GRANT BATTY FROM WAIRARAPA TO WALLABADAH
You won’t find a signpost directing you to All Blacks legend Grant Batty when you reach the one-pub village of Wallabadah amid the prime cattle and grain properties of northern NSW.
The bloke who runs the general store played a bit of rugby in his day so he’s your best bet to point you towards the acreage on the creek just out of town.
It just so happens his son is best mates with the son of 1970s Wairarapa Bush halfback Laurie Karatau. Rugby’s six degrees of separation is still a better GPS than any phone navigation when you want to locate something.
The grateful faithful 15km down the road at Quirindi Lions Rugby Club might happily pass on Batty’s phone number too after the locals were coached by rugby royalty in 2014.
It takes a lot to make Batty’s home town of Greytown, in the heart of the Wairarapa region, look like a bustling metropolis but Wallabadah, with its population of 350, does just that.
Walla-where exactly?
“It’s between Currabubula and Murrurundi,” Batty tells inquiring friends with a grin.
