South West Rocks, New South Wales

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South West Rocks
New South Wales

South West Rocks
Population: 4,116 (2001 Census) 6,500 (2007 Estimate)
Postcode: 2431
Location: 40 km (25 mi) from Kempsey
LGA: Kempsey Shire
State District: Oxley
Federal Division: Cowper
Mean Max Temp Mean Min Temp Rainfall
23.2 °C
74 °F		 15.6 °C
60 °F		 1,471.9 mm
57.9 in

South West Rocks is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, near the mouth of the Macleay River. It is approximately 40 km from Kempsey. The small village of Jerseyville is located nearby.

The population of South West Rocks is approximately 6500 people, though the town maintains a steady growth rate, the tourist population of South West Rocks increases markedly during the holiday season. Beautiful scenery, numerous beaches, and man-made attractions such as Trial Bay Gaol and Smoky Cape Lighthouse are published as local tourist attractions.

Trial Bay is one of only a few north facing bays on the Australian East Coast.

Contents

[edit] History

South West Rocks has a rich history. Whilst Arakoon was originally established as the township on Trial Bay in 1866, by 1889 South West Rocks had established itself as a popular bathing resort with the people of the Macleay Valley. This tradition as a holiday area has continued to the present day.

There are a number of stories as to how South West Rocks got its name, but one of the most favoured is that the captains of passing ships where told it was safest to moor their vessels near the rocks, south west of Laggers Point (the point on which Trial Bay Gaol is built). An alternate story is that they were told their moorings would be safe if they kept the rocks to their south west.

Trial Bay was named after a brig, The Trial, which was stolen and wrecked by convicts in 1816 in the bay that now bears its name.

On 13 May 1770, Captain James Cook observed smoke from a fire on a mountain which he duly named Smoky Cape. The headland in front of the mountain is now the location of Smoky Cape Lighthouse.

[edit] Media

South West Rocks has a weekly news paper The South West Rocks News which comes as a cover page to Tuesday edition of the Kempsey The Macleay Valley Argus. A weekly free paper and magazine are home delivered every Wednesday to households within the Macleay Valley Shire and Nambucca Shire.

TV Broadcasts are received from Coffs Harbour, though it is possible to receive some stations from the Taree transmitter.

Radio signals are able to be received from many stations between Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour

[edit] Shopping

South West Rocks' main street is Prince Of Wales Avenue, which is lined with shops, the other major place for shopping is The Rocks Shopping Fair which is placed closer to the towns entrance, there are also a 2 petrol stations and an IGA on Gregory Street.

[edit] Development

Development in the town has increased over the past few years, with a new shopping centre The Rocks Shopping Fair opening in 2002, and an adjacent housing subdivision known as Oceanside.

South West Rocks may be divided into five main areas: South West Rocks, Arakoon, Oceanside, New Entrance and Spencerville. Arakoon is located to the east of South West Rocks and is home to Trial Bay Gaol. New Entrance is the River Mouth located to the west of South West Rocks and locals also refer to the residential area on a ridge just to the east of the Macleay River at the river mouth as New Entrance. Oceanside is located adjacent to the The Rocks Shopping Fair, it is a relatively new subdivision in South West Rocks and consists of recently built houses. Spencerville is the most southern area of South West Rocks, it runs from The Rocks Shopping Fair south to Spencers Creek Bridge and used to be its own village before recent development in Oceanside joined South West Rocks and Spencerville. A new area for South West Rocks has been proposed for the land around Saltwater Creek, west of Arakoon, which will house a new shopping centre and around a thousand houses. The local council is yet to approve this application.

[edit] Suburbs

[edit] Education

There are two pre-schools located at South West Rocks, as well as Government primary school. There is no high school at South West Rocks, despite the efforts of the Lower Macleay Valley High School Association. High school students travel to Kempsey every weekday to one of the three high schools, Melville High School, Kempsey High School or St Paul's Catholic College. A few Primary school students also travel to St Josephs Primary School, Kempsey East Public School or Kinchela Primary School.

[edit] Climate

South West Rocks has a warm and wet subtropical climate. The warmest month on average is February with a mean maximum temperature of 26.9ºC and the coldest month on average is July with a mean maximum temperature of 18.6ºC. The wettest month is March with a mean rainfall of 185.7mm and the driest month is September with a mean rainfall of 55.9mm. South West Rocks experiences a mean of 137.2 raindays annually, with the most occurring in March (15.5 raindays) and the least occurring in July (8 raindays). South West Rocks gets the highest mean amount of rain during the Autumn with 485.2mm falling and the lowest mean amount of rain during the Spring with 260.5mm falling. South West Rocks' thunderstorm activity is mainly during the period from September to March (inclusive), with October and November being the months where the risk of a severe thunderstorm is increased due to a relatively high frequency of unstable atmospheric conditions which favour frequent and strong thunderstorm development. Hail is relatively rare in South West Rocks, only occurring once every year or two, and it is usually less than 2 centimetres in diameter.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  • Tales of Trial Bay - An Early History of South west Rocks, Written by Caroline Carey, Printed by Australian Print Group, 1993, Published in Australia ISBN 0-646-14914-8

Coordinates: 30°53′S, 153°02′E

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