West Wyalong NSW 26 July 2026

West Wyalong NSW July 2026

Journeyed south from Gilgandra, stopping at Peak Hill to have a look through the old shop on the corner that happens to have the town’s collection of historic records. Apart from a hand made collection of notes and names and photos, they have this awesome set of Town Rates Ledgers from 1911. Absolutely fascinating to read down the columns looking at the names. You are struck straight away by the names that appear to own most of the district. You cant help but wonder what happened to those mini-empires. I am reliably informed that my great-grandmother lived in the Peak Hill area, unfortunately we don't have the time to sit and read through the whole collection.

Passed by / through Dubbo, which looks like its finally getting a Newel Highway bypass. Then on and on towards Parkes, which surprisingly, does have a brand new bypass complete with Golden Arches. Just a bit short on signage to tell you its there, or how to get in and park a caravan.

Finally arrived in West Wyalong, which neither of us can remember having been through before. Its claim to fame was gold mining, “largest amount extracted in the colony”, pretty impressive at 400,000 ounces. The odd thing is, that unlike Bendigo, Ballarat and Bathurst, there are no grand pubic building, not even government ones. The town you drive through seems almost like it is in its original state form many days gone by. You half expect a horse and carriage to come clip-clopping along Main St! 

Replica true Blue mine poppet head.
West Wyalong NSW July 2026

Couldn’t help going into the Paragon for some lunch. What old NSW town doesn't have a Paragon café? PS: Café is high-brow speak for milk-bar.

Paragon Café, West Wyalong NSW July 2026

Down in the park they have a DC3 up on stands. You don't realise how small these work-horses of Australian Aviation were. This one was originally flown by the RAF in 1943 and then the RAN before being decommissioned and sold in 1977.

Douglas DC3. West Wyalong NSW July 2026