Bateau Bay, New South Wales

Bateau Bay is about 6 km south of the town of The Entrance and 17 km north-east of Gosford's central business district. Bateau Bay Beach provides access to Crackneck Point which is a popular local surfing spot. Crackneck Point Lookout (274 m high) is a short distance from the beach where there is a large clearing and carpark with information boards and a picnic-barbecue area

Main article: Wyrrabalong National Park

Much of the Bateau Bay area is dominated by the southern, 140ha section of Wyrrabalong National Park. A distinctive foreshore feature of the park's coastal cliffs are extensive rock platforms which are perfect bases for rock fishing or low tide exploration. Wyrrabalong National Park is a haven for marine, bird and native wildlife which include goannas, bandicoots, fantails and the tawny frogmouth. A 1.6 kilometre walk through Wyrrabalong National Park links Crackneck Point Lookout and Forresters Beach.

[edit] Sporting facilities and parks

EDSACC South Fields

Bateau Bay is home to several parks that facilitate all sports including rugby league, Rugby Union, soccer, Aussie Rules, Softball, Baseball and Cricket.

EDSACC or the Entrance District Sporting And Community Centre is located on The Entrance Road, between Yakalla Street and Eastern Road. The Precinct is separated into four areas. EDSACC North Ovals (soccer), EDSACC South Ovals (rugby league) and a Sports Centre that bisects the two. At the very south of the Precinct is a golf driving range and a Ten Pin Bowling Centre.

The Bateau Bay Recreation Centre (which is now know as the PCYC) offers tennis courts, indoor basketball courts and a gymnasium and was opened in 1979 by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Roden Cutler.

The precinct also has a golf driving range. The golf driving range was formerly an Aussie Rules field, but was deemed unsafe due to its uneven surface and the home side - the Bateau Bay Blues - were forced to relocate to a field on Mingara's property at Tumbi Umbi. The Blues have since resettled at Eastern Road Oval, although it leaves a lot to be desired as a sporting ground because the field is unsuitable for Aussie Rules as well as the lack of parking.

Several other facilities exist, including Pat Morley Oval located on Cresthaven Avenue, which was until the early 1980s a rubbish tip and nightsoil depot and was used as an Aussie Rules oval in the 1990s, and Sir Joseph Banks Oval behind Cresthaven Shopping Centre.

[edit] Shopping

Stockland Bay Village

Bateau Bay is home to Stockland Bay Village, a shopping centre formerly known as Bay Village, and operated by Stockland, a major property developer in Australia.

A smaller centre, Cresthaven Shopping Centre, opened in 2003. Several other clusters of shops are located throughout Bateau Bay. There are also shops on Bateau Bay Road between Harbour Street and Parkside Avenue, the corner of Bateau Bay Road and The Central Coast Highway as well as on Coleridge Road.

[edit] Clubs

Bateau Bay Bowling Club

Bateau Bay Bowling Club is located on the corner of Pheasent Avenue and Bias Avenue. It is owned by Canturbury Leagues Club and features TAB facilities, bar and bistro as well as an undercover carpark. The club has three bowling greens, has more active bowling members than any other club in the state, and is competitively strong in competitions run state-wide.

The Entrance Leagues Club was established in 1992 and is located on The Entrance Road adjacent to Stockland Bay Village. It has 11,000 members and has recently undergone renovations and now features a large carpark as well as TAB facilities, bar and bistro, function room and courtesy bus. The Entrance Leagues Club is a major sponsor of The Entrance Tigers Rugby League Clubs.

Bateau Bay Hotel is located on The Entrance Road between Lumby Drive and Cresthaven Avenue. It features a large carpark as well as TAB facilities, two bar areas, drive-through Bottle Shop, bistro and Beer Garden as well as a motel. Bateau Bay Hotel is now a sponsor of The Entrance Rams Rugby Club.

[edit] Notable citizens

Despite its age, Bateau Bay has had many citizens achieve notoriety.

