bridge over the river.

The main road east-west through town is Marshall Street, with shops, banks , a post office and most services nearby. You'll find a tourist information centre with brochures galore and internet facilities just around the corner on Bowen Street (daily 9am-5pm; tel 07/4671 2653). Cheap and central accommodation can be found at Devon's Caravan Park , near the information centre at 3 DeLacy St (tel 07/4671 1383; cabins $35-50), and the Border Motel , 126 Marshall St (tel 07/4671 1688; $70-90); be aware that during the November cotton chipping season places to stay are in very short supply. Eat at the Victoria Hotel on Marshall Street, whose $10 counter meals feature a half-kilo steak buried under a mountain of vegetables.

Two hundred kilometres further west on the Barwon Highway, ST GEORGE sits on the banks of the Balonne River and is the administrative centre for the tranquil shire of Balonne. From St George, roads leave in almost every direction, and on your way through the shire every town offers a taste of farming history, wildlife and a relaxed atmosphere. Information on the region is available from the Council Offices under the clock tower in the town centre (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm; tel 07/4625 3222), and you can stay at the Australian Hotel (tel 07/4625 5000; under $70) on the river bank. At the back of the Balonne Sports Store, a few doors down from the Council Offices, the proprietor has combined the woodcarving skills of his native Greece with the Aboriginal tradition of emu egg-carving and the wonders of electric lighting to produce a unique display of carved, illuminated emu eggs (daily 9am-5pm; $2).