Moonbi is a village situated on the New England Highway 20 kilometres north of Tamworth, New South Wales,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is nestled at the foot of the

Moonbi Range The Moonbi Range, a mountain range that is part of the Great Dividing Range, is located in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. The range is located roughly north east of the city of Tamworth situated at the bottom of the W ...

and is part of the

Tamworth Regional Council Tamworth Regional Council is a local government area in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The area under administration is located adjacent to the New England Highway and the Main North railway line. It was established in Ma ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

. Moonbi is located a few kilometres to the north of the town of

Kootingal Kootingal is a town in New South Wales, Australia in the Tamworth Regional Council area. It is commonly called a satellite suburb of Tamworth because of its closeness and the fact that its residents use Tamworth's services. Founded as an Abo ...

. At the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, Moonbi had a population of 357 people. The village is renowned as a centre for the

poultry industry Poultry farming is the form of animal husbandry which raises domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to produce meat or eggs for food. Poultry – mostly chickens – are farmed in great numbers. More than 60 billion chicke ...

with many large poultry farms and associated industries located around the area. Moonbi has erected a large fibreglass chicken in recognition of the poultry industry centered here. The surrounding area has many small 'lifestyle' blocks that are often used to run horses.

History

The Moonbi area is the traditional land of the Kamilaroi (or Gamilaraay) and Anaiwon

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

people. William Dangar and Edward Cory crossed the ranges in 1830. "Cory's Pillar", also known as Cory's Nightcap, is a prominent balancing stone landmark seen on the right of the New England Highway when travelling northwards on the first Moonbi Hill. A village was settled there in the 1850s when bullock teams and travellers began passing through the region in search of new land for their livestock. During this period there were two inns and one hotel there. In 1859 a post office opened at Moonby Station and in 1882 the Moonbi Public School opened. In August 2007 Moonbi became the centre of attention in the wake of the quarantined horses and lockdown at Moonbi Recreation Ground as a result of the

equine influenza Equine influenza (horse flu) is the disease caused by strains of influenza A that are enzootic in horse species. Equine influenza occurs globally, previously caused by two main strains of virus: equine-1 (H7N7) and equine-2 (H3N8). The OIE now cons ...

outbreak. This followed the running of

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

competitions here during the outbreak of EI. The situation was made difficult as no accommodation was available here for the horse owners.DPI calls on Tamworth to help Moonbi horse owners: http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/archive/news-releases/agriculture/2007/ei-dpi-calls-on-tamworth-to-help-moonbi-horse-owners The village has a post office, public school, recreation ground, pony club grounds, general store, nursing home, produce retailer, roadhouse, service station and a rubber belting supplies and engineering company. Travelling north along the New England Highway, on the first Moonbi Hill, is the Moonbi Lookout perched on a huge granite outcrop with some beautiful views of Moonbi and the Cockburn Valley.

References

External links

* Kootingal-Moonbi General Cemetery: http://cemindex.arkangles.com/cemetery.php?id=212 {{authority control Towns in New South Wales Towns in New England (New South Wales) Tamworth Regional Council