Tea Gardens, New South Wales

Tea Gardens is a village in the Great Lakes Council in New South Wales in Australia. It lies on the Myall River and is connected by the Singing Bridge with the neighboring Hawks Nest.

Geography

Location

Tea Gardens is located on the western shore of the Myall River to the north of the great natural harbor Port Stephens near the Tasman Sea. The village is located about 220 kilometers north of Sydney and is connected via a 10 km long road to the Pacific Highway.

In the immediate area of Tea Gardens is a number of protected natural areas. Just south of Tea Gardens is located on a small island Corrie Iceland National Reserve. On the opposite side of the Myall River begins about 8 km north of Hawks Nest, the southern part of the 44,000 acres of Myall Lakes National Park. Furthermore, wide riparian areas of the Myall River in the immediate vicinity of Tea Gardens are declared as nature reserves.

Climate

Tea Gardens is located on the northern edge of the temperate climate zone of Australia and is already showing a tendency to sub-tropical climates. The average monthly temperatures range between 8.4 ° C ( July) and 27.3 ° C ( January). The village lies on the edge of a vast wetland ( Myall Lakes ) and has a relatively high for Australia annual rainfall of 1351.2 mm, which is spread evenly over the seasons.

History

Tea Gardens ( originally called " The Tea Gardens " ) was part of a large land concession of the Australian Agricultural Company from the year 1824. The exact origin of the place name is uncertain, but it is believed that they are the ( unsuccessful ) attempts by the company, tea was grow or named after the many tea trees in the area so.

The early settlers used the river and lake system of the Myall Lakes as a shipping timber. Later fields of activity were added as woodworking, boat building, farming, fishing and mining. With the decline of the timber industry in the late 1880s, then fell and the population.

In 1921, the first settlement areas in Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest were publicly reported. A ferry service between the two places took 1928 on the operation. However, only with the start of commercial sand mining in the area in the 1960s began, the two places has been gaining importance. There tourist roads were built in 1974 and replaced the Singing Bridge ferry operations.

Today Tea Gardens has about 2,000 inhabitants. The now most important source of income is tourism. Here, the proximity plays a central role to the beaches of Hawks Nest and the Myall Lakes National Park and the good fishing opportunities. In addition there are ferry services and tours to Nelson Bay on the southern side of Port Stephens, where you can watch dolphins.