Coffs Harbour is a city on the
Mid North Coast
The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens north of Sydney, and extending as far north as Woolgool ...
of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Australia, north of
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
, and south of
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census.
The
Gumbaynggirr are the original people of the Coffs Harbour region.
Coffs Harbour's economy was once based on timber and agriculture. Over recent decades, tourism has become an increasingly important industry for the city. Once part of a region known as the Bananacoast, today the tourist city is part of a wider region known as the Coffs Coast.
The city has a campus of
Southern Cross University
Southern Cross University (SCU) is an Australian public university, with campuses at Lismore and Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, and at Coolangatta, the most southern suburb of the Gold Coast in Queensland.
It is ranked in the ...
, and a campus of Rural Faculty of Medicine
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...
, a public and a private hospital, several radio stations, and three major shopping centres. Coffs Harbour is near numerous
national park
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...
s, including a marine national park.
There are regular passenger flights each day to
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
,
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...
and
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
departing from
Coffs Harbour Airport. Coffs Harbour is also accessible by road, by
NSW TrainLink
NSW TrainLink is a train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, along with limited interstate services into Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Queensland and South Austral ...
, and by regular bus services.
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, south along Hogbin Drive from the city has become a satellite suburb of Coffs Harbour; it is increasingly referred to as being part of the city instead of its own entity as a town.
The surrounding region is dominated by coastal
resort
A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...
s and
apartment
An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...
s with hinterland hills and mountains covered by forests,
banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", disting ...
and
blueberry plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...
s, and other farms. It is the only place in New South Wales where the
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...
meets the Pacific Ocean.
The greater Coffs Harbour city is broken up into several suburb and precinct areas, including:
* Red Hill
* South Coffs
* West Coffs
* Coffs Harbour Jetty
*
Park Beach
* Diggers Beach
*
Korora, West Korora
* Sapphire Beach
*
Moonee Beach
* Emerald Beach
* North Boambee Valley
*
Boambee, Boambee East
*
Toormina
Toormina is a suburb in the City of Coffs Harbour, on the east coast of New South Wales, Australia. Located in the city's south, Toormina is near the seaside suburb of Sawtell.
History
The suburb was developed in the 1980s by Mr Patrick Harg ...
*
Sawtell
* Bonville
The city is surrounded by many towns and villages in the Coffs Coast region, including:
*
Coramba
*
Nana Glen
*
Corindi Beach and
Red Rock
*
Karangi
*
Ulong Ulong may refer to:
* Ulong Island, in the Republic of Palau in the Pacific Ocean, sometimes called ''Aulong'' and originally written ''Oroolong'' in English
* Ulong channel, a gap in the reef to the west of Ulong Island, popular with divers.
* U ...
* Upper Orara
*
Woolgoolga
Woolgoolga is a town on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the Pacific Highway, approximately 550 km north of Sydney and 365 km south of Brisbane. The closest city to Woolgoolga is Coffs Harbour, which lies 2 ...
History
The traditional inhabitants of the Coffs Harbour region are the Gumbaynggirr people, who have occupied the land for thousands of years, forming one of the largest coastal Aboriginal nations in New South Wales. Their nation stretches from the
Nambucca River in the south to around the
Clarence River in the north and to the
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...
in the west.
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.
Etymology
Coffs Harbour owes its name to John Korff, who named the area Korff's Harbour when he was forced to take shelter from a 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.
Heritage listings
Coffs Harbour has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* 1 Breakwater Road:
Ferguson's Cottage
*Coffs Harbour timber jetty, Jordan Esplanade
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. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.6% of the population.
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%),
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
(1.1%), India (0.9%) and Germany (0.5%). 62.2% of residents also reported both their parents being born in Australia, considerably higher than the national average of 47.3%. 82.1% of people spoke only English at home.
The top religious affiliations in Coffs Harbour are Catholic 20.0%, Anglican 17.9% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.9%. 29.3% declared no religion and 11.1% did not submit a response.
Climate
Coffs Harbour has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(''Cfa'' according to the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
system) with marked seasonality of rainfall. The city is relatively sunny, receiving 122.1 clear days annually, higher than Brisbane and Cairns but not as sunny as
Townsville. Summers are moderately hot, wet and humid. Winters are mild with moderate rainfall.
