Gundagai  New South Wales

Every dinkum Australian can sing 'the dog sits on the tuckerbox, five miles from Gundagai', but there is much more to this Murrumbidgee River town than a sculptured pooch perched on a plinth in a pond.

The names of explorers such as Hume, Hovell, Sturt and Mitchell, of bushrangers Ben Hall and Captain Moonlite are woven into its historical tapestry.

So, too, is the genius of sculptor Frank Rusconi, who not only created the dog and its tuckerbox, but bequeathed to the town one of Australia’s marbled wonders. More than 28 years in the making, his unique cathedral-in-miniature contains 20,948 individual pieces of marble.

Add in some lovingly-tended colonial buildings and the collection of internationally acclaimed photographer Dr Charles Louis Gabriel and Gundagai emerges as a true gem of the Riverina Highlands.

Along with the Gabriel photographic collection, the Gabriel Centre above the hardware store in the centre of town also presents displays and memorabilia associated with the likes of Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson and Jack O'Hagan who wrote The Road to Gundagai.