Top Oz Tours offers a great range of New South Wales tours and experiences. You can browse the options here.
Moree is abuzz these days, thanks to the influx of industry generated by the construction of the multi-billion-dollar Inland Rail freight network (which will connect Melbourne and Brisbane).
This northern New South Wales hub of 7,000+ people is a seven-hour drive from Sydney and five hours from Brisbane, or a 1.5-hour flight from Sydney with Qantas. Visitors flock here throughout the year to soak in the town’s warm artesian waters. The aquatic centre is among the most popular attractions and your motel might just have its own mineral-rich pool.
Here’s a checklist of our top ten things to do in Moree.
1. Bathe in an artesian spa
Situated on NSW’s rich black-soil plains, Moree lays claim to the title of artesian spa capital of Australia. Here, thermally heated ground water from the Great Artesian Basin rises to the surface via natural springs and bores, and feeds a variety of recreational bathing facilities. One such spot is the Moree Artesian Aquatic Centre, where you can soak in two therapeutic hot pools, clock up laps in the Olympic-sized pool, and splash down at the waterpark. There’s also a wellness centre, which offers massages, facials, mani/pedis, and other body treatments.
The complex, which opened in 1895 and underwent a $7 million upgrade in 2011/12, played a pivotal role in the nation’s Indigenous civil-rights movement. Charles Perkins led the 1965 Freedom Ride through outback NSW. In Moree, the Freedom Riders brought attention to a council bylaw that prevented Indigenous people from using the pool. The bylaw was rescinded and the protest came to symbolise the Freedom Ride. A striking mural commemorating this seminal event covers the side of the Yaamaganu Art Gallery.
2. Visit the Big Plane
On the southern approach to town, not far from the regional airport, there’s an unusual sight. Dramatically parked outside the Amaroo Tavern is a former RAAF aircraft. The C47 Dakota, manufactured in 1943, was eventually converted to a DC3 and handed over to Papua New Guinea’s defence force. After many years of service, an engine sprang a leak and had to be shut down while in flight. The plane was flown to Moree in 1993, lifted into place by three cranes, and opened as a tourist attraction the following year. Visit during the tavern’s opening hours to enjoy one of Australia’s most unusual beer gardens.
3. Admire the period architecture
Stroll around Moree’s town centre to see the exquisite Art Deco buildings that line Balo, Frome, and Heber Streets. The ornamental features on display include motifs inspired by ancient Egyptian discoveries of the 1920s, wheat sheaves that reflect the region’s agricultural base, stylised sun bursts, medallions and garlands. One of the most stunning structures is the 1923 Moree War Memorial Hall — a stately concrete building that’s all curves, columns and period colour.
4. See amazing Indigenous art
Spend time browsing the works on display at Bank Art Museum Moree (BAMM), which occupies an imposing Edwardian-style corner building (circa 1911). The institution is renowned for its collection of Aboriginal paintings (the most significant held in regional NSW). If that whets your appetite, see more Indigenous artworks at Yaamaganu Gallery. Inspect what’s on the walls and ask to see what’s held in the stockroom. Adjoining the gallery is the Aboriginal-owned and operated Cafe Gali, which dishes out delicious corn fritters, salmon tacos, and more.
5. Try some top bites
Moree has some other great places to eat, but they tend to be a bit off the beaten track. Moree Golf Club, for example, on the western side of town, houses Ma Ma Chim restaurant. It serves delicious Thai classics, such as red, green, and yellow curries, salt and pepper prawns, and spicy duck. A short drive north of town will bring you to Explorers Restaurant at the Burke and Wills Motor Inn, where the menu features Tassie oysters, rack of lamb, grilled barramundi, and Angus steaks. Back in the CBD, the Royal Hotel bangs out pub classics, including lamb’s fry and bacon, bangers and mash, seafood baskets, and royal parmies (just like your regular parmy, but topped with bacon).
4. Get a great latte
Brooker Trading Co on Balo Street is one of the most popular cafes in Moree, and for good reason — the coffee is awesome! Line up at the window to place your order, then take a seat beneath the grapevine trellis shading the footpath to wait and watch the world go by. The breakfasts (think stacked avo on sourdough, honeycomb French toast, toasties and falafel wraps) could have come straight from the kitchen of any trendy capital city eatery.
Locals also swear by the bean beverages at 61 Balo. Head into this Art Deco beauty (which was once a corner store) for a ristretto, macchiato, or affogato spiked with Frangelico.
7. Tour a pecan farm
East of Moree, near the village of Pallamallawa, is a pecan-nut plantation so large that it produces 95 percent of Australia’s annual crop. The pecan, native to the southern United States, flourishes on the flagship Trawalla farm near the banks of the Gwydir River. The nuts are harvested with a mechanical shake of the tree from May to July. Access is only possible via a guided tour with O’Dempsey’s Tours, which includes morning tea under the trees.
8. Explore the story of cotton
With some of the world’s richest black soil, the Moree region produces a wide variety of crops. From March to July, paddocks are speckled with white tufts of cotton fibre bursting from their bolls. Find out how the cotton is transformed from bolls to balls on a tour of a working cotton farm and gin.
9. View two treasures
Drop in to the Moree Visitor Information Centre to see two of the town’s prized possessions. The Moree Town Crier’s jacket and Moree quilt were both made by talented members of the local quilting group. The jacket — which is adorned with embroidered cotton bolls, sunflowers, kangaroos, sheep, and more — was made for the town crier to wear during a championship event in 2012. The quilt’s design incorporates hand-stitched representations of various heritage landmarks.
10. Remember the pioneers
Pay homage to the remarkable pioneering businesswoman Mary Brand (nee Geddes) at both Mary Brand Park (which overlooks a peaceful stretch of the Mehi River) and Moree Cemetery. Note the thistle on Brand’s tombstone, which denotes her Scottish roots. The thrice-married mother of eight was Moree’s first store-keeper and hotelier. The cemetery is also the final resting place of Edward Dickens — the beleaguered youngest son of English novelist Charles Dickens. After an early career in outback NSW politics, his fortunes hit the skids and he died destitute at the age of just 49.
For more travel inspiration, visit www.moreetourism.com.au.
Browse our range of New South Wales tours and experiences here.
Do you have any suggestions to add to our list of the best things to do in Moree? We would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.
Cover image: Moree Artesian Aquatic Centre. Image: Destination NSW. Additional images: Bigstock
About the writer
Katrina Lobley grew up in Queensland, moved to New South Wales after university, and stayed put. She worked as a writer on regional newspapers in Grafton, Orange, and Wollongong, before relocating to Sydney in 1997 to take up a role at The Sydney Morning Herald. Katrina turned to freelance writing in 2001, and today she writes about travel, arts, and culture for a variety of newspapers, magazines, and online sites. Her favourite time of year is November, when the enormous jacaranda tree in her backyard finally breaks into bloom.
