If you’ve got the aviation bug, set your flight path to Temora, home to the world-class Temora Aviation Museum. Australia’s top fighter pilots trained here during World War II, and the town still has its eyes on the skies.
TEMORA hit the maps in a blaze of glory in the gold-rush boom from the 1860s – hopeful crowds, struck by gold fever, poured in and by 1881, the area was producing half of the state’s gold. The shanty town shot to fame when the whopping, nearly 9kg Mother Shipton nugget was unearthed a year later, but when the gold rush collapsed, the crowds left, and Temora’s population dwindled to just over 2000 souls. The Temora Railway Station opened in 1893, and golden wheat replaced gold nuggets. With a population of about 6000, it’s still one of the state’s largest producers of wheat, canola and wool.
You’ll find Temora at the crossroads of Burley Griffin Way and the Goldfields Way, with its villages, Ariah Park and Springdale, nearby.
ARIAH PARK With its main street lined with peppercorn trees and grand buildings, this heritage-listed village is 20 minutes west of Temora. The Roaring ‘20s were good for the town, which was the first place in rural Australia to load wheat for rail travel. The Ariah Park Hotel, built in 1914 and gloriously restored, lets you eat, stay and play amongst history (not to mention the farm animals in the beer garden!). Fun fact: the pig from the movie Babe was born and raised in Ariah Park.
SPRINGDALE Just 15 minutes east of Temora, Springdale remembers its past at the cenotaph, a war memorial first unveiled in 1921, which commemorates the local men who lost their lives in World War I. The nearby reserve has a playground where kids can stretch their legs.
Map of Temora Shire
Temora Aviation Museum
The Temora Aviation Museum has a fine collection of historic aircraft. See the iconic Spitfires, the only flying Hudson Bomber in the world, as well as the oldest working Tiger Moth, the stars of a world-class collection of operational vintage aircraft. Take a seat in one of the three full-motion simulators to experience flying a Spitfire, Kittyhawk or Mustang.
Hot-air balloons launch from Temora airport to drift over the golden fields during canola season, for a shimmering, sweep of the yellowest yellow at your feet.
If those feet are still itchy, stretch your legs on a ‘Lake Loop’ around Lake Centenary on its walk and bike track; the lake lures boaters, water-skiers, fisher folk and swimmers looking to cool off. It’s also picnic perfect and pooch-friendly, with an off-lead agility dog park.
The Bundawarrah Centre cultural precinct houses the visitor information centre, the Temora Rural Museum and the Temora Ambulance Museum, which has more than 20 ambulances dating back to 1897, including the only remaining horse-drawn ambulance in NSW.
Lovers of the crack of willow on leather will know Australia’s cricket legend Donald Bradman grew up here – his family’s home is preserved in the Bundawarrah Centre, along with a ‘Keeping Place’ documenting the shire’s Indigenous history, and a museum of gold-rush life in Temora. Sad news: the Mother Shipton nugget on display is fake – the NSW Government bought the original, gifted a chunk to Queen Victoria and sent the rest on a world tour, where it was stolen from a window display in London.
Temora Ambulance Museum
Stay the night in a heritage-listed building, The Fed & Bed, with great coffee in the Courtyard Café on street level.
Aviation aficionados can book into SkyLodge Accommodation on the grounds of the Temora Aviation Museum.
While trainspotters will swoon at the Country Carriage’s two red railway carriages on a fifth-generation farm outside Temora. The town’s B&Bs include Scandi-style barns at Three Ponds Estate or stunning Harberton House, the old bank manager’s residence.
Soak up country pub hospitality at the Temora Hotel ,The Railway Hotel or the Ariah Park Hotel. Still pouring drinks more than a century after it was built, admire the refurbished Ariah Park Hotel’s original tiles, stained glass and high-ceiling lounges over a glass of wine by the fire.
Temora is a RV-friendly town; caravanners and campers can pull up and wind down at the Temora Airfield Tourist Park, the Temora Caravan Park and the Temora Showground, while the Temora Free Camp has unpowered sites for two-night stays.
Grab your early morning coffee from Espresso House, Diamonds and Dust or The Fed and Bed on Hoskins street, or if you are planning to visit the Aviation Museum, grab your coffee from their bustling Guardhouse cafe. And enjoy a pub meal at The Railway Hotel, Temora Hotel or Ariah Park Hotel.
Each year, on the second Saturday in March, the Rural Museum at the Bundawarrah Centre celebrates its anniversary with a live exhibition. A packed program of demonstrations features cottage crafts, bush trades, music and working machinery culminating in a series of grand parades presenting vehicles and machinery from all of the heritage collections the Historical Society has developed.
The Hot to Trot Carnival of Cups is Temora Trotting Club’s big day, with live music and Fashions on the Field, or come for the Temora Open Golf Tournament. Temora and Ariah Park both hold annual shows – Ariah Park’s has been running for more than a century, with carnivals and agricultural competitions, and the biennial Temora RV Muster is a week-long celebration of van life.
Three Ponds Estate
Espresso House Coffee Shop
Bundawarrah Centre Live Hands on History Day
The Railway Hotel
