Nambucca Heads

▪ New South Wales, Australia

      town and promontory, north-coastal New South Wales, Australia. The name, derived from an Aboriginal term meaning “entrance to the waters,” comes from the Nambucca River, which flows 70 miles (115 km) through heavily timbered country to enter the Pacific just south of the promontory. The town, at the river's mouth, was founded in 1842 by cedar lumbermen, but by the 1870s dairy farmers were appropriating the deforested river flats. Proclaimed a village in 1885, it became a shire in 1915. Connected to Sydney (250 miles [400 km] southwest) by rail and the Pacific Highway, it serves a region of mixed farming (bananas, dairying, beef, corn [maize], and vegetables) and lumbering. Tourism, based on the nearby New England National Park, fishing and surfing facilities, and the spectacular view of the coast afforded by Yarrahampi Lookout, provides additional income. Pop. (2006) 6,137.

* * *