Jindabyne, New South Wales
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Jindabyne () is a town in south-east
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
that overlooks
Lake Jindabyne Lake Jindabyne is a man-made reservoir in the south-east Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. Created by Jindabyne Dam, it serves for the Snowy Mountains Scheme, acting as a reservoir to redirect waters from the Snowy River t ...
near the
Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range, a cordillera syste ...
, in
Snowy Monaro Regional Council The Snowy Monaro Regional Council is a local government area located in the Snowy Mountains and Monaro regions of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 through a forced merger of the Bombala, Cooma-Monaro and Snow ...
. It is a popular holiday destination year round, especially in winter. This is due to its proximity to major ski resort developments within the
Kosciuszko National Park The Kosciuszko National Park ( ) is a national park and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, for which it is named, and Cabramurra, New South Wales, Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia. Its borders contain a mix o ...
, including
Thredbo Thredbo is a village and ski resort in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately south of Sydney, accessible by the Alpine Way via Cooma, Berridale and Jindabyne. The village is built in the valley of the Th ...
, Perisher and Charlotte Pass. Originally situated on land that is now under Lake Jindabyne, the township was transferred to its present location in the 1960s due to the construction of
Jindabyne Dam Jindabyne Dam is a major ungated rockfill embankment dam across the Snowy River in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's main purpose is to redirect water from the Snowy River to the Murray, for the generation of hydro- ...
, on the
Snowy River The Snowy River is a major river in south-eastern Australia. It originates on the slopes of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mainland peak, draining the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, before flowing through the ...
, as part of the
Snowy Mountains Scheme The Snowy Mountains Scheme, also known as the Snowy Hydro or the Snowy scheme, is a hydroelectricity and irrigation in Australia, irrigation complex in south-east Australia. Near the border of New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...
. At the , Jindabyne had a population of 2,629 people. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning "valley". Jindabyne is one of the highest settlements of its size in Australia, at 918 metres above sea level. Snowfalls regularly occur during winter. Jindabyne is connected to the surrounding area by
Kosciuszko Road Kosciuszko Road is a road in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia which runs from , to the ski resort of in Kosciuszko National Park. Route Kosciuszko Road branches from Snowy Mountains Highway in Pine Valley, nearly 7km west of ...
East to Cooma then North to Canberra, the
Alpine Way Alpine Way is a rural road located in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The road connects in the east to the New South Wales- Victorian border in the west, crossing the Murray River near Bringenbrong and Upper Towong. ...
West to the Riverina and Wodonga and the
Barry Way The Barry Way is a partly unsealed alpine road running from Jindabyne southwest to the Victoria border, in New South Wales, Australia, where it becomes the Snowy River Road. It eventually leads to Buchan, a total distance of 170 kilometres with ...
to the South and Gippsland.


History

Originally situated on a site that is now under the waters of
Lake Jindabyne Lake Jindabyne is a man-made reservoir in the south-east Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. Created by Jindabyne Dam, it serves for the Snowy Mountains Scheme, acting as a reservoir to redirect waters from the Snowy River t ...
, the township was relocated to its present position in the 1960s before the
dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...
ming of the
Snowy River The Snowy River is a major river in south-eastern Australia. It originates on the slopes of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mainland peak, draining the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, before flowing through the ...
as part of the
Snowy Mountains Scheme The Snowy Mountains Scheme, also known as the Snowy Hydro or the Snowy scheme, is a hydroelectricity and irrigation in Australia, irrigation complex in south-east Australia. Near the border of New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...
. The Scheme was developed from the 1940s as a way of increasing the flow of inland rivers in order to encourage the development of primary industries based on irrigation, and to create
hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
. Completed in 1967, Jindabyne Dam is a major dam, located approximately south south-east of the relocated township. Parts of Old Jindabyne can be seen when the levels of Lake Jindabyne are low particularly the foundations of the old St Columbkille Roman Catholic Church. The settlement of East Jindabyne is located above what was Old Jindabyne. The dam's main purpose is for the generation of
hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...
and is one of the sixteen major dams that comprise the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a vast hydroelectricity and
irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
complex constructed in south-east Australia between 1949 and 1974 and now run by
Snowy Hydro Snowy Hydro Limited is an electricity generation and retailing company in Australia that owns, manages, and maintains the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme that consists of nine hydro-electric power stations and sixteen large dams connected ...
. Jindabyne celebrated the new town's 50th anniversary on 19 December 2014 with a long lunch, parade through the town centre, and speech by Peter Hendy MP. The celebrations were attended by General
David Hurley David John Hurley (born 26 August 1953) is an Australian former senior officer in the Australian Army who served as the 27th governor-general of Australia from 2019 to 2024. He was previously the 38th governor of New South Wales from 2014 to ...
, Governor of New South Wales, Member for Monaro, Mr
John Barilaro Giovanni Domenic Barilaro (; born 14 November 1971) is an Australian former politician who served as the 18th deputy premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales National Party, NSW National Party from 2016 to 2021. He was t ...
, Mayor of Snowy River Shire, Mr John Cahill.


