This was published 9 years ago
Cooranbong, New South Wales: Travel guide and things to do
Cooranbong, NSW
Located 116 km north of Sydney via the Newcastle Freeway, Cooranbong is situated at the base of the Watagan Mountains on the western side of Lake Macquarie. It is a rapidly growing town within the City of Lake Macquarie.
'Cooranbong' comes from the language of the area's earlier inhabitants, the Awabakal Aborigines, and is said to mean 'rocky bottom creek' or 'water over rocks' - presumably references to Dora Creek which runs eastwards from the settlement to Lake Macquarie.
Lieutenant Percy Simpson was probably the first European settler in the whole Lake Macquarie area. He received a 2000-acre grant in 1826, was assigned six convicts who cleared the land, grazed cattle, and built a homestead and stockyards near a ford over Dora Creek. He left after two years but one of his convicts, Moses Carroll, stayed on as a stockman and was made constable of the area in 1834. Although settlers were thin on the ground, convict escapees, cattle thieves, timber-getters and the indigenous inhabitants caused him some difficulties.
It was the Robertson Land Act of 1861 which saw the township develop as it enabled small selectors to buy up plots near the Dora Creek ford. A Catholic Church was built that same year (it also functioned as a school). A post office and Anglican church followed. Timber was the backbone of the local economy and four large steam-driven timber mills were operating in the area in the 1870s. The cedar was loaded on to ketches at the creekside and sent off to Lake Macquarie with supplies returned by the same route.
The local economy expanded and the population increased. As a sign of its development a police station and courthouse were established in 1873. The first ferry service on the lake was started in 1876 and a post office opened in 1881 (the building is still standing in Martinsville Rd, now a private residence). Cooranbong also benefited from its role as a a staging post on the trek between Sydney and Newcastle. By the 1880s, when the population reached 700, there were four stores, two schools, three hotels and four wine bars.
However, when Sydney and Newcastle were linked by rail in the late 1880s the line passed 5 km to the east of Cooranbong. Although the station was initially called Cooranbong the settlement around the station became known as Morisset. Consequently economic activity at Cooranbong tailed off. Commercial shipping virtually ceased and the completion of the railway line ended contracts for local timber used to create railway sleepers. Moreover a general economic depression hit in the 1890s.
The population had dropped to 206 by 1891. However, the town's decline meant a fall in land prices and the town managed to struggle on when this attracted the Seventh Day Adventists who bought 1500 acres of land on the northern bank of Dora Creek and established Avondale College in 1897 and Sanitarium Health Foods in 1909. The population is now around 4500.
Things to see
Historic Buildings
The town's two historic buildings are both located in Martinsville Rd (signposted as Watagan Forest Rd) which runs west off Freemans Drive (the main thoroughfare). The Catholic Church of St Patrick and St Brigid, virtually on the corner, was built in 1906 to replace the original 1861 structure. The oldest headstone dates back to 1862.
Just up the road, to the left, on the corner of Martinsville and Government Rds, is the old sandstone post office with its small front and rear porches and cast-iron lacework. Built in 1881 it is now a private residence though it still has 'Post Office' inscribed underneath the gable at the side of the building.
The Elephant Shop
A little further north along Freemans Drive is a little shopping centre to the left where you will find The Elephant Shop where there is a large selection of amethysts, agate, onyxware, crystals, rock and mineral specimens, hand-carved furniture and goods from South-East Asia. It is open from Sunday to Friday. You can check out the shop by going to http://www.elephantshop.com.au.
Avondale College
Opposite is Central Ave, the driveway of Avondale College. There are tours of the college, opened 1897, and the Sanitarium Health Food factory they own and operate. The college is set in a 325-ha property and incorporates a fine church building as well as a number of heritage listed buildings including Bethal Hall and the College Hall. Bethel Hall was completed in 1897. The original structure was a New England building with a thatched roof (which has been replaced with a tin roof) designed to serve as Women's dormitory and assembly room. It currently houses Marketing, Public Relations and Administrative Services & Planning.
