Gerroa, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Illawarra
Illawarra is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a coastal region situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the Shoalhaven or South Coast region. It encompasses the cities of Wollongong, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven and the town of Kiama. The central region contains Lake...
Region of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It is located 133 kilometres south of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. Nearby towns are Gerringong, Kiama and Berry
Berry, New South Wales
Berry is a small Australian town in the Shoalhaven region of the NSW South Coast in the state of New South Wales, located south of the state capital, Sydney. The indigenous people of the area were the Wodi Wodi people. In the 1810s, George William Evans, Government Surveyor, reported on the Berry...
.
Situated at the northern end of Seven Mile Beach and the head of Crooked River, the original village was once a retreat for various religious orders. Today it is a popular holiday town, and residence for retirees. Many houses have impressive views of the beach and Mount Coolangatta. The population is 497, according to the 2006 census. Though the population swells, particularly at Easter and the Christmas - New Year break. Many holiday makers stay at the caravan
Travel trailer
A travel trailer or caravan is towed behind a road vehicle to provide a place to sleep which is more comfortable and protected than a tent . It provides the means for people to have their own home on a journey or a vacation, without relying on a motel or hotel, and enables them to stay in places...
park, by the Crooked River.
Outdoors
Nearby is Seven Mile Beach National Park, a well regarded area for bird watching, walking and fishing. Hang gliding, paragliding, sailing, windsurfing, and surfing are also enjoyed here. Black Head is suited to rock fishing, though it may be dangerous in high seas. A golf course is situated just north of the town. The rainforestRainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
remnants on the hill above the town and behind the beach contain interesting sub-tropical species, such as Snow-wood, Illawarra Plum
Podocarpus elatus
Podocarpus elatus, known as the Plum Pine, or the Brown Pine is a species of Podocarpus endemic to the east coast of Australia, in eastern New South Wales and eastern Queensland....
and Camphorwood
Cinnamomum oliveri
Cinnamomum oliveri is a rainforest tree growing at the eastern coastal parts of Australia. It grows from the Illawarra district in New South Wales to Cape York Peninsula at the northern tip of Australia...
. The original vegetation was littoral (seaside) rainforest. Possums
Common Brushtail Possum
The Common Brushtail Possum is a nocturnal, semi-arboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae, it is native to Australia, and the largest of the possums.Like most possums, the Common Brushtail is nocturnal...
, wombat
Common Wombat
The common wombat , also known as the coarse-haired wombat or bare-nosed wombat, is a marsupial, one of three species of wombats and the only one in the genus Vombatus. The common wombat grows to an average of long and a weight of .- Taxonomy :The common wombat was first described by George Shaw...
s and falcons
Nankeen Kestrel
The Australian Kestrel or Nankeen Kestrel is one of the smallest falcons, and unlike many, does not rely on speed to catch its prey. Instead, it simply perches in an exposed position, but it also has a distinctive technique of hovering over crop and grasslands...
as well as many other indigenous animals may be seen near the town. Whales
Humpback Whale
The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...
are commonly spotted in winter months heading north.
Indigenous People
Wodi Wodi people of the language group DharawalTharawal people
The Tharawal people were the Aboriginal inhabitants of southern Sydney and the Illawarra region in 1788, when the first European colonists arrived. The Tharawal people lived in the areas from south side of Botany Bay, around Port Hacking to north of the Shoalhaven River and inland to Campbelltown...
had been using the land for around 20,000 years. They moved to different locations every six weeks or so in family groups. The fertile bushland would have provided a good supply of food.
European History
The first white people to visit the area were probably survivors of the shipwreck of the Sydney CoveSydney Cove (ship)
Sydney Cove was a sailing ship wrecked in 1797 on Preservation Island off Tasmania while on her way from Calcutta to Port Jackson. She was among the first ships wrecked on the east coast of Australia.- Voyage :...
. They passed through this area in 1797. As early as 1814, cedar
Toona ciliata
Australian Red Cedar , Toona ciliata is a forest tree in the family Meliaceae which grows throughout southern Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia. In Australia its natural habitat is now extensively cleared subtropical rainforests of New South Wales and Queensland...
cutters explored the area around nearby Gerringong. The cedar cutters or "sawyers" as they called themselves were so described:
... the true pioneers of European civilisation. Long and before the farmer or grazier had set foot in those wilds-years prior to the novelty of clearing off and fencing in-the tent of the sawyer was a familiar object to the local blacks
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. With but few exceptions, the earlier cedar-cutters were convicts out on ticket of leave
Ticket of leave
A ticket of leave was a document of parole issued to convicts who had shown they could now be trusted with some freedoms. Originally the ticket was issued in Britain and later adopted by the United States, Canada and Ireland.-Australian convicts:...
. Many of the blackest-dyed ruffians of their time were to be found in the ranks of the Illawarra sawyers.
In August 1824, the colonial Governor Thomas Brisbane
Thomas Brisbane
Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet GCH, GCB, FRS, FRSE was a British soldier, colonial Governor and astronomer.-Early life:...
instructed surveyor James McBrien to survey the land surrounding "Long Nose Point", now known as Black Head Point at Gerroa.
In 1929, Wizard Smith set an Australian land speed record at Seven Mile Beach. The first recording of a car speed of a hundred miles an hour in Australia was recorded on the beach.
On January 11, 1933 Sir Charles Kingsford Smith
Charles Kingsford Smith
Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith MC, AFC , often called by his nickname Smithy, was an early Australian aviator. In 1928, he earned global fame when he made the first trans-Pacific flight from the United States to Australia...
undertook his historic first commercial flight from Seven Mile Beach to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. The Southern Cross
Southern Cross (aircraft)
Southern Cross is the name of the Fokker F.VIIb/3m trimotor monoplane which in 1928 was flown by Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew in the first ever trans-Pacific flight, from the mainland United States to Australia, about ....
took 14 hours and ten minutes to make the journey to New Plymouth
New Plymouth
New Plymouth is the major city of the Taranaki Region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after Plymouth, Devon, England, from where the first English settlers migrated....
. The flight commenced at 2.50 am, watched by a crowd of thousands of visitors and local residents. Some had their car headlights turned on to assist Kingsford-Smith in his take off. A memorial plaque and lookout at Gerroa marks the event.
Climate
Gerroa has an oceanic climateOceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
(Köppen climate classification
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Cfb), with humid and warm summers and cool wet winters. Maximum summer temperatures usually range from 23 to 35 degrees C. Though temperatures of 40 degrees are not unknown. In winter, temperatures can be as low as 5 degrees. The annual average rainfall at nearby Kiama is 1258 mm. The town is occasionally exposed to strong southerly winds.
Geology
Soils in the area are based on the Gerringong Volcanics, of PermianPermian
The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
latite
Latite
Latite is an igneous, volcanic rock, with aphanitic-aphyric to aphyric-porphyritic texture. Its mineral assemblage is usually alkali feldspar and plagioclase in approximately equal amounts. Quartz is less than five percent and is absent in a feldspathoid-bearing latite, and olivine is absent in a...
. As well as the volcanically based Budgong Sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, both of which produce relatively fertile red/brown soils. South of the town, by the river and beach the soils are alluvial are sandy.
Notable Residents
- Fred NileFred NileFrederick John "Fred" Nile is an Australian politician and clergyman. Nile has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 1981, except for a period in 2004 when he resigned to contest the Australian Senate at the 2004 federal election...
- politician - Sally Fitzgibbons (surfer), Dean Bowen (surfer)