Attractions
Coffs Harbour was the hub for a thriving banana industry. One of the biggest attractions is the
Big Banana
The Big Banana is a tourist attraction and amusement park in the city of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. The grounds of the park are set amongst a banana plantation, featuring a large walk-through banana. Built in 1964, it was one of ...
, one of the first of
Australia's Big Things (it celebrated its 50th birthday in 2015), 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
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes—deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock ...
.
The Coffs Harbour Jetty is an historically important timber wharf where coastal shipping once moved the timber from the hinterland. It was listed on the NSW State Heritage Register on 25 June 2021, recognising its significance "as the longest coastal timber jetty built by the Harbours and Rivers Section of the NSW Public Works department in the 19th century."
The jetty area is the subject of planning from 2018 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
Bellinger River National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, about 410 km north of Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Loc ...
(west of Bellingen in the Bellinger headwaters)
*
Bindarri National Park
Bindarri National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 431 km northeast of Sydney.
It is considered the epicenter of biodiversity, due to the rare and endangered species found here, such as fish bone fern, southern quass ...
(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
Dorrigo National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney on Dome Road off the Waterfall Way, east of the town of Dorrigo.
History
The park is part of the New England Group of the World Heritage Site Gondwana ...
(just south of the Dorrigo township)
* Hayden Dent Nature Reserve (northwest of Coffs Harbour)
*
Junuy Juluum National Park
Junuy Juluum is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, northeast of Sydney.
Positioned on the slopes of Campion Mountain, this remnant of warm temperate rainforest is a haven for paradise riflebirds and sooty owls.
The aver ...
(north of Dorrigo)
* Moonee Beach Nature Reserve (Moonee Beach-Emerald Beach)
*
Nymboi-Binderay National Park
Nymboi-Binderay is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney. It is located north of the town of Dorrigo.
This park surrounds the granite gorges and banks of the rugged Nymboida River. The Nymboida rapids are ...
(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
Yuraygir is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, located northeast of Sydney. It was created in 1980, a result of the merger and enlargement of two national parks, Angourie and Red Rock National Parks, both of which had been establis ...
(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
Southern Cross University (SCU) is an Australian public university, with campuses at Lismore and Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, and at Coolangatta, the most southern suburb of the Gold Coast in Queensland.
It is ranked in the ...
,
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
Woolgoolga is a town on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the Pacific Highway, approximately 550 km north of Sydney and 365 km south of Brisbane. The closest city to Woolgoolga is Coffs Harbour, which lies 2 ...
,
Orara, Toormina,
John Paul College, Coffs Harbour Christian Community,
Bishop Druitt College
The Bishop Druitt College (abbreviated as BDC), is an independent Anglican co-educational primary and secondary day school, located in southwest Coffs Harbour, on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Named after Cecil Druitt, ...
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.
Bypass
The
Pacific Highway cuts through the centre of the city. Work has commenced to build a deviation. The project was approved in November 2020.
Local media
Newspapers
* ''News Of The Area'' - Printed and on-line publications.
* ''Coffs Coast Advocate'' – The ''Advocate'' newspaper was until 2019 published on Wednesdays and Saturdays and delivered free to all homes. The newspaper is now online only. 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.
Historical:
* ''Coffs Coast Independent'' – Weekly full-colour newspaper delivered free each Thursday to all homes in the Coffs Harbour district, closed 2012.
Television
*
ABC,
ABC TV Plus,
ABC Me,
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...
(public broadcaster)
*
SBS,
SBS Viceland,
SBS Food
SBS Food is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel airs programs about food and cooking, from cultures around the world.
History
SBS first revealed it would lau ...
,
NITV (multicultural commercial broadcaster)
*
Nine (
NBN Television),
9Gem,
9Go!,
9Life (
Nine Entertainment
Nine Entertainment (registered as Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd) is an Australian publicly listed media company with holdings in radio and television broadcasting, newspaper publications and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate brand ...
owned and operated)
*
Prime7,
7two,
7mate
7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a ...
,
7flix (
Seven Network
The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...
owned and operated affiliate)
*
10,
10 Bold
10 Bold is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It originally launched on 26 March 2009 as One HD with a focus on broadcasting sports-based programming and events, but rebranded to One in April 2011 to ...