College Hall was built early 1899, it is also New England in architecture, designed by one of the Kellogg brothers. Originally College Hall held classrooms, the principal's office, two primary school classrooms, library and chapel room. It currently houses Student Services and Student Government. Contact. (02) 4980 2251.
Sunnyside and South Sea Islands Museum
Further north along Freemans Drive, Avondale Rd runs off to the right. The museum is located at number 27. Seventh-day Adventist Ellen White, a significant figure in local church history, visited the area in 1891 and built the house in 1895. A large outbuilding now contains a large, impressive and historical collection of South Sea Island artefacts, gathered by the church during its missionary work in the South Sea Islands. Some of the material dates back to the 19th century, including an enormous war canoe and items used by cannibals during human sacrifices. It is open Saturdays to Thursdays from 2.00 p.m. - 4.00 p.m., contact (02) 4977 2501.
The Watagans
Cooranbong is probably the best town to access the 13 forests scattered throughout the Watagan Mountains which lie to the west of Lake Macquarie and the Tuggerah Lakes. There are some outstanding camping sites, lookouts, walking trails, picnic areas and well-signposted forest drives.
The Watagans have been exploited for their timber since the 1830s. The demand for railway sleepers generated by the construction of the Sydney-Newcastle railway caused a boom in the late 19th century. During World War II the forests were almost entirely stripped of their softwoods, particularly coachwood, which was used for the Diggers' .303 rifle and for the construction of the Mosquito fighter plane. Most of the houses of the Central Coast, Lake Macquarie and Hunter Valley have frames made of Watagan hardwoods. Early timbergetters spotted the enormous red cedars by climbing a tree and looking for the spray of red amongst the rainforest greenery.
Head west along Martinsville Rd into the valley formerly known as The Brush. The first European settlers, the Martin family, arrived in the 1860s and worked as timbergetters. A village of farmers and sawyers developed. It was known as Deep Creek when a slab school was built in 1878. The post office which opened the following decade was called Dora Creek, causing conflict with the settlement of that name north of present-day Morisset. It was renamed The Brush and became Martinsville in 1894.
Turn left up Martinsville Hill Rd. To the right is a wishing well where there was once a spring which supplied the timberworkers. The Wishing Well Picnic Area and walking trail is a few hundred metres further along to the right.
At the end of this road a left turn leads to Muirs Lookout and picnic area. There are excellent views eastwards over Lake Macquarie and beyond to the ocean. Two sets of stacks are visible: those of Vales Point Power Station on the southern shore of the lake and those of Eraring on the western shore. There is a 1-5-km walking trail with interpretative signs.
Return to the Martinsville Hill Rd intersection and head north-west along Watagan Forest Rd. The Pines Forest Picnic Area, one of the district's highlights, is along a short side-road to the right. Several walking trails, including a wildflower walk (1 km) and an 8-km walk to Abbotts Falls, depart from different points along this side-road. The 1-km Pines Trail takes in an old Aboriginal axe-grinding groove.
A little further along Watagan Forest Rd are the Water Tower Picnic Area (named after an 18-m water tower built in 1961 for the surveillance of potential forest fires but demolished in the 1970s due to termite infestation - only the base of the poles remain) and another turnoff to the Casuarina and Turpentine Camping Areas.
It is around another 14 km to the Boarding House Dam turnoff to the left, another highlight of the district. About the carpark and picnic area is a section of dense, subtropical rainforest and a small weir built to ensure a supply of water for bushfires after the ravages of a major fire in 1939-40. There is plenty of birdlife about. The dam is a good spot for a swim in summer and there is a somewhat poorly marked, circular 400-m walking track which follows the gentle murmur of Congewai Creek and its tranquil environs for a distance.
