Sawtell is a suburb of the

City of Coffs Harbour The City of Coffs Harbour (also known as the Coffs Harbour City Council) is a local government area in the mid north coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The area under administration is , expanded in 2004 to take in parts of the former ...

in northern

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. It borders

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 ...

to the West.

History

In 1863, a cutter carrying a load of cedar logs ran aground on what would become Sawtell Beach. A Coffs Harbour farmer named Walter Harvey assembled a team of workers to salvage the logs, and a small settlement developed near the site of the wreck. Forty years later, the land around Sawtell Beach was purchased and subdivided by Oswald Sawtell for housing and farmland. Sawtell railway station, post office, school and hotel followed soon thereafter and by the 1930s Sawtell had become a thriving coastal village. The original inhabitants of the land were

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

of the Gumbaynggirr clan. The Aboriginal name for the land where the town now stands was ''Bongil Bongil''. File:Sawtell New South Wales First Avenue median.jpg, Sawtell's main street First Avenue with large trees in the median File:Sawtell Beach New South Wales to the northern end.jpg, Sawtell's beach to the northern end File:Sawtell Beach.jpg, Sawtell Beach

Location

A suburb of the

, Sawtell is located on the north-eastern coast of

, adjacent to

and Boambee, and 10 km south of Coffs Harbour. It is served by the North Coast railway line with six

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 daily, three heading north and three south. Sawtell station is an optional stop for all of them. Coffs Harbour Airport is located just to the north of Sawtell with the runway ending just to the north of the town.

Demographics

Sawtell has a population of 3,490 people. Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people make up 3.78% of the population. Sawtell, Toormina and Boambee (all with postcode 2452) have a combined population of 19,477 people, 5.5% of whom are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders.

Sawtell Beach

Sawtell beach extends north from Sawtell Headland and the sheltered Sailors Bay swimming area to Murray's beach. The beach is patrolled by the local Surf Lifesavers who run Sawtell Surf Club half way along the beach. Due to the dunes there are no true beach front properties on Sawtell Beach. Some properties look over Bonville Creek and some over Murray's Beach. The beach has singing sand when walked on in dry conditions.

Sports and events

Sawtell has numerous sporting clubs and facilities. The Sawtell Panthers junior and senior Rugby League clubs play out of Rex Hardaker Oval, Toormina – along with Coffs Rugby, and the pigeon racing club. The Sawtell Scorpions are the local soccer club, based at Toormina Oval. The Sawtell Saints are the Australian Rules Football club, based at Richardson Park along with the Sawtell Cricket Club. Sawtell also has a number of recreation sporting clubs, most notably, Sawtell Golf Club, Sawtell Bowling Club, Sawtell Swimming Club, Sawtell Surf Lifesaving Club and Sawtell Tennis Club. A number of annual events have been organised by the local Sawtell Chamber of Commerce. The annual Chilli Festival features over 100 stalls of local and national vendors serving chilli-based food and products. The Festival is one of Sawtell's major annual events and is family oriented. The New Year's Super Fun Day involves family entertainment, including

woodchopping Woodchopping (also spelled wood-chopping or wood chopping), called woodchop for short, is a sport that has been around for hundreds of years in several cultures. In woodchopping competitions, skilled contestants attempt to be the first to cut or s ...

, a

fun run A fun run is a friendly race that involves either road running or cross country running with participants taking part for their own enjoyment rather than competition. A fun run will usually be held to raise funds for a charity, with sponsors pr ...

tug of war Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

competitions, and live entertainment on New Year's Day. The Ben Woods Cricket Tournament, held between Sawtell and Coffs Harbour, takes place during the Christmas Period. A surfing competition, held at Sawtell Beach, raises money for those living with spinal injuries. Surfers from all over NSW and Queensland come to compete in the event.

Tourism and entertainment

Sawtell has a modern cafe and restaurant scene. Boambee creek offers safe swimming and a walking path around the headland. Sawtell Headland is popular for whale watching. The Cinema has been recently renovated and offers two screens. The usual amenities, bakeries, post office, hotels, motels, laundromat are all available. Sawtell has excellent surf breaks to suit all levels and wind directions.

References

External links

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