Merimbula, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Merimbula is a coastal town on the Far South Coast or Sapphire Coast
of New South Wales
, Australia. At the 2006 census
, the population within a 10km radius of the Merimbula Post Office was over 8,775, Merimbula has a town population of 3,851 people. Merimbula serves predominantly as a tourist town and its meaning is Aboriginal for 'two lakes'.
or Eden
to attend public high school, or attend private schools in the surrounding areas, including Pambula Beach
and Bega.
Merimbula Point is an area of palaentological significance, regularly studied by the School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University
. Several previously unknown species have been found in the ancient sedimentary rocks there, including Merimbulaspis and Pambulaspis.
. There are daily flights from Sydney
and Melbourne
to Merimbula. Flights from Sydney often stop in Moruya
.
Situated just off the national highway 1
, the Princes Highway
, Merimbula is nearly the same distance to both Sydney
and Melbourne
, with both trips taking between six and seven hours to drive. It is approximately three hours drive to Australia's capital Canberra
.
(winter period). The Merimbula Pambula Bulldogs competes in the Group 16 Rugby League
Premiership. Merimbula hosts two football clubs, the Diggers and the Marlins. Merimbula's soccer club is the Merimbula Grasshoppers which hosts men, women and junior sides. The Merimbula Knights Cricket Club are a club in the Far South Coast Cricket Association. Merimbula has a 27 hole Golf Club.
. Merimbula boasts many holiday accommodation options, high quality and family restaurants, clubs & pubs. There is a full range of shops and a post office.
Merimbula Main Events Calendar can be found at http://www.merimbula.com.au/events_monthly.asp
Merimbula has a windsurfing
and kiteboarding festival, the Mambo. This is held in late November each year.
industry. Merimbula grows approximately 3% of NSW Sydney rock oyster
s and a small amount of native flat oysters Ostrea angasi
.
Merimbula has five main beaches - Main Beach (or Merimbula Beach), Mitchies Jetty, Bar Beach, Spencer Park Beach and Short Point. Main beach and Short Point are considered to be the best beaches for surfing, whilst Bar Beach is used for snorkeling
. Other activities include whaling, fishing, kitesurfing
and boating. With a decent percentage of the population being retirees golf and lawn bowls are popular as well. Merimbula has scuba diving, with the Sponge gardens at Yellow Rock and the Empire Gladstone wreck off nearby Haycock Point popular dives.
Merimbula is close to Bournda National Park
, South East Forest National Park
and the northern end of Ben Boyd National Park
s. A coastal walk running through Bournda National Park from Tathra to Tura Beach just north of Merimbula takes in coastal scenery.
Merimbula offers a range of activities from horse riding to roller coaster rides. Magic Mountain
, Merimbula's own theme park has a roller coaster and one of the best toboggan slopes in New South Wales
. Top Fun is a games arcade offering Ten Pin Bowling, Mini Golf and Zone 3 Laser maze.
The Merimbula Wharf offers its own aquarium full of some of the common sea creatures on the Sapphire Coast. The fish species on display include whale sharks and Bondi torpedoes.
10 kilometres to the west of Merimbula along the Princes Highway towards Bega, Potoroo Palace Wildlife Sanctuary is located . This nature park has a collection of native species with some hands on opportunities for the children. It also cares for injured or orphaned animals.
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....
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. 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,...
, the population within a 10km radius of the Merimbula Post Office was over 8,775, Merimbula has a town population of 3,851 people. Merimbula serves predominantly as a tourist town and its meaning is Aboriginal for 'two lakes'.
Education
Merimbula has one primary school; Merimbula Public School. However, the town does not have a high school. Children from Merimbula are required to travel to either BegaBega, 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"....
or Eden
Eden, New South Wales
Eden is a coastal town in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The town, south of the state capital Sydney near the border with Victoria, is located between Nullica Bay to the south and Calle Calle Bay, the northern reach of Twofold Bay, and built on undulating land adjacent to a...
to attend public high school, or attend private schools in the surrounding areas, including Pambula Beach
Pambula Beach, New South Wales
Pambula Beach is a small town in New South Wales, Australia not far from Pambula. At the 2006 census, Pambula Beach had a population of 655 people....
and Bega.
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
. Several previously unknown species have been found in the ancient sedimentary rocks there, including Merimbulaspis and Pambulaspis.
Transport
Merimbula is one of only a few towns on the South Coast of NSW to have its own airport, Merimbula AirportMerimbula Airport
Merimbula Airport is an airport serving Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of Merimbula and operated by Airport Agencies Pty. Ltd.-Facilities:The airport resides at an elevation of above mean sea level...
. There are daily flights from 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...
and 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...
to Merimbula. Flights from Sydney often stop in Moruya
Moruya, New South Wales
Moruya is a small regional centre in New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Moruya River, approximately 300 kilometers south of Sydney. At the 2006 census, Moruya had a population of 10,278 people. The town relies predominantly on agriculture, aquaculture, and tourism...
.
Situated just off the national highway 1
Highway 1 (Australia)
Australia's Highway 1 is a network of highways that circumnavigate the Australian continent, joining all mainland state capitals. At a total length of approximately it is the longest national highway in the world, longer than the Trans-Siberian Highway and the Trans-Canada Highway...
