Talbingo is a small town in New South Wales,

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 ...

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 cordillera system ...

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

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. 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. 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 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, ...

, 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. Tourism is the lifeblood of the village. Many families stop by every summer for water skiing on Talbingo or

Blowering Dam The Blowering Dam is a major ungated rock fill with clay core embankment dam with concrete chute spillway impounding a reservoir under the same name. It is located on the Tumut River upstream of Tumut in the Snowy Mountains region of New ...

, 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, the highest town in Australia. Its borders contain a mix of rugged mountains and wildern ...

. In the winter, Talbingo becomes a hub for those visiting Selwyn Snowfields and other ski fields.

References

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External links

{{authority control Snowy Mountains Scheme Towns in New South Wales Towns in the Riverina Snowy Mountains Highway Snowy Valleys Council

History

Snowy Mountains Scheme

Present status

See also

References

External links