Bliss is a giant chocolate freckle. Or maybe it’s a freshly restored locomotive engine or an old-time streetscape. In Junee, come for the chocolate and a hit of history or go loco(motive).
Hello, gold diggers! From 1860s, JUNEE was a wild, western town – a young shepherd found gold in the hills and it was on! The railway line came to town in 1878 and then came the bushrangers, the squatters, the merchants and the farmers. With its wide verandahs and wider streets, it’s all calmed down since then; there’s a genteel air about Junee, which now has a population of about 6500. Junee is a trainspotter’s town – you can eat, shop and tour in trains ‘til your heart’s content. Sitting on the Olympic Highway, Junee is the halfway mark on the Sydney-Melbourne inland rail route, surrounded by its four villages of Bethungra, Illabo, Old Junee and Wantabadgery.
BETHUNGRA This historic village has celeb status amongst trainspotters: the Bethungra Railway Spiral is a heritage-listed, 360-degree spiral built in the 1940s to enable trains to climb the hills on their way to Sydney. Watch the action from the viewing platform on the edge of the village. The Bethungra Dam has a free camping reserve where you can canoe, swim or even drop a fishing line in. Pop in for a cuppa, chat and buy some locally made jam from the Olde School T-House.
ILLABO Need somewhere to lay your head, grab a bite, stock up on supplies or post a letter? It’s all at the Illabo Hotel. Petrolheads, make tracks for Illabo’s Motorsports Park to see vintage speedway events, karts, bikes and sidecar races and rallying at its track. The annual Illabo Show has been running for more than 100 years and still draws the crowds.
WANTABADGERY This little crossroads, 20 minutes south of Junee, comes alive for its biennial picnic races. You’re in bushranger country now: Andrew George Scott, aka Captain Moonlite, was snared in a siege and deadly shootout at Wantabadgery Station and nearby McGledes Hut, in 1879. Campers can pitch at nearby Sandy Beach on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River.
Map of Junee Shire
3801 Steam Train
Junee’s abandoned flour mill is reborn as a crowdpuller for the sweet-toothed at Junee Licorice & Chocolate Factory. Meet the chocolatiers on the twice-daily tours, stop for breakfast, lunch, dinner or afternoon tea. You’ll often find live music and a lively crowd on the weekends.
The golden age of rail is still alive in Junee, home to one of the last working railway roundhouses servicing and reconditioning locomotives and rolling stock since it opened in 1947. Junee is also Australia’s last steam-train depot; let a local volunteer walk you through its museum dedicated to the marvel of rail travel. And if too much locomotion is never enough, see railway innovation in action from the viewing platform of the Bethungra Rail Spiral; a magnificent feat of rail engineering.
Take a stroll down Broadway, where you’ll find the Broadway Museum, housed in the old Broadway Hotel. Take a self-guided architectural walk to spy old pubs, the post office, general stores and the stately Grecian-style Athenium Theatre, built in 1929 as a cinema and ballroom.
You’ll find the Visitor Information Centre in the refurbished Library, near the town pool; a disability-inclusive facility with a slide, gym and heated pools. The essential souvenir? It has to be a pair of Aussie Uggs. The sheepskin boots was designed in 1966 and are hand made in the Junee factory.
Junee Licorice & Chocolate Factory
Junee has plenty of places to lay your head, from motels to hotels and bed and breakfasts. Otherwise, go old-school with a pub stay at either of the 100-plus year-old dames, the Commercial or the Junee Hotel, with single, queen and family rooms and wide verandahs upstairs. The pet-friendly Junee Tourist Park has a pool and barbeques, while campers, caravanners and motorhomers will find free sites at Sandy Beach, Bethungra Dam Reserve and the Junee Golf Club.
You won’t go hungry in this shire with cafes and bakeries sprinkled through Junee and at Bethungra’s Olde School T-House. Brew at 102 fires up the espresso machine early for your morning rush, while Devonshire tea aficionados should call for scones, jam and cream at the Junee Licorice & Chocolate Factory or in the Junee Railway Cafe & Emporium in the grandiose Victorian Italianate station. For a heftier bite, grab a Bushranger’s burger at the Jail Brake Inn café and for Junee’s famed lamb or local steak, book dinner in the Roundhouse Restaurant at the Crossing Motel. The popular Millroom Restaurant in the Chocolate Factory serves lunch and dinner, while you’ll find pub meals at the Commercial Hotel, the Red Cow Hotel and the Junee Hotel which promise cold drinks and a warm welcome for dogs (and their humans!), as well as vegan and gluten-free dishes.
Stock up on local produce, including freshly baked cakes, local wine, organic meat, olives and cheeses at the Junee Rotary Farmer’s Market on the first Sunday of the month (excluding January and February). Junee and its surrounding villages have a busy calendar of events, including a Poker Run & Blues Night, the Junee Jail Break Fun Run and the annual swap and meet.
Fields of Hello Yellow Junee
Illabo Speedway
Junee Roundhouse Museum
Junee Licorice & Chocolate Factory
Take in our charming towns and quaint villages, visit our world-class attraction and our friendly local.
From Coolamon to Temora and Junee, our sunny welcome shines brighter than the golden crops along the way.
Say hello to yellow.
PLACES TO GO