,
10 Peach, - (Owned by
WIN Corporation), (
Network 10 affiliate)
*
Sky News Regional
Of the three main commercial networks:
*
NBN Television airs ''NBN News'', a regional hour-long program including opt-outs for the
Mid North Coast
The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens north of Sydney, and extending as far north as Woolgool ...
, every night at 6pm. It is broadcast from studios in
Newcastle with reporters based at a local newsroom in the city.
*''
Prime7 News
''Prime7 News'' was a local television news service in parts of regional Australia, produced by Prime7. A statewide national bulletin, 5 full local news bulletins, and news update services was presented from Prime Media's National Headquarters i ...
'' airs a half-hour local news bulletin for the North Coast at 6pm each weeknight. It is broadcast from studios in
Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
with reporters based at a local newsroom in the city.
*
WIN Television airs short local news updates throughout the day, broadcast from its
Wollongong
Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near w ...
studios.
Radio
Commercial
* 2HC 639 AM and 100.5 FM – talkback, news - including local, national & international; sport; and music. Part of the
Broadcast Operations Group's Super Network relaying a majority of programs from
2SM in Sydney and
2HD in Newcastle. The station was purchased by Bill Caralis in 2005.
*
Triple M 106.3 FM – Part of
Southern Cross Austereo, Triple M has limited local content - with shows such as ''Moffee For Breakfast'', as well as networked programming - like ''The Ray Hadley Morning Show'', and ''The Marty Sheargold Show''. The station was formerly known as 2CS FM until 15 December 2016.
* Hit 105.5 (105.5 FM) – Part of Southern Cross Austereo, Hit 105.5 has a local Coffs Harbour Breakfast Show called the ''A.B & Ben Show''. It began in 1997 as a third commercial licence for the Coffs Coast. The station was formerly known as
Star FM until 15 December 2016.
Government
*
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...
91.5 FM
*
Radio National
Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2.
History
1937: Predecessors a ...
99.5 FM
*
ABC Classic 97.9 FM
*
ABC Coffs Coast 92.3 FM
*
ABC NewsRadio 90.7 FM
Community
*
CHY FM 104.
CHY FM website* Racing Radio 107.1 FM
* 2AIR FM 107.
2AIR website
Narrowcast
* RawFM 88.0 FM
Transport
Bus
Beaumonts,
Busways
Busways is an Australian bus company operating services in Sydney, and in the Central Coast, Great Lakes, Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales and Adelaide. It is the largest privately owned bus operator in Australia.
History
The orig ...
,
Forest Coach Lines, Newcombe and Sahdras all run service throughout Coffs Harbour and the surrounding areas.
Greyhound Australia and
Premier Motor Service 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
NSW TrainLink is a train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, along with limited interstate services into Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Queensland and South Austral ...
. Three northbound and three southbound
XPT trains stop at
Coffs Harbour station each day.
Taxis
Local taxis are run by Holiday Coast Transportation and operate as 13cabs.
Air travel
Coffs Harbour Airport is regularly serviced by Fly Corporate,
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...
,
Virgin Australia and
Regional Express. 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 air-work and charter flights are available from the club, which is also working closely with local high schools to provide flying training for students.
Sport
The most popular sport in Coffs Harbour is
Rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
. The city has four clubs in the
Country Rugby League of NSW's
Group 2 rugby league
Group 2 is a rugby league competition on the north coast of New South Wales Since 1966, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. The Group 2 area runs from Grafton in the north to Macksville in the south. Group 2 teams played for ma ...
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.
Rugby League Clubs in Coffs Harbour
* Coffs Harbour Comets
*
Orara Valley Axemen
Group 2 is a rugby league competition on the north coast of New South Wales Since 1966, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. The Group 2 area runs from Grafton in the north to Macksville in the south. Group 2 teams played for many ...
* Sawtell Panthers
* Woolgoolga Seahorses
There is a local
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
competition with three clubs in the city; Coffs Harbour, Northern Beaches-Woologoolga 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
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
. One these matches played at Coffs Harbour was the
Australia 31–0 American Samoa
'
On 11 April 2001, the Australian and American Samoan national association football teams played each other in an Oceanian qualifying match for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The match was played at the International Sports Stadium in Coffs Harb ...
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
A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...
