Coffs Harbour

Coffs Harbour, locally nicknamed Coffs, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr are the original people of the Coffs Harbour region.
Coffs Harbour's economy was once based on timber and agriculture. Over recent decades, tourism has become an increasingly important industry for the city. Once part of a region known as the Bananacoast, today the tourist city is part of a wider region known as the Coffs Coast.
The city has a campus of Southern Cross University, and a campus of Rural Faculty of Medicine University of New South Wales, a public and a private hospital, several radio stations, and three major shopping centres. Coffs Harbour is near numerous national parks, including a marine national park.
There are regular passenger flights each day to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane departing from Coffs Harbour Airport. Coffs Harbour is also accessible by road, by NSW TrainLink, and by regular bus services.
Geography
Coffs Harbour is a regional city along the Pacific Highway between Newcastle and the Gold Coast. It has become a major service centre for those living between South West Rocks in the south and Grafton to the north.
Sawtell, south along Hogbin Drive from the city has become a satellite suburb of Coffs Harbour; it is increasingly referred to as being part of the city instead of its own entity as a town.
The surrounding region is dominated by coastal resorts and apartments with hinterland hills and mountains covered by forests, banana and blueberry plantations, and other farms including macadamia nuts, cucumbers, and tomatoes. It is the only place in New South Wales where the Great Dividing Range meets the Pacific Ocean.
The greater Coffs Harbour city is broken up into several suburb and precinct areas, including:
Red Hill
South Coffs
West Coffs
Coffs Harbour Jetty
Park Beach
Diggers Beach
Korora, West Korora
Sapphire Beach
Moonee Beach
Emerald Beach
North Boambee Valley
Boambee, Boambee East
Toormina
Sawtell
Bonville
The city is surrounded by many towns and villages in the Coffs Coast region, including:
Coramba
Nana Glen
Corindi Beach and Red Rock
Karangi
Ulong
Upper Orara
Woolgoolga
History
The traditional inhabitants of the Coffs Harbour region are the Gumbaynggirr people, who have occupied the land for thousands of years, forming one of the largest coastal Aboriginal nations in New South Wales. Their nation stretches from the Nambucca River in the south to around the Clarence River in the north and to the Great Dividing Range in the west.
By the early 1900s, the Coffs Harbour area had become an important timber production centre. Before the opening of the North Coast railway line, the only way to transport large items of heavy but low value, such as timber, was by coastal shipping. This meant sawmillers on the North Coast were dependent on jetties either in rivers or off beaches for exporting their timber. Timber tramways were constructed to connect the timber-getting areas, the sawmills and jetties built into the ocean at Coffs Harbour.
Etymology
Coffs Harbour owes its name to John Korff, who named the area Korff's Harbour when he was forced to take shelter from a storm in the area in 1847. The name was accidentally changed by the surveyor for the crown when he reserved land in the area during 1861.
Heritage listings
Coffs Harbour has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
1 Breakwater Road: Ferguson's Cottage
Coffs Harbour timber jetty, Jordan Esplanade
Demographics
According to the 2021 Census the population of suburban Coffs Harbour is 78,759. This is an increase from 72,944 in 2016. 52.6% of the population is female in contrast to the national average of 50.7%. The average age is 43, which is higher than the national average of 38. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.6% of the population.
75.5% of residents reported being born in Australia; higher than the national average of 66.7%. Other than Australia the most common countries of birth are England (3.2%), New Zealand (1.3%), Myanmar (1.1%), India (0.9%) and Germany (0.5%). 62.2% of residents also reported both their parents being born in Australia, considerably higher than the national average of 47.3%. 82.1% of people spoke only English at home.
The top religious affiliations in Coffs Harbour are Catholic 20.0%, Anglican 17.9% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.9%. 29.3% declared no religion and 11.1% did not submit a response.
Climate
Coffs Harbour has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa according to the Köppen climate classification system) with hot, wet summers and short mild winters, with marked seasonality of rainfall. The city is relatively sunny, receiving 122.1 clear days annually, higher than Brisbane and Cairns but not as sunny as Townsville. Summers are moderately hot, wet and humid. Winters are mild with moderate rainfall. There is a history of floods in the city, with major flooding occurring in the years 1917, 1938, 1950, 1963, 1974, 1977, 1989, 1991, 2009 and 2021.
