See what our extensive property offers you

If you're staying at our guesthouse, first mention has to go to Pilliga Pottery itself, which is just a short stroll away from the Schoolhouse and is one of the Coonabarabran area’s major tourist attractions. Devonshire Teas are available at the Blue Wren Bush Cafe. Pilliga Pottery also offers free demonstrations of their craft and a plethora of decorative and useful pottery of all types, all hand-made on site - the creative atmosphere of this place is an experience in itself.

The Pilliga Nature Reserve

Directly adjacent to the homestead and pottery is part of the Pilliga Nature Reserve, and guests are welcome to bushwalk on the local property, which abounds in native birds and animals. This area has been called "the Jewel of the Pilliga" because its unique situation - where the Pilliga Forest meets the foothills of the Warrumbungles Range - gives it an unusual combination of native flora and fauna, including many threatened and vulnerable species.

Bird Watching

The property and the Nature Reserve are home to a myriad of birds, which can particularly be heard (and seen) early in the morning or as the sun cools. Morning walkers will generally be accompanied by a mixture of common and more unusual species. A sample, depending on the season, would include:

Hooded Robin; Spotted Pardalote; Turquoise Parrot; Grey-Crowned Babbler; Kookaburra; Diamond Firetail Finch; Sulfur-Crested Cockatoo; Restless Flycatcher; Eastern Rosella; Grey Butcherbird; Galah; Eastern Yellow Robin; Eastern Spinebill; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Peaceful Dove; Willy Wagtail; Magpie; Rainbow Bee-Eater; White Browed Woodswallow; Spiny Cheeked Honeyeater; Noisy Friarbird; Emu; Superb Fairy-Wren; Wood Duck; Noisy Miner; Little Lorikeet; Brown Treecreeper; Glossy Black Cockatoo.

Our gardens have a pretty much permanent population of Blue Wrens, Welcome Swallows, Willy Wagtails, three varieties of finch, and White-Plumed Honeyeaters, and are regularly visited by many other species.

Our Farm

We also operate a small working farm, with forty head of cattle, ten horses, two milking goats and, currently, a sow and her large litter of cute little piglets. We find these numbers are plenty to keep us busy but not so many that the marginal soils of our paddocks can't cope. At present we are training several of our horses in preparation for setting up horse-riding activities for guests; in the meantime, guests are welcome to watch! Our paddocks are also host to Grey Kangaroos, Wallaroos, and Red-Necked Wallabies, with the occasional visit from wandering emus, not to mention many other native birds.

Detail of watercoolers