Coffs Harbour is an Australian coastal city located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales about 540 km (340 mi) north of Sydney, and 390 km (240 mi) south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres in the North Coast region, with an estimated population of 70,000 as of June 2017.
Coffs Harbour won an international "Bloom award" for population 20,001-75,000 in 2002. In addition an "Enhancement of the Landscape" in 2004 from the same organisation. Coffs Harbour's economy was once based mainly on bananas, now being superseded by blueberries as well as tourism and fishing. The wider region is known as the Bananacoast.
The city has a campus of Southern Cross University, a public and a private hospital, several radio stations, and three major shopping centres. Coffs Harbour is near numerous national parks, including a marine national park.
There are regular passenger flights each day to Sydney and Melbourne departing from Coffs Harbour Airport. Coffs Harbour is also accessible by road, by NSW TrainLink trains, and by regular bus services.
Video Coffs Harbour
Geography
Coffs Harbour is a regional city along the Pacific Highway between Newcastle and The Gold Coast. It has become a major service centre for those living between South West Rocks in the south and Grafton to the north.
Sawtell, 10 km south along Hogbin Drive from the city has become a satellite suburb of Coffs Harbour, with it increasingly referred to as being part of the city instead of its own entity as a town.
The surrounding region is dominated by coastal resorts and apartments with hinterland hills and mountains covered by forests, banana plantations, and other farms. It is the only place in New South Wales where the Great Dividing Range meets the Pacific Ocean.
The Bananacoast Community Credit Union (BCU) is headquartered in Coffs Harbour.
The greater Coffs Harbour city is broken up into several suburb and precinct areas including:
The city is surrounded by outlying towns which are referred to by locals as suburbs of the Coffs Coast Region:
Maps Coffs Harbour
History
By the early 1900s, the Coffs Harbour area had become an important timber production centre. Before the opening of the North Coast Railway Line, the only way to transport large items of heavy but low value, such as timber, was by coastal shipping. This meant sawmillers on the North Coast were dependent on jetties either in rivers or off beaches for exporting their timber. Timber tramways were constructed to connect the timber-getting areas, the sawmills and jetties built into the ocean at Coffs Harbour.
Name
Coffs Harbour owes its name to John Korff, who named the area Korff's Harbour when he was forced to take shelter from storm in the area in 1847. The name was accidentally changed by the surveyor for the crown when he reserved land in the area during 1861.
Demographics
According to the 2016 Census the population of the suburb of Coffs Harbour is 25,752. This is an increase from 24,581 in 2011. 52.5% of the population is female in contrast to the national average of 50.7%. The average age is 43, which is higher than the national average of 38.
75.5% of residents reported being born in Australia; higher than the national average of 66.7%. Other than Australia the most common countries of birth are England (3.2%), New Zealand (1.3%) and Myanmar (1.1%). 62.2% of residents also reported both their parents being born in Australia, considerably higher than the national average of 47.3%.
The top religious groups in Coffs Harbour are Catholic 20.0%, Anglican 17.9% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.9%. 29.3% declared no religion.
Climate
Coffs Harbour has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa according to the Köppen climate classification system) with marked seasonality of rainfall. The city is relatively sunny, receiving 122.1 clear days annually, higher than Brisbane and Cairns. Summers are warm, wet and humid. Winters are mild, pleasant and drier.
Attractions
Coffs Harbour was the hub for a thriving banana industry. One of the biggest attractions is the Big Banana, one of the first of Australia's Big Things (it celebrated its 40th birthday in 2005), with the World's Largest Banana celebrating the region's best known export. There is also a popular underwater diving spot on a small natural reef.
The Coffs Harbour Jetty is an historically important timber wharf where coastal shipping once moved the timber from the hinterland. The jetty area is the subject of current planning by Council and consultants to develop a cultural precinct and rejuvenated residential area.
Nearby, the Solitary Islands Marine Park preserves a diverse underwater ecosystem that mirrors the terrestrial biodiversity, covering the southern limit of northern tropical species and the northern limits of the southern temperate species. Muttonbird Island is accessible by walking along the breakwater from the harbour, with the nature reserve protecting a significant wedge-tailed shearwater breeding site. The Muttonbird Island footpath leads to a viewing platform where whales are often spotted between June and November.