Attractions
Coffs Harbour was the hub for a thriving banana industry. One of the biggest attractions is the Big Banana, one of the first of Australia's Big Things (it celebrated its 50th birthday in 2015), with the World's Largest Banana celebrating the region's best-known export. There is also a popular underwater diving spot on a small natural reef.
The Coffs Harbour Jetty is an historically important timber wharf where coastal shipping once moved the timber from the hinterland. It was listed on the NSW State Heritage Register on 25 June 2021, recognising its significance "as the longest coastal timber jetty built by the Harbours and Rivers Section of the NSW Public Works department in the 19th century." The jetty area is the subject of planning from 2018 by Council and consultants to develop a cultural precinct and rejuvenated residential area.
Nearby, the Solitary Islands Marine Park preserves a diverse underwater ecosystem that mirrors the terrestrial biodiversity, covering the southern limit of northern tropical species and the northern limits of the southern temperate species. Muttonbird Island is accessible by walking along the breakwater from the harbour, with the nature reserve protecting a significant wedge-tailed shearwater breeding site. The Muttonbird Island footpath leads to a viewing platform where whales are often spotted between June and November.
There are many national parks, reserves and marine parks surrounding the city, including:
Bellinger River National Park (west of Bellingen in the Bellinger headwaters)
Bindarri National Park (20 km west of the city, near Ulong and Dairyville)
Bongil Bongil National Park (south of Sawtell)
Cascade National Park (north of Dorrigo)
Coffs Coast Regional Park (beachside reserves and parks along the Coffs Coast)
Dorrigo National Park (just south of the Dorrigo township)
Hayden Dent Nature Reserve (northwest of Coffs Harbour)
Junuy Juluum National Park (north of Dorrigo)
Moonee Beach Nature Reserve (Moonee Beach-Emerald Beach)
Nymboi-Binderay National Park (north of Dorrigo, east of Glenreigh, on the Nymboida River)
Solitary Islands Marine Park (in the Tasman Sea from Coffs Harbour to Wooli)
South Solitary Island (18 km NE from Coffs Harbour in the Marine Park)
Ulidarra National Park (Bruxner Park and Mount Coramba area)
Yuraygir National Park (stretching from Yamba to Red Rock and west along the Coast Range)
The town's water supply comes from the nearby Orara River at Cochranes Pool and is supplemented by the Nymboida River. The city hosts the Coffs Harbour Regional Botanic Garden.
Education
Coffs Harbour is home to the Coffs Harbour Education Campus (CHEC) which is a partnership between the Southern Cross University, TAFE and the Coffs Harbour Senior College.
Other universities include the University of New South Wales Rural Clinical School located on the Coffs Harbour Health Campus. Australian Catholic University, Rural Education (REZ).
Local state and private high schools include Coffs Harbour, Woolgoolga, Orara, Toormina, John Paul College, Coffs Harbour Christian Community, Bishop Druitt College and the Coffs Harbour Senior College.
Primary schools include; Boambee, Bonville, Coffs Harbour Public, Coramba, Corindi, Crossmaglen, Karangi, Kororo, Lowanna, Mullaway, Nana Glen, Narranga, Upper Orara, Sandy Beach, Sawtell, Toormina, Tyalla, Ulong, William Bayldon and Woolgoolga Public School. Private primary schools in the area include; Mary Help of Christians, St Augustine's and St Francis Xavier's.
Defunct primary schools
Brooklana Public – 1920–1949
Bucca Central Public – 1910–1963
Bucca Lower Public (Formerly Bucca Creek until May 1919) – 1896–1978
Corindi Creek Public – 1920–1962
Timmsvale Public – 1928–1970
Yalbillinga Special School (Amalgamated with Coffs Harbour PS) – 1965–1993
Other schools
Casuarina School for Steiner Education
Bishop Druitt College
Coffs Harbour Bible Church School
Coffs Harbour Christian Community School
Special schools are public schools designed for children or youth with chronic disabilities or who for other reasons cannot be accommodated in the comprehensive school system. Coffs Harbour Learning Centre is available for these students.
Bypass
The Pacific Highway cuts through the centre of the city. Work has commenced to build a deviation. The project was approved in November 2020.
Local media
Newspapers
News Of The Area – Printed and on-line publications.
