Talbingo is a small town in

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 ...

at the edge of 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 ...

on the Snowy Mountains Highway. The town is 410 metres above sea level. It is on the Tumut River, which has been inundated by Jounama Pondage. Talbingo resident Jack Bridle, whose family were early European settlers of the area, suggests the name to be a corruption of the English word "tall" and the Aboriginal words "Binji", "Binge" or "Bingo" meaning belly. Mount Talbingo resembles the big belly of a man lying down.

History

The Talbingo Run of was established by William Bridle (1827–1922) in 1850. Talbingo Post Office opened on 6 June 1898 and closed in 1913 before reopening in 1965 in its new location. The original township was flooded under Jounama Pondage in 1968. The town was moved to make way for the

Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric 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, ...

. Before the move, Talbingo consisted of a hotel, the

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

and its homestead. There was also a service station and some holiday cabins. It was a small settlement and only five families were displaced by the move. Talbingo station was the birthplace of author

Miles Franklin Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin (14 October 187919 September 1954), known as Miles Franklin, was an Australian writer and feminist who is best known for her novel ''My Brilliant Career'', published by Blackwoods of Edinburgh in 1901. While s ...

. The station belonged to her relatives, the Lampes, until the 1940s.

Snowy Mountains Scheme

Jounama Pondage was completed in 1968. Jounama Dam is a rockfill dam, 43.9m tall, with a crest length of 518.2m and an embankment volume of 554,500 cubic metres. The modern township of Talbingo is located on the shores of Jounama and construction of the dam flooded the historic valley and Talbingo township below, which was the birthplace of author Miles Franklin and location of the Talbingo Hotel.

Present status

Talbingo grew rapidly while Tumut 3 power station was built, and now has a service station, golf course, motel, primary school, general store, country club, ski hire shop, Tourist Park and the lodge has been refurbished and now has accommodation and a restaurant. The caravan park has cabins, camp grounds and amenities, including camp kitchen. Tourism is the lifeblood of the village. Many families stop by every summer for

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 ...

on Talbingo or Blowering Dam, bushwalking and exploring

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 ...

. In the winter, Talbingo becomes a hub for those visiting Selwyn Snowfields and other ski fields. The Church of St Paul, at 50 Lampe St, Talbingo, was built by the Snowy Mountains Authority as a multi-faith Christian church, and was opened and consecrated by representatives of the Catholic, Anglican, and Presbyterian faiths on 23 April 1967. Apart from the tall windows behind the lectern and altar, which give a view to the lake and mountains, it is largely unadorned. Traditional pews seat approximately 400 people.

Gallery

File:Church of St Paul exterior, Talbingo.jpg, Church of St Paul File:Memorial wall (detail), Talbingo.jpg, Memorial wall detail File:Church of St Paul interior, Talbingo.jpg, Inside the church File:Wall hanging in St Paul's church,.jpg, Wall hanging File:Kangaroos at Miles Franklin Park, Talbingo.jpg, Miles Franklin Park

References

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External links