te-he, as a former resident of a neighbouring town of gunnedah, I could not resist the opportunity to stick the boot in! in something akin to the melbourne sydney rivalry, you'll find most places have their 'rival' towns - gunnedah happens to be on my list.

it is a long way to go ... but it you do happen to be going that way, I have to say (completely biased) that you should keep going another 100km to Narrabri. the scenery gets more interesting after gunnedah where it goes completely flat on the western side and the nandewar ranges (including Mt Kaputar National Park) rise up out of the flat on the eastern side. it's known as big sky country and it's an apt description! big open sky, watch the sun into the horizon and fantastic stars.

unfortunately I didn't see too many koalas in Narrabri, but perhaps I could arrange a kidnapping of the gunnedah colony and a quick trip to their new home. that's sure to fire up the rivalry too.

as for why it's not better known - gunnedah is located in a funny spot - it's not on the new england highway (for the alternative syd brisbane route) nor on the newell highway (the mel-brisbane route), so you have to make a decision to go there, rather than just driving through and seeing.

lancefan, wasn't it somewhere around Gunnedah where Dorothea MacKellar penned "My Country"?

it was indeed gunnedah (rats, can't claim that one.) I'm pretty sure the sign into gunnedah used to have dorothea mckellar country on it but perhaps replaced by the koala sign now!

According to Open Road, those resourceful town councillors have given us 'lyrical loos' - visitors to the town are invited to visit their public loos where 'bush verse is etched on the back of the cubicle doors and recorded poetry readings play over the speaker system.'

Sounds more cultured than those verses you read on the doors of Sydney (or Narrabri's) cubicles.

In September 04', we visited Lemon Tree Passage on Tilligerry Peninsula where there is a wildlife reserve (not a zoo nor a wildlife park). There we were fortunate to see many Koalas on our own as well as with a docent from the local visitors bureau. Some of the photos would be the envy of professionals. We also saw hundreds of roos in their natural environment in that area.
For us it was a short pleasant train ride from central Sydney to Newcastle and then a short drive (less than an hour) to Lemon Tree Passage.
Enjoy your holiday; we look forward to returning.

About ten k out from Gunnedah I saw a koala in a tree right by the highway. When we went to the lookout area where there is supposed be plenty didn't see a one. However the trip was interesting, saw some strange sights.

Koalas can occasionally be spotted around the hills in Adelaide, but knowing where and when to look would be difficult. We do have a large park 25 minutes from the city centre called Belair National Park, which might be a good place to try and see some in the wild. Otherwise, Cleland Conservation Park on the outskirts of Adelaide has a petting zoo in combination with natural habitat.
http://www.parks.sa.gov.au/cleland/i...m#introduction
http://www.parks.sa.gov.au/belair/natural/index.htm

Koalas are so plentiful on Kangaroo Island (SA) that the Government has started a program to relocate some of them to the mainland as the food source is not enough to maintain the number of wild koalas.

Cape Otway Nat'l Park, Vic. (along the GOR as a couple of people already said). But saw several in the trees around here - plus a pretty interesting lighthouse in case you don't happen to spot any.

http://www.lightstation.com/