Coffs Coast Advocate – The Advocate newspaper was until 2019 published on Wednesdays and Saturdays and delivered free to all homes. The newspaper is now online only. An online index of articles between 1993 and 2004 and selected articles dating back to 1900 is maintained by the Coffs Harbour City Library, though only articles relating to Coffs Harbour and its people are indexed.
Historical:
Coffs Coast Independent – Weekly full-colour newspaper delivered free each Thursday to all homes in the Coffs Harbour district, closed 2012.
Television
ABC TV, ABC Kids/TV Plus, ABC Me, ABC News (public broadcaster)
SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS Food, NITV, SBS WorldWatch (multicultural commercial broadcaster)
Nine (NBN), 9Gem, 9Go!, 9Life and Extra (owned by Nine Entertainment and Nine Network owned and operated)
Seven (formerly Prime7), 7two, 7mate, 7Bravo, 7flix, and Racing.com (owned by Seven West Media and Seven Network owned and operated)
10, 10 Bold, 10 Peach, Gold (owned by WIN Corporation), (Network 10 affiliate)
Sky News Regional (owned by Australian News Channel and News Corp Australia)
Of the three main commercial networks:
Nine airs NBN News, a regional hour-long program including opt-outs for the Mid North Coast, every night at 6pm. It is broadcast from studios in Newcastle with reporters based at a local newsroom in the city.
The Seven Network (formerly Prime7) airs a half-hour local Seven News (formerly Prime7 News) bulletin for the North Coast at 6pm each weeknight. It is broadcast from studios in Canberra with reporters based at a local newsroom in the city.
WIN Television airs short local news updates throughout the day, broadcast from its Wollongong studios.
Radio
Commercial
2HC 639 AM and 100.5 FM – talkback, news - including local, national & international; sport; and music. Part of the Broadcast Operations Group's Super Network relaying a majority of programs from 2SM in Sydney and 2HD in Newcastle. The station was purchased by Bill Caralis in 2005.
Triple M 106.3 FM – Part of Southern Cross Austereo, Triple M has limited local content - with shows such as Moffee For Breakfast, as well as networked programming - like The Ray Hadley Morning Show, and The Marty Sheargold Show. The station was formerly known as 2CS FM until 15 December 2016.
Hit 105.5 (105.5 FM) – Part of Southern Cross Austereo, Hit 105.5 has a local Coffs Harbour Breakfast Show called the A.B & Ben Show. It began in 1997 as a third commercial licence for the Coffs Coast. The station was formerly known as Star FM until 15 December 2016.
Government
Triple J 91.5 FM
Radio National 99.5 FM
ABC Classic 97.9 FM
ABC Coffs Coast 92.3 FM
ABC NewsRadio 90.7 FM
Community
CHY FM 104.1 CHY FM website
Racing Radio 107.1 FM
2AIR FM 107.9 2AIR website
Narrowcast
RawFM 88.0 FM
Transport
Bus
The Coffs Harbour bus network extends from Grafton and Red Rock in the north to Macksville and Grassy Head in the south. Regular route services are operated by Busways and Forest Coach Lines. Forest Coach Lines also operate the Woopi Connect On Demand bus service in the Northern Beaches area.
Train
Coffs Harbour is serviced by NSW TrainLink. Three northbound and three southbound XPT trains stop at Coffs Harbour station each day.
Taxis
Local taxis are run by Holiday Coast Transportation and operate as 13cabs.
Air travel
Coffs Harbour Airport is regularly serviced by Link Airways, Qantas and Regional Express. The passenger terminal is accessible via Hogbin Drive.
The Coffs Harbour Aero Club on Aviation Drive supports private pilots. Flying lessons and discovery flights, as well as air-work and charter flights are available from the club, which is also working closely with local high schools to provide flying training for students.
Sport
The most popular sport in Coffs Harbour is Rugby league. The city has four clubs in the Country Rugby League of NSW's Group 2 rugby league competition; Coffs Harbour Comets, Sawtell Panthers, Woolgoolga Seahorses, and Orara Valley Axemen. All clubs offer entries in age groups ranging from under-7s to first grade. The Sawtell Panthers are the current champions in first grade and under-18s, and Woolgoolga Seahorses were runners up to the Port Macquarie Sharks in reserve grade.
Rugby League Clubs in Coffs Harbour
Coffs Harbour Comets
Orara Valley Axemen
Sawtell Panthers
Woolgoolga Seahorses
There is a local Australian rules football competition with three clubs in the city; Coffs Harbour, Northern Beaches–Woologoolga and Sawtell Saints.