There are many national parks, reserves and marine parks surrounding the city, including:
- Bellinger River National Park (west of Bellingen in the Bellinger headwaters)
- Bindarri National Park (20 km west of the city, near Ulong and Dairyville)
- Bongil Bongil National Park (south of Sawtell)
- Cascade National Park (north of Dorrigo)
- Coffs Coast Regional Park (beachside reserves and parks along the Coffs Coast)
- Dorrigo National Park (just south of the Dorrigo township)
- Hayden Dent Nature Reserve (northwest of Coffs Harbour)
- Junuy Juluum National Park (north of Dorrigo)
- Moonee Beach Nature Reserve (Moonee Beach-Emerald Beach)
- Nymboi-Binderay National Park (north of Dorrigo, east of Glenreigh, on the Nymboida River)
- Solitary Islands Marine Park (in the Tasman Sea from Coffs Harbour to Wooli)
- South Solitary Island (18 km NE from Coffs Harbour in the Marine Park)
- Ulidarra National Park (Bruxner Park and Mount Coramba area)
- Yuraygir National Park (stretching from Yamba to Red Rock and west along the Coast Range)
The town's water supply comes from the nearby Orara River at Cochranes Pool and is supplemented by the Nymboida River. The city hosts the Coffs Harbour Regional Botanic Garden.
Education
Coffs Harbour is home to the Coffs Harbour Education Campus (CHEC) which is a partnership between the Southern Cross University, TAFE and the Coffs Harbour Senior College. Other universities include the University of New South Wales Rural Clinical School located on the Coffs Harbour Health Campus. Australian Catholic University, Rural Education (REZ). Local state and private high schools include Coffs Harbour, Woolgoolga, Orara, Toormina, John Paul College, Coffs Harbour Christian Community, Bishop Druitt College and the Coffs Harbour Senior College.
Primary schools include; Boambee, Bonville, Coffs Harbour Public, Coramba, Corindi, Crossmaglen, Karangi, Kororo, Lowanna, Mullaway, Nana Glen, Narranga, Upper Orara, Sandy Beach, Sawtell, Toormina, Tyalla, Ulong, William Bayldon and Woolgoolga Public School. Private primary schools in the area include; Mary Help of Christians, St Augustine's and St Francis Xavier's.
Defunct primary schools
- Brooklana Public - 1920-49
- Bucca Central Public - 1910-63
- Bucca Lower Public (Formerly Bucca Creek until May 1919) - 1896-1978
- Corindi Creek Public - 1920-62
- Timmsvale Public - 1928-70
- Yalbillinga Special School (Amalgamated with Coffs Harbour PS) - 1965-93
Other schools
- Casuarina School for Steiner Education
- Bishop Druitt College
- Coffs Harbour Bible Church School
- Coffs Harbour Christian Community School
Special schools are public schools designed for children or youth with chronic disabilities or who for other reasons cannot be accommodated in the comprehensive school system. Coffs Harbour Learning Centre is available for these students.
Cultural facilities and libraries
Churches
- St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church, McLean Street
- St. Augustines Catholic Church, Gordon Street
- HarbourChurch
- Life House, 167 Orlando Street (Sunday 9am, Thursday 9am oldies, Friday 7pm youth) Also Bible College
- C3 Church Coffs Harbour
- Harbourside Presbyterian Church (Sunday 8am, 9:45am, 5pm at 187 Harbour Drive)
- Baptist Church, Cnr High & Curacoa
- Bible Church
- Uniting Church, Vernon Street
- Church of Christ
- Seventh Day Adventist
- Abundant Life
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
- The Salvation Army
Galleries
- Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery
- Bunker Cartoon Gallery
Libraries
- Coffs Harbour City Library and Information Service - with branches at Coffs Harbour, Toormina and Woolgoolga
- Coffs Harbour Education Campus Library
- Family History Library - Rose Avenue
Museums
- Coffs Harbour Regional Museum
Theatres
- Jetty Memorial Theatre
Bypass
Although the Pacific Highway cuts through the centre of the city, much attention has recently been focused on obtaining state government commitment to determining the routes of proposed highway deviations at a number of places including Bonville, the North Boambee Valley to the west of Coffs Harbour and north of Arrawarra to Wells Crossing.
