Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia.
Nowrais a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 160 kilometres (99 mi) south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about 120 kilometres (75 mi) as the crow flies). As of the 2016 census, Nowra has an estimated population of 20,039. Situated in the southern reaches of the Sydney basin, Nowra is the seat and commercial centre of the City of Shoalhaven.
The region around Nowra is a farming community with a thriving dairy industry and a significant amount of state-owned forest land. It is also an increasingly popular retirement and leisure area for people from Canberra and Sydney. The naval air station HMAS Albatross is located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south-west of Nowra. The name Nowra, originally written by Europeans as 'nou-woo-ro' (pronounced Nowa Nowa by the Indigenous Australians of the area), is an Aboriginal word for the black cockatoo.
History
Prior to European arrival, the part of the Nowra region south of Bomaderry Creek was inhabited by the Wodi-Wodi tribe of the Yuin nation, while the region north of Bomaderry Creek was inhabited by the Dharawal people.
Circa 1824, ex-convict Mary Reibey applied for a land grant in the Burrier area, on the southern side of the Shoalhaven River. The Nowra township was officially recognized in 1852. Less than ten years later, in 1861, a postal service was established. In 1861 the racehorse Archer, which was trained in Nowra by Etienne de Mestre, won the first Melbourne Cup. Nowra was declared a town in 1885 and a city in 1979.
A major landmark in the area is the house Bundanon, which renowned Australian artist Arthur Boyd and his wife Yvonne donated to the people of Australia in 1993 along with an adjoining property that had been previously owned by Boyd's brother-in-law, the equally famous Australian artist Sidney Nolan. Bundanon began as a single-storey weatherboard structure built around 1840. In 1866, a two-storey sandstone house, made of locally quarried stone, was built immediately in front of the original weatherboard house. The sandstone house features timber verandas and is now listed on the Register of the National Estate.
Weather
Things to do
Shoalhaven Regional Gallery
Fleet Air Arm Museum