Goondiwindi

Our first stop at this farming community in the Queensland hinterland. We travelled inland passing Toowoomba as we rose up above the Great Dividing Range. After Toowoomba the landscape changed to an expansive plain with livestock and arable farming the predominant features. Gundy as the locals call it is a community of about 26k all involved in farming and associated engineering industries. It lies on the border of Queensland and NSW.
We booked a trip out to a cotton farm, which is one of the major crops grown when there is enough water in the state reservoirs. The tour was fascinating, the irrigation schemes impressive, and Mike our guide is clearly passionate about his industry. In dryer spells wheat,lucerne and barley are grown.
The town's most famous inhabitant appears to have been a racehorse called Gundsyn. Bought for 1300 dollars by four mates as a colt they wanted only to win a local race. It turned out to be a good selection as it went on to win just about every top class race going - grossing 280000 dollars in prize money. It did not win the Melbourne Cup only due to it being handicapped so heavily. The Goondiwindi grey has a statue in its memory adjacent to the bridge crossing into NSW and the Tree of Knowledge and our tour guide for the cotton farm trip found the song created by the local community to espouse their love of the animal. Available on the internet .Read more