Local media
Newspapers
- The Coffs Coast Advocate - The Advocate newspaper is published on Wednesdays and Saturdays and is delivered free to all homes. The newspaper also uses online publishing, with articles appearing online daily. An online index of articles between 1993 and 2004 and selected articles dating back to 1900 is maintained by the Coffs Harbour City Library, though only articles relating to Coffs Harbour and its people are indexed.
- Coffs Coast Independent - Weekly full-colour newspaper delivered free each Thursday to all homes in the Coffs Harbour district, closed 2012.
Television
- ABC, ABC2, ABC ME, ABC News 24 (public broadcaster)
- SBS, SBS VICELAND, NITV (multicultural public broadcaster)
- Nine, 9Life, 9Gem, 9Go! (Nine Network owned affiliate)
- Channel 7, 7TWO, 7mate (Seven Network affiliate)
- TEN, ONE, Eleven (Network Ten affiliate)
Radio
Commercial
- 106.3 Triple M - Part of Southern Cross Austereo, Triple M is heavily focused on the local Coffs Coast region, as well as shows such as Moffee For Breakfast, The Ray Hadley Morning Show, Arvos with Whitey and plays adult hits. The station was formerly known as 2CS FM until 15 December 2016
- Hit 105.5 - Part of Southern Cross Austereo, Hit 105.5 has a local Coffs Harbour Breakfast Show called the Joel & Tulles Show.
Began in 1997 as a third commercial license for the Coffs Coast. The station was formerly known as Star FM until 15 December 2016.
- 2HC 639 AM - Music, news, talk format. Part of the Broadcast Operations Group's Super Network continuously relaying programs from 2SM in Sydney except for a local program broadcast from Coffs Harbour between 12 pm and 3 pm weekdays. The station was purchased by Bill Caralis in 2005.
Government
- Triple J 91.5 FM
- Radio National 99.5 FM
- Classic FM 97.9 FM
- ABC Coffs Coast
- ABC News Radio 90.7 FM
Community
- CHY FM 104.1
- Racing Radio 107.1 FM
- 2AIR FM 107.9
- Freedom FM 94.1
Narrowcast
- RawFM 88.0 FM
Blogs
- Gourmet Getaways - a food and lifestyle website based in Coffs Harbour. It features unbiased restaurant reviews, accommodations and things to do in Coffs Harbour based on the writer's own experiences.
Transport
Bus
Beaumonts, Busways, Forest Coach Lines, Newcombe and Sawtell Coaches all run service throughout Coffs Harbour and the surrounding areas. The various long-distance coach services which run along the east coast also stop at Coffs Harbour.
Forest Coach Lines runs frequent buses to the northern suburbs of Coffs Harbour and some less frequent services to Grafton.
Most of the Beaumonts buses in 2011 were bought by Newcombe, originally Beaumonts bus service ran in the Orara Valley carrying high school and primary school students from the city of Coffs Harbour to their rural homes.
Train
Coffs Harbour is serviced by NSW TrainLink. Three northbound and three southbound XPT trains stop at Coffs Harbour station each day.
Taxis
Local taxis are run by Coffs Coast Taxi & Hire Car Service.
Air travel
Coffs Harbour Airport is regularly serviced by Fly Corporate, Qantas, Tigerair and Virgin Australia. The passenger terminal is accessible via Hogbin Drive.
The Coffs Harbour Aero Club on Aviation Drive supports private pilots. Flying lessons and discovery flights, as well as airwork and charter flights are available from the club, which is also working closely with local high schools to provide flying training for students.
Flying lessons and discovery flights, as well as airwork and charter flights are available from Coffs Coast Aviation Centre, which is also working closely with local high schools to provide flying training for students.
Sport
The city has four clubs in the Country Rugby League of NSW's Group 2 rugby league competition; Coffs Harbour Comets, Sawtell Panthers, Woolgoolga Seahorses, and Orara Valley Axemen. All clubs offer entries in age groups ranging from under 7s to first grade. The Sawtell Panthers are the current champions in first grade and under 18s, and Woolgoolga Seahorses were runners up to the Port Macquarie Sharks in reserve grade.