Ryan O'Hara (born 1980) formally played for The Entrance Tigers. He has played in the NRL with the Canberra Raiders. Ryan O'Hara is currently contracted to the Wests Tigers.
Hew Raymond Griffiths (born c1962) has been accused by the United States of America of being a ring leader of DrinkOrDie, an underground software piracy network. He was arrested while living at Bateau Bay.
Joseph Furst (born in Vienna, Austria 1916 died in Bateau Bay 2005) was an international film and television actor known for his English language roles. He appeared as Professor Zaroff in the Doctor Who story The Underwater Menace. His also had recurring roles in The Young Doctors and four episodes of A Country Practice.
Israel Cannan Local Musician. In 2004 his 'Heroes In Heaven' EP was released by ECP Records. The first single 'Deep' received airplay on local and national radio stations and the video made it to MTV and Channel V. He has also appeared on the Australian soap opera Home & Away and beginning with the 2007 season Cannan performed the opening theme. He also has played with a range of Australian artists including The Whitlams, Sarah Blasko and Ash Grunwald

Ben Gleeson (born 1979) International Barista trainer and Celebrity barista. He has featured in numerous publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, and Hit Television show Better Homes & Gardens. He has participated in judging Barista competitions both nationally and internationally. Ben worked in various cafes before landing a coveted Barista apprenticeship with Boutique roaster Toby's Estate. During this time, he expanded his knowledge of coffee participating in regular cupping sessions with master roasters Chris Bonney and Toby Smith. His passion for all things coffee grew and he quickly moved up with-in the company eventually overseeing training and customer service nation-wide. Ben Now runs The Barista Academy and is committed to seeing the coffee industry grow and develop Both in Australia and overseas.

[edit] Schools

Bateau Bay Public School

There are three state owned schools in Bateau Bay:

Bateau Bay Public School was established in 1980 and currently has an enrollment of 739 students in Kindergarten to Year 6.

Brooke Avenue Public School was established in 1985 and currently has an enrollment of 452 students in Kindergarten to Year 6.

Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College (The Entrance Campus) was originally opened as The Entrance High School in 1970. The High School was effectively closed in 2001 when the NSW State Government announced that the school, alongside Tumbi High School and Berkeley Vale High School, would form the Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College. It became Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College (The Entrance Campus) in 2002. It has 576 students in Years 11 and 12.

[edit] Issues

The suburb is bisected by The Entrance Road, a main Central Coast arterial route. In recent times residents of the eastern side and many of the areas real estates of The Entrance Road have campaigned for the eastern side to be called East Bateau Bay as it is expected that property values would be boosted. Although, it is unlikely the name change will eventuate.

Bateau Bay is also home to one of New South Wales' highest revenue collecting speed cameras. The speed camera is located on The Entrance Road between Shelly Beach Road and Yakalla Street. The camera is the seventh largest collector of revenue collecting 14,057 fines for $1,813,086. The speed camera has achieved notoriety because it is placed in a school zone that operates at slightly different hours to most school zones in the area. Its reliability has been questioned also after an incident in 2005 in which a driver was fined for speeding twice in two minutes.

Source: PoliceSpeedCameras.info

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Bataan Circut which was recently constructed as part of Mirvac's Sorrento development is named after HMAS Bataan. HMAS Bataan was a Tribal class destroyer in the Royal Australian Navy that was commissioned at Sydney on 25 May 1945 and served until 2 May 1958.

Bateau Bay was once home to an airstrip known as The Entrance Airstrip. The site of The Entrance Airstrip is now within the grounds of The Entrance High School.

[edit] Transportation

Red Bus on The Entrance Road

Main article: Red Bus Services

Red Bus Services is the local bus operator and runs several routes through Bateau Bay. The operator's depot is also located at Bateau Bay on Coleridge Road. Routes that operate through Bateau Bay can be found on the Red Bus website.

Red Bus Homepage

The Night Owl Bus Service also services Bateau Bay on Friday and Saturday nights between 12am and 5am. The service is community sponsored and is operated by Red Bus Services and Busways. It operates between Gosford and The Entrance via East Gosford, Erina, Terrigal, Wamberal, Forresters Beach, Bateau Bay, Tumbi Umbi, Killarney Vale and Long Jetty.

Night Owl Homepage