Toukley is a town in the Central Coast region of the 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...

n state 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...

. It lies approximately 107 km north 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...

 via the F3 freeway. It is located between Tuggerah Lake

Tuggerah Lake

Tuggerah Lake is a large coastal saltwater lake on the Central Coast of New South Wales about north of Sydney. It is connected with the sea through a tidal channel at its southern end known as The Entrance. It is also connected with two smaller lakes, Budgewoi Lake and through that to Lake...

, Budgewoi Lake, and the Pacific Ocean. The town is within the area of the Wyong Shire. At the channel connecting Tuggerah Lake and Budgewoi Lake the new Toukley bridge was constructed between 1983 and 1985 linking Toukley on the eastern side of the Lakes system with Gorokan

Gorokan, New South Wales

Gorokan is a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Wyong Shire local government area. There are two schools in the area, Gorokan Public and Gorokan High. In 1985, Gorokan Public had a champion cricket team which made the quarter-finals of the Statewide...

 on the west, replacing the old two lane wooden bridge.

Toukley also provides various forms of accommodation to tourists including motels, caravan parks, holiday houses and lake cabins.

History

• 1856 - Edward Hargraves
  Edward Hargraves
  Edward Hammond Hargraves was a gold prospector who claimed to have found gold in Australia in 1851, starting the Australian gold rush....
  
  , who purported to make the first significant discovery of gold in Australia in 1851, purchased Robert Henderson's holdings and built "Norahville" Wollombi Aboriginal Tribe members are known to have worked on the property. Some sources state that Hargraves "befriended" tribe members. Cattle were grazed as far as Buff Point and Elizabeth Bay.

• Late 1850s - Chinese fishermen worked the Tuggerah Lakes area, in particular, what is now known as Canton Beach. While not confirmed, it is believed this is where the name is derived from. It was a base for catching and curing fish that were then shipped to Queensland, the goldfields and back to China.

• 1903 - Lighthouse built at Norah Head
  Norah Head, New South Wales
  Norah Head, originally known as Bungaree Noragh Point, is a headland on the Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia, south of Newcastle and north of Sydney. The nearest town is Toukley. The place is home to a lighthouse with scenic views, which is also considered a venue for weddings...
  
  after many vessels were wrecked in the area. It was the site of sea battles between the Japanese Navy and Merchant navy ships in World War 2: Two ships were sunk, Nimbin (1067 tonnes) by a mine on 5 December 1940 and BHP's Iron Chieftain (4877 tonnes) by a submarine on 3 June 1942. The Age (4775 tonnes) was also attacked on 3 June 1942.

• The Toukley Bridge - which joins Gorokan and Toukley was originally constructed in 1939, which was replaced by the new bridge in July 1985.

• Toukley Public School founded in 1891.

External links

• Toukley and District Chamber of Commerce http://www.toukley.com/