Shoalhaven

The Shoalhaven is a large rural region in the state of New South Wales south of the Illawarra.

Cities

• 1 Berry - Quaint town, very popular with tourists.
• 2 Currarong – on the Beecroft Peninsula.
• 3 Jervis Bay including the towns of Huskisson and Vincentia
• 4 Milton
• 5 Nowra and Bomaderry – twin-towns and the regional centre of Shoalhaven
• 6 Ulladulla - including the beachside community of Mollymook

Other destinations

• 1 Bimberamala National Park
• 2 Budawang National Park
• 3 Bugong National Park
• 4 Booderee National Park
• 5 Conjola National Park
• 6 Jervis Bay National Park
• 7 Jerrawangala National Park
• 8 Kangaroo Valley
• 9 Morton National Park
• 10 Seven Mile Beach National Park – beachside national park home to numerous beaches and hiking trails on sand.
• 11 Shoalhaven Heads – small coastal village.

Understand

The Shoalhaven is, after Greater Sydney, the most popular tourist destination in New South Wales.

The most well-known part of the Shoalhaven is the Jervis Bay area. The area is approximately 160km along the coastline, including 109 beaches, which allegedly possesses the whitest sand in the world, as well as pristine natural Australian bushland. The Shoalhaven area is home to numerous species of native Australian flora and fauna.

The small Jervis Bay Territory was excised from New South Wales as part of the process of federation, and is administered separately with a Federal Police Force and housing a naval base and military airport. The commonly visited parts of the bay and the main townships are still in New South Wales.

Get in

Access to Nowra, the gateway of the Shoalhaven, is via the Princes Highway or via the train (note that this is the end of the line and there are NO train lines south of Bomaderry until you are well inside Victoria).

The local bus connects you from the train station in Bomaderry to Stewart Place in Nowra. If the bus isn't around it is only a 10 minute walk across the bridge veering right at the Information Centre. For those who require the Nowra Information Centre is just over the bridge on the southern side on the left. Open 7 days.

Get around

There is a public transport network available within the Shoalhaven area and you can find bus timetables at the train station and at Stewart Place. Stewart Place is also the stop for interstate buses travelling up and down the coast. The most well known of these is Premier Motor Service

Rent a Cars at $48 per day are available to explore the adjacent coast through the Riverhaven Motel on the south side of the bridge. An indication of public transport costs in the area it is $9 one way for a bus ride to Huskinsson.

See

Shoalhaven has some of the whitest beaches anywhere in the world and is often compared with the Whitsundays Islands, Jervis Bay and Currarong. It may not compare with Cape Le Grand National Park in WA, but it's still very white.

For those that are interested in planes and military aviation, the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Nowra may be of great interest displaying numerous aircraft and helicopters such as the GAF Jindivik, which is a pilotless target aircraft.

Do

• Visit one of the many beaches
• Explore some of the tiny rural townships
• Water sports on the Shoalhaven River

Eat

There is a large variety of food you'll find in larger towns such as Nowra, but outside of Nowra, variety is almost non-existent. As most towns in the region are coastal or near-coastal, most towns will have at least one good fish and chips shop, usually near the town's most popular beach.