Sapphire Coast
Introduction:
- the far southern coast region of NSW
- very popular beach/fishing/golfing/camping destination for Victorians and
Canberra residents seeking
warmer waters of the East Australian Current which passes down from the
tropics, and along the Continental Shelf some 12 miles from shore is
usually 26deg C.
- the towns below are from south to north
- NSW govt beaches website
- NSW National Parks website
Sapphire Coast
towns and attractions:
- Eden:
- although the highway from Genoa to Eden has only two overtaking
lane sections, one at each end, overtaking is usually possible as there
a reasonable stretches of visible road, one can assume an average speed
of 95-100kph is likely here
- popular fishing destination with good boat access and no need to cross
potentially dangerous sandbars as at Merimbula
- Eden Killer Whale Museum.
- Eden Whale Festival every October; spear-fishing competition Queen's
Birthday weekend in June; fishing competition early March;
- Ben Boyd National Park section north of Eden:
- 65 million year old rock formations layering red clay upon white
sand at The Pinnacles best seen from the beach.
- accommodation:
- Boydtown:
- historic town 8km south of Eden founded in 1841 by Ben Boyd, a
British entrepreneur but collapsed and became a ghost town in 1870.
- Seahorse Inn Hotel - beach front 3 acres landscaped gardens, newly
renovated & re-opened in 2004 with luxury suites for up to 200
guests.
- Ben Boyd National Park section south of Eden:
- historic Boyd's Tower (built 1846) from which they lit a fire when whales
were seen entering the bay.
- historic whaling station
- Saltwater Creek to Bittangabee Bay coastal walk - 9km one way
taking 5 hours although many take a shorter walk from
Bittangabee Bay to Hegarty's Bay.
- dramatic coastal red rock formations perhaps best seen by
boat.
- Green Cape lighthouse (built 1883) - good spot for whale
watching
- Wonboyn Lake:
- Nadgee Nature Reserve:
- large section of coastal forest south of Wonboyn to the NSW state
border accessible mainly by walking tracks.
- Maxwell's / Wallagaraugh Rainforest Walk - easy 30min walk - take Maxwell's
Rd or Ireland Timms Rd turnoff from Princess Hway (gravel roads).
- Mt Imlay National Park:
- west from the Princess Hway south of Eden
- one of the best walks in the region but very lengthy steep climb
and takes 3 hours for round trip.
- Pambula/Merimbula:
- 18km beyond Eden
- very popular beach/fishing/golfing/camping destination for Victorians seeking
warmer waters of the East Australian Current which passes down from the
tropics, and along the Continental Shelf some 12 miles from shore is
usually 26deg C.
- Pambula Lake & River - lake fishing; oyster farms; good beach area
for kids
- Merimbula River - main fishing boat access to ocean with coastguard
coverage
- Pambula beach horse trail rides
- reef & game fishing tours
- oyster farms - Wheeler's restaurant
- accommodation:
- camping/cabins:
- Holiday Hub:
- on Pambula Beach foreshore just south of Merimbula bar;
heated pool all year; great for kids;
- opened in 1963 on a 40yr lease from NSW govt which was
renewed in 2003.
- 45 cabins; 360 caravan sites; excellent floor-heated
shower block/toilet/laundry/BBQ facilities;
- $1m heated swimming/spa complex built in 2002;
entertainment centre for kids;
- camp kitchen; 16000 guests per year; one of the best parks
in NSW.
- Tura Beach:
- Wolumla:
- turn off to Candelo
- Candelo:
- Bega:
- cheese manufacture
- Bega RSL golf club
- Grevillea Estate Winery
- turn off to Tathra
- Tathra:
- port for the Bega Valley; historic wharf;
- Bournda National Park
- Mimosa Rocks National park
- Tathra Beach Country Club
18 hole wet weather golf course & tennis
- turn off to Snowy Mountains Highway westwards:
- Bemboka - pie shop
- Piper's Lookout
- Nimmitabel
- turn off southwards along Monaro Highway:
- Cooma
- Brogo:
- Cobargo:
- rural community with a village atmosphere; Folk Festival in Feb;
- turn off to Bermagui
- Bermagui:
- famous for its game fishing for marlin and sharks some 12 mile off
coast along the Continental Shelf as it is one of the closest ports to
the Shelf which runs north-south, approx. parallel to the eastern
coast.
