Gundagai  Gundagai  is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Honeysuckle, Kimo, Mooney Mooney, Murrumbidgee and Tumut mountain ranges, Gundagai is south-west of Sydney. Until 2016, Gundagai was the administrative centre of Gundagai Shire local government area. In the the population of Gundagai was 1,925. Gundagai is an inland town with an elevation of . Almost all of the shire is located in the South West Slopes bio-region and is part of the Riverina agricultural region. The eastern part of the shire is considered part of the South Eastern Highlands bioregion. North Gundagai is situated on top of significant, Jindalee Group, Cambrian period geology from which the chrysotile asbestos bearing Gundagai serpentinite originates also indicating prehistoric links to the Gondwana supercontinent. The Shire has been extensively cleared for agriculture and more than 80% of the area is used for dryland cropping and grazing. Less than 1% of the shire is managed for conservation. There are few remaining examples of the original vegetation cover. Gundagai shire is primarily rural, with a small population. Eighty per cent of the shire's population live in the town of Gundagai. There are four villages in the Shire: Coolac, Tumblong, Muttama and Nangus, with populations ranging from 40 to 90 people. Gundagai has a warm temperate climate. Under Köppen climate classification, the town has a humid subtropical climate ("Cfa") with characteristics of the Mediterranean climate ("Csa"), since one summer month sees rainfall below 40mm. The name 'Gundagai' may derive from 'Gundagair', an 1838 pastoral run in the name of William Hutchinson to the immediate north of current day Gundagai. The Aboriginal word 'gair' was recorded at Yass in 1836 by the naturalist George Bennett and means 'bird', as in budgerigar or good bird. In that context 'Gundagai' means "place of birds" but that placename may refer to the area to the north of Gundagai not to Gundagai town.