Skiing and tourism

Jindabyne is a service town for Australia's highest ski resorts: Perisher,
Thredbo Thredbo is a village and ski resort in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately south of Sydney, accessible by the Alpine Way via Cooma, Berridale and Jindabyne. The village is built in the valley of the Th ...
and Charlotte Pass. Thredbo and Perisher are approximately 30 minutes' drive into the
Kosciuszko National Park The Kosciuszko National Park ( ) is a national park and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, for which it is named, and Cabramurra, New South Wales, Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia. Its borders contain a mix o ...
, although require the payment of park entry fees (AU$29 per vehicle per day) and the compulsory carrying of
snow chains Snow chains, or tire chains, are devices fitted to the tires of vehicles to provide increased traction when driving through snow and ice. Snow chains attach to the drive wheels of a vehicle or special systems deploy chains which swing under ...
in winter for cars without
4WD A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case provi ...
. However, Jindabyne also attracts tourists in summer with Lake Jindabyne popular for activities such as
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
,
water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on one or two skis. The sport requires sufficien ...
and
wakeboarding Wakeboarding is a water sport in which the rider, standing on a wakeboard (a board with foot bindings), is towed behind a motorboat across its wake and especially up off the crest in order to perform aerial maneuvers. A hallmark of wakeboarding ...
. Since the late 2000s mountain biking has become a popular summer activity and as of 2016, is assisting in turning the Snowy Mountains into a year-round adventure-tourist destination. The town is heavily tourist-oriented with a large range of snow-sport rental outlets and accommodation facilities. Prices can be heavily increased during the peak winter season, although they generally remain lower than those of outlets within the national park and ski resorts. Lake Jindabyne is a sailing, walking and fishing destination. The body of water is one of the largest fresh water reservoirs in New South Wales, and has a resident population of
Atlantic Salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Hucho taimen, Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlan ...
,
Brook Trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout h ...
,
Brown Trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...
and
Rainbow Trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...
. Lake Jindabyne also has a reputation as one of the best places to catch
trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...
in Australia. The Gaden Trout Hatchery, located about 10 kilometres north-west of Jindabyne, on the route leading to Perisher Ski Resort, holds tours of the hatchery's trout ponds, and is one of Australia's main centres involved in the breeding and rearing of cold water sport fish. Access to information regarding current tourist activities, business listings can be found using the area's free
mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...
, the "Jindy Guide". Every year during the Easter holidays, the Lake Light Sculpture exhibition is hosted on Lake Jindabyne. The Lake has many sculptures on display including the Count Paul Strzelecki in the Banjo Paterson Park and an Irish harp.


Population

In the , there were 2,986 people in Jindabyne. 80.5% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 3.5%, and New Zealand 1.8%. 88.6% of people spoke only English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 58.4%, Catholic 14.4%, and Anglican 11.0%.


Climate

Jindabyne has an
oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...
(''Cfb''). Diurnal range is high across the year owing to its sheltered valley location. Rainfall is low, with a slight peak in spring–summer and a notable drop in winter. Snowfalls are common in the region through winter and spring, but are generally light owing to its position on the
leeward In geography and seamanship, windward () and leeward () are directions relative to the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e., towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point o ...
side of the ranges. In mid-July in 2004 and 2005, snow fell up to half a metre or 2 ft following freak snowfalls over a large area of New South Wales.