- game fishing here became world-renown when American writer Zane
Grey wrote two books about the thrill of big-game fishing in
Bermagui in An American Angler in Australia & Wilderness
Fresh.
- seaport town for Cobargo
- Four Winds Festival
- Gulaga National Park
- Bermagui Coastal Walk
- Tilba Tilba and Central Tilba:
- these villages lie on the slopes of Mount Dromedary with many of its
buildings built in the late 1880's during the gold rush, and
subsequently depended on its cheese industry, but now depends on tourism
and is the centre for arts & crafts for the Far South Coast.
- Mt Dromedary
- Koorabari National Park
- Narooma:
- Eurobodalla National Park (south)
- Bodalla:
- cheese
- Bodalla State Forest
- Tuross Head:
- Moruya:
- Moruya State Forest
- Wandera State Forest
- Eurobodalla National Park (north)
- Mogo:
- Mogo State Forest
- Broulee Island Nature Reserve
- Bateman's Bay:
- main beach resort destination for residents of Canberra (1.5hr drive
away)
History:
- the earliest inhabitants of the region were the Aboriginal tribes, the
Yuin, and the Bugelli-Manji tribe to the north who enjoyed an abundant
harvest from land and sea They hunted mainly kangaroo & emu, &
fished from bark canoes in the many local waterways. Whale meat was also
part of their diet as this stretch of coast is part of the migration route
of Humpback Whales. To catch the whales, they would make a noise by stirring
up the water and attracting the occasional Killer Whale which would respond
by forcing less aggressive Minkie whales into shallower waters where the
fishermen could capture their quarry. The Killer Whales were rewarded by
enjoying the lips & tongues of the prey.
- in 1770, Capt Cook named Bateman's Bay after his former superior officer,
Nathaniel Bateman, and Mount Dromedary after seeing its camel-like shape.
- in 1797, George Bass & Matthew Flinders, on their epic journey along
the east coast, visited Bateman's Bay
- in 1828, Thomas Raine, a sea captain & merchant, set up Australia's
1st mainland whaling station in Eden.
- in 1833, the pioneering Imlay brothers tapped into the ancient skills of
the Aborigines and set up a whaling enterprise north of Twofold Bay. Local
Aborigines were employed to catch the whales. The Imlays also developed
pastoral interests at nearby Pambula. A 3rd Imlay brother, Alexander,
settled in Tasmania & provided a market for any surplus stock which
travelled by ship. The brothers also exported to Sydney & NZ, &
gradually increased their grazing to include most of the land from Broulee,
south to Twofold Bay & west to the Monaro.
- in 1830's, Cobargo attracted early settlers with its lush growth of wattle
with its bark being stripped, cut & sent to Sydney or Melbourne to be
used in the tanning industry. Cobargo township not established until 1870's;
This industry continued in Cobargo until 1964.
- in 1843, Boydtown was built & named after Benjamin Boyd, an early
local explorer & whaling entrepreneur whose business exploits gained him
considerable notoriety. Boyd, a former London stockbroker, landed in NSW in
1842 with substantial support from Scottish investors and his grand vision
was to build an empire. He used the monies to set up the Royal Bank of
Australia and within 2yrs became one of the largest landholders &
graziers in the colony, combining his financial expertise with his pastoral
& shipping interests. He soon decided to move his whaling fleet to
Boydtown & planned a major settlement in the area. His success was
short-lived as he became unpopular through his exploitation of the local
population (for which he required police protection whenever he visited
them), and imported cheap labour from the Pacific islands. By 1849, his
financial business had collapsed & he fled to the Californian gldfields
leaving behind substantial debts. Boyds Tower, built on the headland south
of Twofold Bay between 1846-8 was intended as a light house &
lookout for whales, but the government refused to give him permission to
operate the building as a lighthouse although it did prove an excellent
whale lookout giving him an edge over permissions.
