Named after the town of Scone in Scotland (the ancient capital and crowning place of Scottish kings), this NSW town on the New England Highway was first gazetted in 1837. Now, self-proclaimed as the Horse Capital of Australia, Scone`s identity is inextricably linked to the equine industry. Beyond its equestrian fame, Scone (pop:5000) offers a charming country town experience with a strong sense of community, historic architecture, and a scenic backdrop of rolling hills.
Before any European influence, the area was occupied by the Wanaruah people who found it be be a rich source of food. In the 1820`s, land grants were issued and vast pastoral properties were established by settlers. The town was first called Redbank and became a major stopping point along the Great North Road, now the highway. Scottish influence forced the name change. We noted that the present New England Highway (595km in NSW) is busy, but mostly confined to just two lanes. It could do with a lot of upgrading, but we don`t think much is in the pipeline, even though the road is designated as National Highway 15, A15 which supposedly gets it Federal funding. With all those trucks, we would not like to drive far on this highway at night, with no separation from oncoming traffic.
Scone is a major town on the 468km long Hunter River which rises to the north-east of the town on the western slopes of the Mount Royal Range, part of the Liverpool Range within Barrington Tops National Park. Just out of town, the upper Hunter is impounded by the 1958 Glenbawn Dam which provides Scone`s (and other towns`) water supply, has reserve capacity for flood mitigation and serves a tiny (5.5MW) hydro-electric power station. It may be expanded greatly, according to plans, for greater use as pumped hydro energy storage.
The Nation`s Equine Capital...
Scone is surrounded by some of the country`s most prestigious thoroughbred studs, contributing to its global reputation for breeding champion racehorses, making driving around off the highway an enjoyable experience. We went past many famous studs, almost all of which are characterised by fine buildings, networks of long wooden post and rail fences, beautifully manicured entrances all of which are surely a branding exercise designed to exude prestige.We read that half of all racehorses in Australia come from this area. The Upper Hunter Valley`s mineral-laden soil produces a nutricious diet for horses, possibly the main reason for the success of the area. With almost no traffic our driving around was especially pleasant. There were several fords to cross, but luckily nothing was in flood. We had no reason to visit a manicured stud, so our few photos are of regular, not pampered, horses are just 'over the fence' in any old paddock, but still looking very healthy.
We stayed in Scone several nights, so needed somewhere to eat. Walking Kelly Street, the first we found actually open was the Royal Hotel, a sad and glum place with few clients, but it had a bistro out the back. No credit cards here though, but the bar had an ATM which we raided. Food was OK, but the whole ambience was too depressing, and we would not recommend it. Someone suggested the RSL Club, located in a back street so we would never stumble upon it. This club was bright and breezy and pretty popular, but devoid of character and we won`t go back there. Then we found and tried the Thoroughbred Hotel which now gets our award for `best in town`. The bistro and bar were in the same nicely renovated room, the walls were decorated with horse-racing memorabilia, a bit like an equine Hard Rock Cafe, and the vibe was `busy and fun`. The Thoroughbred was pretty crowded, meaning the locals like it too, and the tucker was great. Like many country pubs, the Thoroughbred is not open 7 days/week.
Strathearn Park Lodge...
The Strathearn Park Lodge, a B&B, is 1km up a driveway off the New England Highway, about 4km south of Scone. We found it on the internet, naturally, and found it a great place to stay and a perfect base to explore the district. The hosts, Lyn and Peter, were very friendly and accommodating. Our room, one of four, was spacious and well appointed, and faced north out to a beautiful private garden. Walk out of that garden to a rural vista of hills and fields, cows and dams. We had an open wood fireplace which, sadly, we did not need to use because the weather was so warm. The bathroom was spacious too, and passed the essential tests: hot water, walk-in shower which did not wet the floor etc. If there was little wind you could just hear the traffic on the highway, and the very frequent coal trains next to it, so being a kilometer away was welcome. Amazingly, there is a heated swimming pool. This was a very comfortable place to stay, and we would recommend it.
The Idyllic Washpools...
To the north of Scone is the Towarri National Park which makes for such a contrast to the manicured thoroughbred studs of the region. Its rugged landscape, part of the Liverpool Range, features dramatic sandstone outcrops and steep hills. Cave structures are apparent everywhere in the vertical walls of the outcrops, and must have provided shelter for first-nations families. Our visit was in the middle of a warm day, so probably most wildlife were taking a siesta. The Washpools Waterhole is the park`s central attraction, but we found it to be secluded with almost no-one else around. It is a natural, swimming hole in Middle Brook, a crystal clear tranquil creek that meanders through the park. The rock formations surrounding the waterhole and the gentle flow of the creek made it a perfect place for a sunbake, and we enjoyed a very cool fresh water swim. Luckily the Washpools were open for our visit, because the rest of Towarri were off-limits to allow aerial shooting of feral animals.
Birds of the Upper Hunter...
The Upper Hunter region, around Scone, has many forested areas in between the multitudes of horse farms, and these support a wide variety of bird life. Just sit still in a treed area and they will appear, but they are not tame and we found them all difficult to approach for good photographs. We saw various parrots and other varieties. Catching them in the air was almost impossible - these guys all fly with purpose, mainly to get away from us, so most of the pix are on the ground. We read that habitat loss and fragmentation due to land clearing has caused avian populations to decline, so we hope conservation efforts are not thwarted.
Not a Crested Pigeons, the perils of AI...
This doesn`t belong here, but where else can it go?
We don't claim any expertise at bird identification, but once we`ve got a half decent shot of one, we feel obliged to find out what it is, where and how it lives etc. To this end, we use apps like Merlin or, more recently, simply ask some Artificial Intelligence site. This is how we identified a Crested Pigeon, but another bird we photographed looked a bit weird and didn`t quite match the characteristics of a Crested Pigeon. Our AI source insisted that it was, and when we queried its unsual curved and pointed beak, AI felt it might be a genetic mutation or the result of some disease. It also suggested that the beak had not worn away with eating and foraging like most do. But the most interesting AI response came when we asked it to sharpen the image (it`s damn hard to get sharp photos of birds!), the AI came back with a slightly modified image which was indeed sharper, but also changed some characteristics of the bird to reinforce its diagnosis as a Crested Pigeon. Having gone way beyond sharpening, it created a new although very similar image to our photograph, with a completely new head! It seems like the AI was determined to enhance the evidence that its identification was correct, i.e. it exhibited confirmation bias.
Postscript: Having just seen Ron Waters`s pic (02 Oct 2025) on Facebook of a Noisy Friarbird that`s what we now believe it to be. It much better matches the description, and Scone is well within its range. Lesson: use AI by all means as an aid to identification, but if it doesn`t look right, don`t trust it!