Education

Jindabyne Public School, Jindabyne High School (public) and Snowy Mountains Grammar Schoolsmgs.nsw.edu.au
/ref> (private) serve as the town's educational facilities.


Television

Jindabyne receives five free-to-air television networks including all the digital free-to-air channels relayed from Canberra, and broadcast from Jindabyne Hill. Networks available include
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
, SBS,
Seven 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, mythology, supers ...
,
WIN Win or WIN most likely refers to: * A victory Win, Winning, WIN or Winner may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * '' Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), 2021 * WIN (pacifist magazine) * WIN (wrestling ma ...
, and
Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK & Australia division and is one of the five national free-to-a ...
. Snowy Mountains Television is also broadcast from the same location, and operates in addition to the other broadcasters under an open narrowcasting licence.


Radio stations

Radio stations in Jindabyne include: * Raw FM 87.6 * 2XL 96.3 FM (commercial) *
Snow FM 97.7 Snow FM (call sign: 2SKI) is a commercial radio station in New South Wales, covering the areas of Cooma, Jindabyne, Thredbo, Perisher and Charlotte Pass. The station broadcasts on multiple frequencies to reach the townships within the Sn ...
97.7 FM (commercial) * ABC South East NSW 95.5 FM *
Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...
97.1 FM * Monaro FM 93.9 FM (community) * Racing Radio 102.7 FM


Sports

Jindabyne has two major local sporting teams, the Jindabyne Bushpigs Rugby Union Club and the Snowy River Bears Rugby League club. The Bears play in the
Group 16 The chalcogens (ore forming) ( ) are the chemical elements in group 16 of the periodic table. This group is also known as the oxygen family. Group 16 consists of the elements oxygen (O), sulfur (S), selenium (Se), tellurium (Te), and the ...
competition, having previously played in the old Group 19 competition.


In popular culture

* The Song ''Farewell Jindabyne'' was included on the 1966 The Settlers album, ''The Settlers Sing Song of the Snowy Mountains''. * The song ''Jindabyne'' was a single released by
Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (30 March 1930 – 10 May 2023) was an Australian musician, television personality, painter, and actor. He used a variety of instruments in his performances, notably the didgeridoo and the Stylophone, and is credited with the inventi ...
in 1972, on Columbia records. It refers to the old town now beneath the lake. * The 2004 ''
Somersault A somersault (also ''flip'', ''heli'', and in gymnastics ''salto'') is an acrobatics, acrobatic exercise in which a person's body Rotation#Sports, rotates 360° around a horizontal axis with the feet passing over the Human head, head. A somersau ...
'' was filmed in the town. * The 2006
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
''
Jindabyne Jindabyne () is a town in south-east New South Wales, Australia that overlooks Lake Jindabyne near the Snowy Mountains, in Snowy Monaro Regional Council. It is a popular holiday destination year round, especially in winter. This is due to its p ...
'' directed by Ray Lawrence was filmed entirely on location in and around the town. It stars
Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards. Byrne was awarded the Irish Film and Television Academy L ...
and
Laura Linney Laura Leggett Linney (born February 5, 1964) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several awards, including two Golden Globe Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards, and has been nominated for three Academy Awards and five Tony Awards. ...
. * The song ''Around Jindabyne'' was performed by John Williamson. * The cover photo of the Jezabels' debut album ''Prisoner'' (2011) was shot in Jindabyne.


See also

*
Snowy Scheme Museum The Snowy Scheme Museum is a museum in the Snowy Mountains town of Adaminaby, New South Wales, Australia. It houses exhibitions relating to the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme. Overview The Museum tells the story of the construction of ...
* Jindabyne Flour Mill


References


External links


Destination Jindabyne
is a locally developed initiative and website in partnership with the Jindabyne Chamber of Commerce with current and regularly updated business information and for tourists making plans to visit the town and Snowy Mountains in winter and summer. {{authority control Towns in New South Wales Snowy Monaro Regional Council