There is also a men's and women's soccer league, two rugby union clubs (Coffs Harlequins and Southern Cross University), junior and senior basketball competitions and the representative Coffs Suns, field hockey and netball competitions.
In 2001, Coffs Harbour hosted the Oceania region's qualification matches for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. One these matches played at Coffs Harbour was the Australia 31–0 American Samoa game, which set a new world record for international association football's biggest-ever win.
Pacific Bay Resort hosted 'Camp Wallaby' throughout the 2000s, in which the Wallabies called Coffs Harbour home.
The 2007 and 2013 City vs Country Rugby League representative fixtures were held in Coffs Harbour.
The city is home to the Coffs Harbour International Stadium, which has hosted FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and a Women's 2008 Beijing Olympics Qualification fixtures for the Matildas in soccer as well as some National Rugby League (NRL) pre-season fixtures and domestic one day cricket matches. Coffs Harbour is also known for a great place to skydive due to the hinterland views where The Great Dividing Range meets the sea.
The region has hosted international rallying through the 1970s through to the early 1980s. After that time, the events became part of the Australian Rally Championship and NSW Rally Championships. It was the host city for Rally Australia, a round of the World Rally Championship in 2011. The rally used roads from the neighboring Bellingen, and Nambucca shires in addition to Coffs Harbour. The rally returned permanently to Coffs Harbour in 2013. In 2016, the rally was run in November with a Super special Stage at the Coffs Jetty. It was last held in 2018.
Coffs Harbour is home to three locally grown sporting events attracting thousands of competitors each year: the Coffs Harbour Triathlon (bcu Coffs Tri), the Coffs Harbour running festival and the Coffs Ocean Swims, all raising money to local children's charities.
Notable residents
Attila Abonyi – former Australian international Association football player who was capped 61 times for the Socceroos
Kevin Bartlett – racing driver
Liz Cambage – basketball player
Russell Crowe – actor
Jon English – singer-songwriter-actor
Michael Ennis – rugby league footballer and sportscaster
Kevin Gordon – rugby league footballer
Clint Greenshields – rugby league footballer
David Helfgott – concert pianist
Deborah Knight – radio host and news journalist for the Nine Network
Wendy Matthews – singer
Mark McGowan – 30th Premier of Western Australia
Luke Metcalf – rugby league footballer
Emma Moffatt – triathlete, Beijing Olympics bronze medalist
Tom Mooney – rugby league footballer
David Mullane – rugby league footballer
George Negus – author, journalist, and current affairs presenter
Ben Newton – Paralympics gold medalist, wheelchair rugby player
Melinda Pavey – NSW state politician
Nathan Quinn – rally driver
Dick Smith – entrepreneur
Jack Thompson – AFI award-winning actor
Clare Wheeler – soccer player for Australia
Annual events
National Touch League (March)
"International Charity Football Match", proceeds go to Wesley Mission for local homeless youth
Ella7s (Australia's largest Indigenous Rugby Carnival) (March)
Coffs Coast International Buskers Festival (October)
Harmony Festival (March)
Rally Australia (November)
STILL: National Still Life Award (November)
References
Further reading
Aboriginal history of the Coffs Harbour region / compiled by Coffs Harbour City Library by Liz Thomas (2013)
Coffs Harbour: Vol I: pre-1880 to 1945 / Neil Yeates (1990)
Coffs Harbour: Vol II: 1946 – 1964 / Neil Yeates (1990)
Coffs Harbour 100 years down the track / by Jean Donn-Patterson (not dated)
The Coffs Harbour story (1976)
The history of Coffs Harbour / Produced by Friends of Tourism & Coffs Harbour Historical Society (not dated)
The Natural history of the Coffs Harbour District / Dept of Continuing Education, North Coast Regional Office, U.N.E. (1980)
Remembering Coff's Harbour: a century of photographs / [edited by Arlene Hope and David Townsend] (2001)
Ships and timber: a short history of Coffs Harbour port and associated railways / John Kramer (1984)
External links
Coffs Harbour City Council
Our Stories: Coffs Coast Heritage
Cities in New South Wales
City of Coffs Harbour
Coastal cities in Australia
Marinas in Australia
Mid North Coast