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
The Coffs Harbour International Stadium (known as the C.ex Coffs International Stadium under a sponsorship arrangement) is an Australian stadium located in the coastal city of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales.
The stadium was opened in June 199 ...
, which has hosted
FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and a
Women's 2008 Beijing Olympics Qualification fixtures for the
Matildas
The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) si ...
in
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
as well as some
National Rugby League (NRL) pre-season fixtures and
domestic one day cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
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
The Australia Rally Championship (ARC) is Australia's leading road motor rally competition. A multi-event national championship has been held each year since 1968.
Competition - to 2010
The Australia Rally Championship takes in some of the c ...
and NSW Rally Championships. It was the host city for
Rally Australia, a round of the
World Rally Championship in
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...
. The rally used roads from the neighboring
Bellingen, and
Nambucca shires in addition to Coffs Harbour. The rally returned permanently to Coffs Harbour in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
. In
2016, the rally was run in November with a Super special Stage at the Coffs Jetty. It was last held in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
.
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.
Notable residents
*
Attila Abonyi
Attila Abonyi (born 16 August 1946 in Budapest) is a former Hungarian-born Australian soccer manager and player and played for the Australia national team.
Abonyi made his senior international debut for Australia in 1967 at age 20, and ha ...
– former Australian international
Association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
player who was capped 61 times for the
Socceroos
*
Liz Cambage – basketball player
*
Russell Crowe – actor
*
Jon English – singer-songwriter-actor
*
Michael Ennis
Michael Ennis (born 16 March 1984) is an Australian sports commentator for Fox League and former professional rugby league footballer of Irish descent. A New South Wales State of Origin representative , he played for the Canterbury-Bankstown B ...
– rugby league footballer and sportscaster
*
Kevin Gordon
Kevin Sysu Gordon (born 26 December 1989) is a former Philippines international rugby league footballer. A New South Wales Country and Prime Minister's XIII representative, he played as a er and for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rug ...
– rugby league footballer
*
Clint Greenshields
Clint Greenshields (born 11 January 1982) is a former France international rugby league footballer who played as a for the St George Illawarra Dragons and the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL, and for the Catalans Dragons in the Super Lea ...
– rugby league footballer
*
David Helfgott
David Helfgott (born 19 May 1947) is an Australian concert pianist whose life inspired the Academy Award-winning film ''Shine'', in which he was portrayed by actors Geoffrey Rush, Noah Taylor and Alex Rafalowicz.
Biography Early life
Helfgott ...
– concert pianist
*
Deborah Knight – radio host and news journalist for the Nine Network
*
Wendy Matthews – singer
*
Mark McGowan – 30th
Premier of Western Australia
*
Luke Metcalf
Luke Metcalf (born 1 March 1999) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL).
He previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL. Also h ...
– rugby league footballer
*
Emma Moffatt
Emma Moffatt (born 7 September 1984) is a retired Australian professional triathlete. She won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and won the gold at the ITU Triathlon World Championships in 2009 and in 2010. She was born in ...
– triathlete, Beijing Olympics bronze medalist
*
Tom Mooney – rugby league footballer
*
David Mullane – rugby league footballer
*
George Negus – author, journalist, and current affairs presenter
*
Ben Newton – Paralympics gold medalist, wheelchair rugby player
*
Melinda Pavey
Melinda Jane Pavey (; born 1969), an Australian politician, is the New South Wales Minister for Water, Property and Housing since April 2019 in the second Berejiklian ministry and the Perrottet ministry. Pavey has been a member of the New Sout ...
- NSW state politician
*
Dick Smith – entrepreneur
*
Jack Thompson Jack Thompson may refer to:
Sports
*Jack Thompson (footballer, born 1892) (1892–1969), English footballer who played for Sheffield United and Bristol City
*Jack Thompson (1920s footballer), English footballer who played for Aston Villa and Bright ...
–
AFI award-winning actor
Annual events
*
National Touch League (March)
* "International Charity Football Match", August 9, proceeds go to Wesley Mission for local homeless youth
* Ella7s (Australia's largest Indigenous Rugby Carnival) (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/
dited 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 City CouncilOur Stories: Coffs Coast Heritage
{{Authority control
Cities in New South Wales
Coastal cities in Australia
Marinas in Australia
Mid North Coast
City of Coffs Harbour