Three Brothers, three separate

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

s of 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 ...

region 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 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 ...

, are situated approximately 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 Mountain ...

Location and features

Collectively referred to as the Three Brothers, the mountains are three separate mountains named and located as follows: *North Brother: with an elevation of *Middle Brother: with an elevation of *South Brother: with an elevation of The South Brother lies within the

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. ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

; while the Middle and North Brothers are located with the

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Port Macquarie-Hastings Council is a local government area in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is located adjacent to the Hastings River, the Pacific Highway, the Oxley Highway and the North Coast railway lin ...

area, The North and Middle Brothers have been declared

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

s, named

Dooragan National Park The Dooragan National Park is a national park on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. The national park is situated near Laurieton, and is approximately northeast of Sydney. Three Brothers The local aboriginal people tell a ...

and

Middle Brother National Park Middle Brother National Park is a protected area of 1830 hectares, situated in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales. The nearest large town is Laurieton. The high rainfall and volcanic soils produce outstanding eucalyptus forest and rain ...

respectively. The main radio and television transmitters for the Mid North Coast region are located on the summit of Middle Brother.

Etymology

The

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

local

Birpai people The Birrbay people, also spelt Birpai, Biripi, Birippi and variant spellings, are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales. They and share a dialect continuum with the Worimi people. Language The Gathang language (aka Gadjang or Wor ...

tell a

dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal mythology, Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Ja ...

story of three brothers who were killed by a witch called Widjirriejuggi and were buried where the mountains stand. The youngest of the three was ''Dooragan'', that now carries the name for one of the national parks. Coincidentally, when Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

passed the area on 12 May 1770, he also named the mountains ''Three Brothers'', since "these Hills bore some resemblance to each other".

References

Mountains of New South Wales Mid North Coast Mid-Coast Council Port Macquarie-Hastings Council {{HunterRegion-geo-stub