, 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 ....
, Merimbula is nearly the same distance to both 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...
and 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...
, with both trips taking between six and seven hours to drive. It is approximately three hours drive to Australia's capital Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
.
Sport
Merimbula hosts an oval and two soccer fields on the Berrambool Oval. The oval is used, depending on the time of year, for cricket (summer period) and AFLAustralian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
(winter period). The Merimbula Pambula Bulldogs competes in the Group 16 Rugby League
Group 16 Rugby League
Group 16 is a rugby league competition on the south coast of New South Wales, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. Group 16 covers the area from Moruya down to Eden-Teams:Five teams compete in the 2011 Group 16 First Grade competition:...
Premiership. Merimbula hosts two football clubs, the Diggers and the Marlins. Merimbula's soccer club is the Merimbula Grasshoppers which hosts men, women and junior sides. The Merimbula Knights Cricket Club are a club in the Far South Coast Cricket Association. Merimbula has a 27 hole Golf Club.
Facilities
The area's main hospital is Pambula Hospital, which is located approx 4 kilometres south of the town centre in Merimbola Street, PambulaPambula, New South Wales
Pambula is a town in Bega Valley Shire on the far south coast of New South Wales, Australia south of Sydney via the Princes Highway. At the 2006 census, Pambula had a population of 1,146 people.-History:...
. Merimbula boasts many holiday accommodation options, high quality and family restaurants, clubs & pubs. There is a full range of shops and a post office.
Events
Merimbula is the host of the Australian Native Orchid Show, held in Twyfold Hall. Another event is the Annual Jazz Festival which is held on the Queens Birthday weekend in June. While a much smaller festival, a Country Music Festival is held in the Merimbula-Imlay Bowling Club around the beginning of November each year.Merimbula Main Events Calendar can be found at http://www.merimbula.com.au/events_monthly.asp
Merimbula has a windsurfing
Windsurfing
Windsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...
and kiteboarding festival, the Mambo. This is held in late November each year.
Economy
Merimbula is a predominantly a tourist town, with a majority of the town's earnings coming from tourism. Merimbula does, however, have a small, but significant oyster farmingOyster farming
Oyster farming is an aquaculture practice in which oysters are raised for human consumption. Oyster farming most likely developed in tandem with pearl farming, a similar practice in which oysters are farmed for the purpose of developing pearls...
industry. Merimbula grows approximately 3% of NSW Sydney rock oyster
Sydney rock oyster
The Sydney rock oyster, Saccostrea glomerata, formerly known as Saccostrea commercialis, is an oyster species endemic to Australia and New Zealand...
s and a small amount of native flat oysters Ostrea angasi
Ostrea angasi
The southern mud oyster or native flat oyster, Ostrea angasi, is endemic to southern Australia, ranging from Western Australia to southeast New South Wales and around Tasmania.-Diet:...
.
Activities
Snorkeling
Snorkeling is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters, a wetsuit may also be worn...
. Other activities include whaling, fishing, kitesurfing
Kitesurfing
Kitesurfing or Kiteboarding is an adventure surface water sport that has been described as combining wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, and gymnastics into one extreme sport. Kitesurfing harnesses the power of the wind to propel a rider across the water on a small surfboard or a...
and boating. With a decent percentage of the population being retirees golf and lawn bowls are popular as well. Merimbula has scuba diving, with the Sponge gardens at Yellow Rock and the Empire Gladstone wreck off nearby Haycock Point popular dives.
Merimbula is close to 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...
, South East Forest National Park
South East Forest National Park
South East Forest is a national park in New South Wales , 378 km southwest of Sydney. It features high quality old growth eucalyptus forest and remnant patches of temperate rainforest....
and the northern end of Ben Boyd National Park
Ben Boyd National Park
Ben Boyd National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney. It is named after the entrepreneur Ben Boyd who had a variety of interests in the far South Coast of New South Wales including whaling and farming. The park itself was established in 1971...
s. A coastal walk running through Bournda National Park from Tathra to Tura Beach just north of Merimbula takes in coastal scenery.
Merimbula offers a range of activities from horse riding to roller coaster rides. Magic Mountain
Magic Mountain, Merimbula
Magic Mountain is a theme park situated on the Sapphire Coast of Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia. It features a Diamond Python Roller Coaster, two waterslides , Kiddie Splash Pool, Grand Prix Cars, Mini Golf, Magic Carpet slide, Toddler Town Cars, Triassic Park and a fantastic new performing...
, Merimbula's own theme park has a roller coaster and one of the best toboggan slopes in 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...
. Top Fun is a games arcade offering Ten Pin Bowling, Mini Golf and Zone 3 Laser maze.
The Merimbula Wharf offers its own aquarium full of some of the common sea creatures on the Sapphire Coast. The fish species on display include whale sharks and Bondi torpedoes.
10 kilometres to the west of Merimbula along the Princes Highway towards Bega, Potoroo Palace Wildlife Sanctuary is located . This nature park has a collection of native species with some hands on opportunities for the children. It also cares for injured or orphaned animals.
External links
- Magical Merimbula Merimbula local guide
- Merimbula Information Centre http://www.merimbula.com.au - Tourism Information. Complete guide to the Sapphire Coast NSW