THE NEWELL HIGHWAY, NSW - OLD TRAVEL
Perhaps if we were American, we'd refer to the Newell Highway as Route 39. That's its official designation, but we end to just call it the Newell.
Named after Hugh Hamilton Newell, who was the first Commissioner for Main Roads in NSW during 1932–41, the Newell Highway stretches 1058 kilometres from Goondiwindi in Queensland to its southern terminus where it crosses the Murray River at Tocumwal. It is NSW's longest highway and passes through 15 local government areas including iconic townships such as Boggabilla, Moree, Narrabri, Coonabarabran, Gilgandra, Dubbo, Parkes, Forbes, West Wyalong, Narrandera, Jerilderie and Finley.
While it is a north-south freight route about 400km inland from the coast, it also carries a huge number of travellers, especially caravanners, who make the pilgrimage north to warmer climes each winter, passing through the Riverina, national parks and wide-open spaces.
The Newell is also a delight for astronomers, boasting numerous observatories in the Big Sky country around Coonabarabran, Narrabri, Gilgandra and the famous Parkes Radio Telescope, better known as ‘The Dish’ and immortalised on film.
For the first
