Nambucca Heads is a town 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 Woolgoolg ...

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the

Nambucca Valley Nambucca Valley Council is a local government area in the mid north coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The shire services an area of and is located adjacent to the Pacific Highway and the North Coast railway line. At the , Nambucca ...

. It is located on a ridge, north of the estuary of the

Nambucca River The Nambucca River is a river located in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features Nambucca River rises below Killiekrankie Mountain on the Dorrigo Plateau, part of the Great Dividing Range, and flows general ...

near the Pacific Highway. Its 2021 population was 6,675 (6,327 in 2016 census, 6,137 in 2011 census), including 5,226 (78.3%) Australian-born persons and 672 indigenous persons. The place name is derived from an Gumbaynggirr word Ngambagabaga. Clement Hodgkinson asked two Ngamba men what the name of the area was they responded to Nyambagabaga as the spot they were standing was a bend in the river where a Ngamba giant was speared in the leg in the Dreaming. This location is the Foreshore Caravan Park now. Ngamba is a subsection of Gumbaynggirr Nation & Baga Baga means Knee. This was later interpreted as Nambucca. It is a popular holiday and retirement destination. The town is located on the North Coast railway line, and is served by the three daily

New South Wales XPT The New South Wales ''XPT'' (short for eXpress Passenger Train) is a class of diesel-powered passenger trains built by Comeng and ABB Transportation. Based on the British Rail designed Intercity 125 High Speed Train, each XPT set is made up ...

services.

History

Nambucca Heads is the current and historical homeland of the

Gumbaynggirr The Gumbaynggirr people, also rendered Kumbainggar, Gumbangeri and other variant spellings, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. Gumbathagang was a probable clan or sub-group. The traditional lands of th ...

people. Gumbaynggirr lands stretch from Pillar Valley, Tyndale, Grafton and Copmanhurst in the north, to Glen Innes,

Guyra Guyra is a town situated midway between Armidale and Glen Innes on the Northern Tablelands in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is within Armidale Regional Council and at the 2016 census, it had a population of 1,983 ...

and Black Mountain to the west, and to

Bowraville Bowraville is a small town in the Mid North Coast hinterland of New South Wales, Australia in the Nambucca Valley. The town is known for tourism with attractions such as a folk museum, a war museum, a historic theatre, and other historic building ...

to the south.Townsend, N. 1993. Valley of the Crooked River: European Settlement on the Nambucca. New South Wales University Press, Sydney. The

separated the Gumbaynggirr from the Dunghutti Ngaku. The name Nambucca comes from an Aboriginal word, ''ngambugka'', variously translated as "winding or crooked river", and as "entrance to the waters." Europeans may have explored the area in 1818, and

John Oxley John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828) was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps best known for his two exp ...

surveyed the area in 1820. The cutting of

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 ...

had started in the area by 1842. It is believed that the first house was built in 1867, when about 50 people had settled in the valley to cut cedar or grow

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

. The site of the town was surveyed in 1874 and the first hotel and school were both established in 1884. It was proclaimed a village in 1885. The North Coast railway was extended from

Taree Taree is a town on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. Taree and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then Taree has grown to a population of 26,381, and is the centre of a significant agricultural distri ...

to South Grafton in 1915, but Nambucca Heads station was not opened until 1923. Nambucca Heads has one of the oldest surf lifesaving clubs in Australia and also invented junior surf lifesaving known as Nippers.

Local media

Radio Stations 2CS-FM (106.3), Star FM (105.5 & 105.1), 2MC-FM (106.7), Triple J (91.5 & 96.3), 2NVR FM (105.9) The Nambucca Valley's community radio station
2NVR 105.9FM
focuses on the Macksville, Bowraville, Nambucca Heads and surrounding communities. Newspapers Midcoast Observer, Hibiscus Happynings, Guardian News, Coffs Coast Advocate. Television ABC, ABC2, SBS, SBS viceland, Prime7 Coffs Harbour (Prime), Southern Cross Ten (Ten), NBN

Schools

* Nambucca Heads Public School * Frank Partridge V.C Public School * Nambucca Valley Christian Community School * Nambucca Heads High School

Transport

Nambucca Heads railway station Nambucca Heads railway station is located on the North Coast line in New South Wales, Australia. It serves the town of Nambucca Heads, opening on 3 December 1923 as Nambucca Heads. It was renamed Nambucca in October 1925, before resuming its o ...

, opened in 1923, on the North Coast Line. It is serviced by six

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, Queensland and South Australia. Its primary interc ...

trains per day.

References

{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Mid North Coast Coastal towns in New South Wales