Nicholson is a small town in East Gippsland, Victoria, 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...

, 295 km east of the state capital Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. It is situated between the larger towns of Bairnsdale

Bairnsdale, Victoria

Bairnsdale is a small city in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. With a population at the 2006 census of 11,282, it is a major regional centre of eastern Victoria along with Traralgon and Sale....

 and Lakes Entrance

Lakes Entrance, Victoria

Lakes Entrance is a tourist resort and fishing port in eastern Victoria, Australia. It is situated approximately east of Melbourne, near a managed, man-made channel connecting the Gippsland Lakes to the Bass Strait. At the 2006 census, Lakes Entrance had a population of 4,094.The township was...

. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Nicholson and surrounds had a population of 1,504.

Nicholson is located on the Princes Highway

Princes Highway

The Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the highway ....

 and lies on the banks of the Nicholson River

Nicholson River (Victoria)

The Nicholson River is a river in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, lying between the Mitchell and the Tambo Rivers. It has a length of .The river was named by Angus McMillan in 1839 after Charles Nicholson, who represented the Port Phillip District on the NSW Legislative Council and was later...

.

Nicholson Post Office opened on 1 August 1885.

The town has a substantial boat ramp on the west bank of the river, to the south of the highway, where picnic, toilet, and barbecue

Barbecue

Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...

 facilities are also available.

The East Gippsland Rail Trail

East Gippsland Rail Trail

The East Gippsland Rail Trail is a rail trail located in East Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. The trail is a popular cycling route, beginning in Bairnsdale and extending to Orbost, following the route of the former Orbost railway line...

 passes across the north section of the town, with the site of the former Nicholson Railway Station

Nicholson railway station, Victoria

Nicholson Station was opened on Monday 10 April 1916 as part of the Orbost railway line and closed on Monday 24 August 1987....

identified by a sign.