Ulladulla, New South Wales

Ulladulla is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia in the City of Shoalhaven local government area. It is on the Princes Highway, about half way between the larger towns of Batemans Bay to the south and Nowra to the north and approximately 179 km south of Sydney. The Ulladulla area is a seven-kilometre stretch of continuous urban residential development from the southern edge of Ulladulla, through the town of Mollymook, to Narrawallee in the north, terminating at the Narrawallee estuary.

The name Ulladulla is an aboriginal word meaning "safe harbour". Alternate spellings as Woolladoorh or Ngulla-dulla have been recorded.

The underdeveloped beaches along this stretch are mainly populated by Sydneysiders and Canberrans during holiday periods, although Canberrans largely holiday further south, to Kioloa and Batemans Bay. The area is largely unknown to Victorian holiday makers, who usually frequent more southerly destinations such as Eden and Merimbula. Ulladulla also has a bowls club for the community.

Ulladulla is surrounded by the adjoining towns of Milton and Burrill Lake as well as Mollymook and Narrawallee. The extended area from Burrill Lake to Milton is referred to as the Milton–Ulladulla area. There are two high schools and three primary schools in the district.

In recent years tourism has brought significant growth to the town including plans for larger shopping and recreation areas, such as the Dunn and Lewis memorial foundation centre being built.

Close landmarks include Pigeon House Mountain and "The Castle", both named due to the unique shapes of the mountain. Pigeon House was sighted by Captain James Cook upon his journey along the eastern shores of Australia. Pigeon House has recently been renamed "Didhol" out of respect to the elders of the Huin nation, the aboriginal elders past and present who originated from the area Ulladulla was built upon. The traditional name of the peak, Didhol, means Woman's Breast, owing to the mountain's clear resemblance of a woman's breast.

Climate
Along with the rest of the NSW South Coast, Ulladulla is located within a temperate climate zone and experiences warm summers and cool winters. The climate is influenced by the warm waters of the adjacent Tasman Sea and is characteristically mild without extreme high or low temperatures. Climatic data has been recorded at Ulladulla by the Bureau of Meteorology since 1989. The mean annual daily maximum temperature is 20.6 °C and the mean annual daily minimum temperature is 13.0 °C. The hottest month is February with a mean maximum temperature of 24.3 °C. The coolest month is July with a mean minimum temperature of 8.8 °C. Mean temperatures are based upon data from 1991 to 2010. Ulladulla has a mean annual rainfall of 1009.6 mm. The wettest month is February with 112.6 mm and the driest is August with 23.6 mm.

Ulladulla Harbour
Ulladulla Harbour is a minor port administered by Land and Property Management Authority.

A wooden jetty was built in 1859 so as to retain the services of the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company; the company had informed the farmers that would not call again at Ulladulla unless better mooring facilities were provided. After seven years the jetty was replaced by a stone pier built by the government on the natural reef. The company built a store on the harbour foreshores for the receiving of produce for shipment to and from Sydney. There was a weekly cargo service to Ulladulla until the mid 1950s.

In 1873, a lighthouse was constructed on the harbour breakwater, and it was known at the time as the Ulladulla Lighthouse. In was relocated in 1889 to Warden Head, south of the harbour, where it is still active.

During the mid 1890s, a 4 ft (1220mm) gauge tramway was laid out to the end of the main stone wharf. Manpower and horses were used to move the low wagons. During the period 1910-11, a double line of track was laid to the end of the pier. Public Works Department records disclose maintenance of track and repair of wagons at least to 1947-48. Almost all trace of the line had gone by 1991.

The harbour is the home port of the largest commercial fishing fleet on the South Coast of New South Wales.

Blessing of the Fleet Festival
The Blessing of the Fleet festival is held annually at Easter since 1956. This is centuries old tradition which originated in Sicily, Italy, and now continued by the area's descendants of the original Italian fishing community.

The most significant element of the festival is the actual Blessing of the Fleet ceremony held at Ulladulla harbour on Easter Sunday. The festivities conclude with fireworks display, over Ulladulla harbour on Easter Sunday and the Harbour Markets on Easter Monday.

Although the accompanying celebration was cancelled due to a sharp rise in the public liability premium in 2004 and 2005, the ceremony returned in 2008. .

Public transport
The CityRail South Coast Line terminates at Bomaderry railway station, situated approximately 60 km to the north of Ulladulla. There are two daily bus services which stop at Ulladulla and Milton, heading towards Sydney. Premier Motor Service travels to Nowra, Wollongong and Sydney, while Priors Scenic Express travels to Nowra (and Bomaderry), then Bowral, Mittagong and Greater Sydney (Campbelltown, Liverpool and Parramatta). Premier Motor Service also travels south to Bega and Melbourne via the Princes Highway.

Trivia
Ulladulla is mentioned in the lyric of the Australian version of "I've Been Everywhere" made popular by Lucky Starr.

The town gained its first traffic light in the 1990s; one of its most notable landmarks is the Marlin Hotel with its big fluorescent marlin on the roof, which can be viewed from the sea.

Satirists John Doyle and Greig Pickhaver used a fictionalised version of Ulladulla as the setting for the popular radio comedy monologue "This is the South Coast News". Performed by journalist Paul Murphy, it was a regular segment for several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the weekly radio comedy This Sporting Life and the scripts were later published in book form by the ABC