Nabiac is a small town on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia in

Mid-Coast Council MidCoast Council is a local government area (LGA) located in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 through a merger of the Gloucester Shire, Great Lakes and City of Greater Taree councils. ...

. It is north-west of Forster, and south of Taree. At the , the population of Nabiac was 1,294. Nabiac is the central town of the Wallamba Valley. As is typical of small North Coast towns, it developed in the second half of the 19th century as a small river port (later called Bullocks Wharf on the eastern edge of the town) for the hardwood-cutting (mainly

Australian red cedar ''Toona ciliata'' is a forest tree in the mahogany family which grows throughout southern Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Names It is commonly known as the red cedar (a name shared by other trees), toon or toona (also a ...

) trade. Later as the valley was cleared, small-scale dairying and corn-growing became dominant but its importance has since declined. At first, milk was mainly bought by the dairy at Dyers Crossing (about 6 km west of Nabiac). Later fresh milk was also supplied to the

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 Mountain ...

market via the Sydney

Milk Board Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...

. The first post office in the area was established in May 1870 on the south side of the Wallamba and was initially called "Cape Hawke Post Office" after

Cape Hawke Cape Hawke () is a coastal headland in Australia on the New South Wales coast, just south of Forster/Tuncurry and within the Booti Booti National Park. The cape was named by Captain Cook when he passed it on his ''Endeavour'' voyage on 12 May 17 ...

, which is 30 km away. It was renamed "Clarkson's Crossing" in February 1880 and Nabiac on 1 June 1894. The Pacific Highway was relocated through Nabiac in the mid-1950s. This included the opening of a bridge over the Wallamba to replace Clarkson's Crossing on 15 November 1958. Since then Nabiac has steadily become more of a highway service town and tourist stopping point. Nabiac school

The poet Les Murray was born in Nabiac, although his family lived in nearby Bunyah. He travelled to school in Nabiac for his primary and early high school education.

References

External links

Nabiac Community site
{{authority control Towns in the Hunter Region Suburbs of Mid-Coast Council