Tathra is a seaside town on the Sapphire Coast

Sapphire Coast

The Sapphire Coast is the marketing/ tourist name for the Bega Valley Shire region in South East, New South Wales, Australia.The Sapphire Coast is known for its clean beaches, clear water and great quality of life. The area is very popular with retirees and seachangers....

 found on the South Coast

South Coast, New South Wales

The South Coast refers to the narrow coastal belt from Sydney in the north to the border with Victoria in the south in the south-eastern part of the State of New South Wales, Australia. It is bordered to the west by the coastal escarpment of the Southern Tablelands, which is largely covered by a...

, 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...

 in Bega Valley Shire. It has a population of 1,622.

Nearby points of interest are the Old Tathra Wharf, Mimosa Rocks National Park

Mimosa Rocks National Park

Mimosa Rocks is a national park in New South Wales , 329 km southwest of Sydney near the towns of Tathra and Bermagui.Mimosa Rocks National Park starts at the northern end of Tathra Beach and runs north for about 16 km...

 and Bournda National Park

Bournda National Park

Bournda National Park is a 2,655 ha protected area in New South Wales, Australia, managed as a national park by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, and was established on 24 April 1992. It is 343 km south of Sydney near Tathra. Bournda National Park spans from Kianinny Bay, on the...

. Mimosa Rocks National Park starts at the northern end of Tathra Beach and runs north for about 16km. It has five access roads from the Tathra-Bermagui main road. Bournda National Park starts at Kianinny Bay, at the southern end of Tathra, and runs south for about 13km. There is a good walking track, near the coast, along most of its length.

The Bega River

Bega River (New South Wales)

The Bega River is located in the far South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. The river rises in the Kybeyan Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, and discharges into the South Pacific Ocean at the town of Tathra. The river is known as the Bemboka River in its upper reaches and its major...

 flows into the sea at the northern end of Tathra Beach, which is about 3km long. The Snowy Mountains Highway

Snowy Mountains Highway

The Snowy Mountains Highway is a state highway in New South Wales, Australia which traverses the Snowy Mountains.The highway runs across the highland region in the southern part of the State. It starts at its junction with the Hume Highway near Gundagai...

 joins Tathra to Cooma

Cooma, New South Wales

-Education: is Cooma's only public high school, it serves the town and seven of the neighbouring rural towns and villages such as Berridale, Jindabyne, Nimmitabel, Bredbo and Dalgety....

 via Bega

Bega, New South Wales

Bega is a town in the south-east of New South Wales, Australia in the Bega Valley Shire. It is the economic centre for the Bega Valley.-Place name:One claim is that place name Bega is derived from the local Aboriginal word meaning "big camping ground"....

.

History

The Tathra area was first settled by Europeans in the 1820s and 1830s, although it was outside the limits of legal settlement, the Nineteen Counties

Nineteen Counties

The Nineteen Counties were the limits of location in the colony of New South Wales defined by the Governor of New South Wales Sir Ralph Darling in 1826 in accordance with a government order from Lord Bathurst, the secretary of State. Counties had been used since the first year of settlement, with...

. A small jetty was built at Tathra in the early 19th century. In 1861-62, a larger wharf was built from funds donated by farmers and the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company

Illawarra Steam Navigation Company

The Illawarra Steam Navigation Company was a shipping company that serviced the south coast of New South Wales, Australia from 1858 to the early 1950s...

. Regular shipping commenced in 1862

1862 in Australia

See also:1861 in Australia,other events of 1861,1863 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.- Governors:Governors of the Australian colonies:*Governor of New South Wales - John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar...

. The wharf, built on turpentine supports set into solid rock, is now classified by the National Trust

National Trust of Australia

The Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....

.

Tathra may mean "beautiful country" or "place of wild cats" in a local aboriginal

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....

dialect.