Condobolin Railway Station, New South Wales
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Condobolin is a town in the west of the Central West region of
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, Australia, on the
Lachlan River The Lachlan River (Wiradjuri: ''Kalari'', ''Galiyarr'') is an intermittent river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, located in the Southern Tablelands, Central West, and Riverina regions of New Sou ...
. At the , Condobolin had a population of 3,185.


History

Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the
Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...
people. Australian Heritage magazine suggested that Condobolin evolved from the "Aboriginal" word Cundabullen – shallow crossing. The magazine stated that the crossing was located a short distance below the junction of the Lachlan River and the Goobang Creek. Others suggest that the town's name from the Wiradjuri word for 'hop bush', or 'hop brush'. The area was explored by
John Oxley John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828) was an English List of explorers, explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps bes ...
in 1817 and Thomas Mitchell in 1836. The 'Condoublin' run was established by 1844. There had been
squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...
in the district since Mitchell's 1836 exploration. Closer settlement of the area began in 1880 when the large runs were broken up into smaller holdings. The town of Condobolin was proclaimed in 1859. The railway arrived in 1898, and the town's population boomed, assisted by finds in 1885 of copper north of the town and in 1896 of gold in the district, north-west of the town. A major copper and gold mine was in operation at Condobolin from 1898 until around 1910. Agriculture is still a major influence on the town, production having expanded with the damming of the Lachlan River in 1935 by the
Wyangala Dam Wyangala Dam is a major gated embankment dam, rock fill with clay core embankment and gravity dam with eight radial gates and a concrete Spillway#Chute spillways, chute spillway across the Lachlan River, located in the South West Slopes, south- ...
. Wheat, barley, canola, wool, sheep and cattle are produced in the district. In more recent years irrigation has brought horticulture and cotton to the Lachlan River area. The Lachlan River saw paddle steamer traffic from the 1860s up until the 1920s. The video clip for
Shannon Noll Shannon Noll (born 16 September 1975) is an Australian singer-songwriter who first came to prominence as runner-up of the first season of '' Australian Idol'' in 2003, which led to him being signed to Sony BMG. He has released five top-ten al ...
's first single '' What About Me?'' was filmed in Condobolin.


Heritage listings

Condobolin has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * McDonnell Street:
All Saints' Anglican Church, Condobolin The All Saints' Anglican Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church located at McDonnell Street, Condobolin in the Lachlan Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The church was possibly designed by Edmund Blacket and was ...
* Various monuments and war memorials.


Geography

Condobolin is very close to
Mount Tilga Mount Tilga, a hill located near in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, was said to be the exact centre of New South Wales. However, establishing the centre of an irregular shape is not a straightforward matter. Just where ...
, which is said by some to be the geographical centre of New South Wales. Geosciences Australia's Bicentennial project however suggests near the Five Ways, 33 km west north west of Tottenham as one possible centre and makes no reference to Mount Tilga. Condobolin is located at the junction of Lachlan River and Goobang Creek. It is west of Australia's largest city,
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
. Close to Condobolin is the Overflow Station, the setting of the poem ''
Clancy of the Overflow "Clancy of the Overflow" is a famous Australian poem written by Banjo Paterson and first published in '' The Bulletin'', an Australian news magazine, on 21 December 1889. The poem is typical of Paterson, offering a romantic view of rural life, ...
'' by
Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author, widely considered one of the greatest writers of Australia's colonial period. Born in rural New South Wales, Paterson worke ...
. The poem is about a Queensland drover and a sheep shearer responsible for herding large mobs of sheep long distances to market.


Climate

Condobolin features a borderline hot semi-arid /
cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...
( ''BSh / BSk'') with very hot summers and cool winters. Seasonal range is considerable: the average minimum / maximum temperature in January is / , while the average minimum / maximum in July is / . Rainfall is spread evenly throughout the year in scant amounts. The town is very sunny, receiving 156.6 clear days annually. There was at least one occurrence of snowfall in the district, on 5 July 1900, while the Melrose Plains nearer
Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal (Ireland), Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midlands Reg ...
saw a fall of snow some 26 years prior to that.