There is a local Australian rules football competition with two clubs in the city; Coffs Harbour and Sawtell Saints.
There is also a men's and women's soccer league, two rugby union clubs (Coffs Harlequins and Southern Cross University), junior and senior basketball competitions and the representative Coffs Suns, field hockey and netball competitions.
In 2001, Coffs Harbour hosted the Oceania region's qualification matches for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. One these matches played at Coffs Harbour was the Australia 31-0 American Samoa game, which set a new world record for international association football's biggest ever win.
Pacific Bay Resort hosted 'Camp Wallaby' throughout the 2000s, in which the Wallabies called Coffs Harbour home.
The 2007 and 2013 City vs Country Rugby League representative fixtures were held in Coffs Harbour.
The city is home to the Coffs Harbour International Stadium, which has hosted FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and a Women's 2008 Beijing Olympics Qualification fixtures for the Matildas in soccer as well as some National Rugby League (NRL) pre-season fixtures and domestic one day cricket matches. Coffs Harbour is also known for a great place to skydive due to the hinterland views where The Great Dividing Range meets the sea.
The region has hosted international rallying through the 1970s through to the early 1980s. After that time, the events became part of the Australian Rally Championship and NSW Rally Championships. In 2010, it was announced that Coffs Harbour would be the host city for 2011 Rally Australia, a round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The rally used roads from the neighbouring Bellingen, and Nambucca Shires in addition to Coffs Harbour. The rally returned permanently to Coffs Harbour in 2013. In 2016, the rally will be run in November with a Super special Stage at the Coffs Jetty.
Coffs Harbour is home to three locally grown sporting events attracting thousands of competitors each year: the Coffs Harbour Triathlon (bcu Coffs Tri), the Coffs Harbour running festival and the Coffs Ocean Swims, all raising money to local children's charities. Since its conception the events have raised over $200,000.
Notable residents
- Attila Abonyi - former Australian international Association football player who was capped 61 times for the Socceroos
- Liz Cambage - basketball player
- Russell Crowe - actor
- Jon English - singer-songwriter-actor
- Michael Ennis - rugby league footballer
- Kevin Gordon - rugby league footballer
- Clint Greenshields - rugby league footballer
- David Helfgott - concert pianist
- Deborah Knight - news journalist for the Nine Network
- Denise Knight - mayor
- Wendy Matthews - singer
- Emma Moffatt - triathlete, Beijing Olympics bronze medallist
- Sean Murray - actor, most famous for playing Timothy McGee on American crime drama NCIS
- George Negus - author, journalist, and current affairs presenter
- Ben Newton - paralympics gold medalist, wheelchair rugby player
- Dick Smith - entrepreneur
- Jack Thompson - AFI award-winning actor
Annual events
- National Touch League (March)
- Coffs Coast International Buskers Festival (October)
- Harmony Festival (March)
- Rally Australia (November)
- STILL: National Still Life Award (November)
References
Further reading
- Aboriginal history of the Coffs Harbour region / compiled by Coffs Harbour City Library by Liz Thomas (2013)
- Coffs Harbour: Vol I: pre-1880 to 1945 / Neil Yeates (1990)
- Coffs Harbour: Vol II: 1946 - 1964 / Neil Yeates (1990)
- Coffs Harbour 100 years down the track / by Jean Donn-Patterson (not dated)
- The Coffs Harbour story (1976)
- The history of Coffs Harbour / Produced by Friends of Tourism & Coffs Harbour Historical Society (not dated)
- The Natural history of the Coffs Harbour District / Dept of Continuing Education, North Coast Regional Office, U.N.E. (1980)
- Remembering Coff's Harbour: a century of photographs / [edited by Arlene Hope and David Townsend] (2001)
- Ships and timber: a short history of Coffs Harbour port and associated railways / John Kramer (1984)
External links
- Coffs Harbour travel guide from Wikivoyage
- Coffs Harbour City Council
- Our Stories: Coffs Coast Heritage
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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