- in 1848, Pambula pop. was 24.
- in 1851, gold discovery in the Araluen Valley brought thousands of
prospectors to the area increasing the already thriving community of Moruya.
Moruya was a site for quarrying of granite & quality stone for Sydney's
buildings.
- in the early 1850's, gold discovery at Cabbage Tree Creek resulted in the
establishment of the township of Mogo which was part of the Araluen Field
which stretched from Nerrigundah in the south to Majors Creek & across
to Nelligen. Nelligen became an early port for the tablelands & the 1st
steamship reached there in 1853 & its township was gazetted in 1854,
while the road across the Clyde mountain was completed in 1856 resulting in
rapid expansion of the township and a postoffice being established in 1858.
- in 1850's, the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company was set up &
established Merimbula as an important port for the hinterland.
- in 1857, the arrival of a Scotsman, Matthew Munn had a significant impact
on Merimbula. It had been discovered that the region was not suitable for
wheat growing & its flour mill was abandoned fully equipped and ideal
for Munn's new business initiative of growing and processing maize into top
grade cornflour. Munn bought out many of his suppliers & leased
properties back to them guaranteeing his sources. Munn went into partnership
with William Manning & Thomas Mort, and together expanded the industry
to produce 12 tons of cornflour week. In the 1860's Crown Land in Merimbula
was 1st sold for £1 and acre & the town became established supplying
wool, sleepers, cornflour, butter, sheep, cattle, pigs & fresh fish to
the Sydney market. The business eventually folded in 1917 by which time the
town of Merimbula had already been established with a school, post &
telegraph office & important road links.
- in 1859, the township of Bateman's Bay was officially laid out although
the ferry crossing over the river wasn't established until 1871.
- in 1862, the town of Tathra was developed after its wharf was built and
exported produce from the Bega Valley to Sydney.
- in the 1860's a gold rush to Mount Dromedary & the Gulph field at
Nerrigundah was the catalyst for the establishment of Central Tilba and
Narooma.
- in the early 1870's, Bodalla was established as the village for the
private country estate of leading Sydney businessman Thomas Sutcliffe Mort
(of Goldsborough Mort fame). Mort wanted to manufacture quality Australian
cheddar cheese to replace imported cheese from England. Mort cleared &
drained river flats, imported stock & sowed improved grasses. He showed
the advantages of large-scale milk production by running his 13,000 acre
estate as 3 farms. Bodalla remained a private village until subdivision in
1924, but the Mort family continued to own parts of the village &
surrounding farmland until 1987. Boydtown becomes a ghost town.
- in the late 1870's, dairying commenced in the Cobargo region & a
factory opened in Cobargo in 1901. By 1975, Cobargo had the only specialised
butter factory in NSW & production continued until 1980 when the factory
finally closed.
- in 1882, Tilba Tilba came into existence when Richard Bate. son of the
original selector, began building houses & shops for lease near his
Mountain View homestead.
- in 1885, Pambula was officially proclaimed a town and 3yrs later when gold
was discovered, prospectors moved into the area increasing the population
& creating several villages overnight.
- in 1890, Bega's butter factory begins production. The Bega Cooperatve
Creamery Company was created in 1899. A new cheese factory was built in
1969.
- in 1894, a punt begins operating across the inlet at Narooma which
continued until 1931 when the bridge opened.
- in 1915, 1st big shipments of cattle brought in to Cobargo region via
Bermagui port.
- in 1929, the last whale was taken from Twofold Bay.
- 1934, pop. of Bateman's Bay reaches 450 rising to 875 by 1947.