Bermagui, New South Wales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This template is now obsolete. | |
Bermagui | |
---|---|
|
|
Postcode | 2546 |
State | New South Wales, Australia |
Latitude and Longitude | |
Local Government Area | Bega Valley |
Population – current estimate | approx 1200 |
Bermagui is a town on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia in the Bega Valley shire.
The name is believed to be from the Aboriginal 'canoe with paddles'. At one stage it was spelled on maps as Permageua.
It is said that offshore from Bermagui the continental shelf is at its closest point to the mainland and hence there is good fishing.[1]
Zane Grey, the well-known big-game fisherman of the 1930s and author of Westerns, wrote of his experiences there. He was patron of the Bermugui Sport Fishing Association for 1936/37 and anchored his yacht, the "Avalon" in Horseshoe Bay.
During the 1950s the detective writer Arthur Upfield lived in the town and made it the setting for one of his novels.
Over the Christmas break 2004/2005, the Leader of the Opposition, Mark Latham retreated here from the media and decided to resign as ALP leader and from Parliament remarking in his biography, "Thank God for Bermagui".
In 1943, the Japanese submarine I-21 sank the iron ore carrier SS Iron Knight off the coast of Bermagui. Local fisherman had tangled their nets on the wreck deep below the surface in 125 metres of water, but did not know the ship lay there until a team of divers confirmed its existence on June 4, 2006. On July 29, 2006 relatives and descendants of the ships crew came to Bermagui for a memorial and commemorative service.
A 1910 article, 'Bermagui - In a Strange Sunset', published by Henry Lawson in The Bulletin describes a steamer journey from Bermagui to Sydney. Lawson was probably travelling with the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company.
In 1880, a geologist, Lamont Young, and four others disappeared while on a boat trip from Bermagui. Their boat was found near Mystery Bay, which is about 15 kilometres north of Bermagui, midway between Bermagui and Narooma, near Tilba. The bay received its name because of the disappearance.
[edit] External links
- Information about Bermagui
- Sapphire Coast tourism site article on Bermagui
- Morningside's TravelSouth visitors guide article on Bermagui
[edit] References
- Yourguide, Narooma site, news article from Wednesday 9th August 2006.