Demographics

At the , Condobolin recorded a population of 3,486; a fall from the 3,743 recorded in 2011. The median age was 38. 22.1% of residents reported being Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander; the median age among this group was 21. 85.0% of respondents reported being born in Australia; substantially higher than the national average of 66.7%. 79.8% of residents reported having both parents born in Australia, compared to the national average of 47.3%. 88.8% of respondents spoke only English at home. Christianity was the largest religious group in Condobolin at 78.6% of stated responses on religion. This included the denominations of Catholic (27.0%), Anglican (23.6%) and Presbyterian and Reformed (6.4%). 17.8% reported having no religion, lower than the national average of 29.6%. 10.8% of residents did not state a response to the optional question on religion.


Sport

The most popular sport in Condobolin is
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
. The local club, the Condobolin Rams, play in the
Woodbridge Cup The Woodbridge Cup is a rugby league competition run by the New South Wales Country Rugby League. It encompasses smaller senior clubs in the Mid-West and Central West of the state. The neighbouring Mid-West Cup competition's remaining clubs mer ...
competition, in which the club won the 2021 Premiership. Historically, the club is part of the
Group 11 Rugby League Group 11 was a rugby league competition in the surrounding areas of Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia. The competition is played in four grades, these being First-Grade, Reserve-Grade, Under 19s and Ladies League Tag. Ahead of the 2022 season, t ...
district. Condobolin formerly had an Australian rules team in the Northern Riverina League.


Events

Condobolin is home to a two-day cross country navigational rally, known as the "Condo 750". The Condo 750 runs over a variety of private and public roads and tracks and attracts competitors from all over Australia. It is a CAMS and MA sanctioned event. The course is made up of competitive sections known as selective sections which are timed over private tracks around the various sheep and cattle stations, these range in length from . Non-competitive road sections on public roads join the sections, these range from . The total length of the course is over . Each year, the local show society runs the annual Condobolin Show in late August over two days. The event features livestock, showjumping, cookery competitions, entertainment, fireworks, and car-boot picnics around the main arena.


Transport

Condobolin railway station opened in 1898 and lies on the
Broken Hill railway line The Broken Hill railway line, extending from Orange, New South Wales to Broken Hill, is now part of the transcontinental rail corridor from Sydney to Perth. The first railway line in New South Wales opened from Sydney to Parramatta Junction ...
. The station is served by the twice-weekly
Indian Pacific The ''Indian Pacific'' is a weekly experiential tourism-oriented passenger train service that runs in Australia's east–west rail corridor between Sydney, on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, and Perth, on the shore of the Indian Ocean – ...
train, as well as
NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a regional train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and into Australian Capital Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria (state), Victoria, Queensland and South Australia ...
's Broken Hill
Outback Xplorer The ''Outback Xplorer'' is an Australian passenger train service operated by NSW TrainLink between Central railway station, Sydney, Sydney and Broken Hill railway station, Broken Hill via the Main Western railway line, Main Western line. Commenc ...
train. This train heads to Broken Hill on Mondays (Stopping at 2:01pm) and to Sydney on Tuesdays (Stopping at 1:41pm).


Notable residents

* Don Athaldo (born in Condobolin),
strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...
* William Beech, inventor periscope rifle holder WW1. * Kevin Gilbert, poet, author, playwright, activist *
Percy Knight Percy Montgomery Knight was an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played for the Balmain Tigers and Canberra Raiders in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition. Background Knight was b ...
, Former NSWRL Player for Balmain Tigers and Canberra Raiders *
Bill Leak Desmond Robert "Bill" Leak (9 January 1956 – 10 March 2017) was an Australian editorial cartoonist, caricaturist and portraitist. Raised in Condobolin and Beacon Hill, Sydney, Leak attended Julian Ashton Art School during the 1970s. His ca ...
, cartoonist *
Eris O'Brien Eris O'Brien (20 September 1895 – 28 Feb 1974) was an Australian prelate of the Catholic Church and historian. He was Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (1948–1951) and the second archbishop of the Canberra-Goulburn ...
, archbishop *
Shannon Noll Shannon Noll (born 16 September 1975) is an Australian singer-songwriter who first came to prominence as runner-up of the first season of '' Australian Idol'' in 2003, which led to him being signed to Sony BMG. He has released five top-ten al ...
, singer


References


External links


Condoblin – VisitNSW
{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Towns in the Central West (New South Wales) Lachlan Shire Populated places established in 1859 Mining towns in New South Wales