Lookout and Scenic Views
Return to Watagan Forest Rd and continue in a north-easterly direction as the road rises steeply to one of the highest points in the Watagans (540 m). While one road continues north-east towards Heaton Lookout, Watagan Forest Rd swerves to the left towards Cessnock. Follow the latter for about 3 km then turn right into Bakers Rd. You will immediately pass a signpost for the Great North Walk (just 195 km to Sydney Cove!), a ranger's station and a camping area to the right. 2 km from this turnoff is the Hunter Lookout, to the left, and, at the end of the road (another kilometre), Macleans Lookout. Both have picnic areas and magnificent views. The former looks westwards and north-west towards Cessnock while the latter is oriented to the north-west (Cessnock) and north-east (over Mulbring and beyond to Kurri Kurri with Maitland in the distance). The two are linked by a 600-m walking trail. From Macleans the 8-km, one-way Watagan Track, departs for the Heaton Lookout. It is considered one of the best in the forests.
Return to the point where Watagan Forest Rd swerves northwards and follow the road east to Heaton Lookout. After about 2 km there is a fork in the road. Turn left along Heaton Rd and after about 1.5 km you will see the lookout on the roadside to the right. The view is quite fantastic: to the east the whole of Lake Macquarie with the stacks of its various power stations scattered about the shore; north to Newcastle and beyond to Stockton Beach stretching north-east towards Port Stephens; south over the entire Central Coast with Tuggerah Lakes in the foreground, Norah Head Lighthouse on the coast and beyond to Broken Bay and the mouth of the Hawkesbury. Aside from the aforementioned Watagan Track there are two shorter circular tracks (750 m and 2.5 km).
Return to the fork and this time head south along Mt Faulk Rd, once known as the 'unemployed road' as it was built by those left without work in the general economic depression of the 1890s which hit the Cooranbong area hard due to the fact that the railway skirted the town and contracts for railway sleepers dried up. After about 2 or 3 km is a turnoff to the right to Monkey Mountain Lookout. The mountain's name derives from a bullock called Monkey after its abseiling abilities. It liked to hide, in its spare time, on a mountain shelf which was thus named Monkey Shelf.
Along this road is a fork. To the right is Gap Creek Lookout which is popular with abseilers. Below is a dense canopy of subtropical rainforest about Gap Creek which flows from the base of the falls. To the right the road continues on to Monkey Mountain Lookout from where there are fine views southwards over Martinsville Valley. The homestead below belongs to the Browne family, early settlers and timbergetters who owned the aforesaid bullock named Monkey.
Return to Mt Faulk Rd and continue south. Keep your eyes to the right as there is soon another turnoff along Bangalow Rd, named after the many Bangalow palms amidst the scrub. It follows Monkey Shelf through an area rich in interesting birdlife, which can be seen and heard - lyrebirds, king parrots, crimson rosellas, satin bowerbirds, green catbirds, whipbirds etc. There are two camping areas along the road and a carpark at the end from whence there is a walking trail which follows an old bullock track to the falls. A side path (now virtually overgrown) leads to The Cave, a rock overhang once frequented by students from Avondale Collge who cleared the cave and installed bunks, chairs and tables for study purposes.
Some of the old stumps along the way still retain the grooves into which were inserted planks upon which woodcutters stood in order to fell the tree. The track forks. The right branch passes along the shelf through the scrub while the left descends precipitously (beware the return hike) to the base of the 40-m falls. Unless it has rained recently there may only be a trickle but the environs are exceptional anyway and well worth the effort.
Return to Mt Faulk Rd which continues south to Freemans Drive. It will return you to Cooranbong. For leaflets about the walking trails, camping areas and ranger-led nature walks, contact State Forests of NSW in Dora St, Morisset on (02) 4973 3733.
Great North Walk
The Watagans are part of the 250-km Great North Walk from Sydney to Newcastle, a 14-day walk taking in a wide range of environments and attractions, both natural and man-made. It can be broken down into smaller subsections. For more information contact the Lake Macquarie Tourist Information Centre on (02) 4972 1172 or the Dept of Lands on (02) 9228 6111.
Tourist Information
For further tourist information contact Lake Macquarie Tourist Information, 72 Pacific Highway, Blacksmiths on (02) 4972 1172.
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