Nowra, New South Wales

Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Located approximately 170 km south of the state capital of Sydney, it has a population together with its twin-town of Bomaderry of 27,478. It is also the seat and commercial centre of the City of Shoalhaven.

The region around Nowra is a farming community, sustaining a thriving dairy industry and a number of State forests, but is also increasingly a retirement and leisure area for Canberra and Sydney. The HMAS Albatross air station of the Royal Australian Navy is located about 10 km south-west of Nowra.

The name Nowra, originally written 'nou-woo-ro', is thought to be the Aboriginal word for black cockatoo or camping place.

History
It is thought that the Nowra region was inhabited by the Dharawal Aborigines prior to European settlement. Around 1824, ex-convict Mary Reibey applied for a land grant in the Burrier area, on the southern side of the Shoalhaven River. The Nowra township was officially recognised in 1852. Less than ten years later, in 1861, a postal service was established. Also in that year, the racehorse 'Archer', trained in Nowra by Etienne de Mestre, won the first Melbourne Cup. By 1885, Nowra was declared a town.

Geography and climate
Nowra boasts the pristine Shoalhaven River, which formerly hosted the Australian National wakeboarding championships, it is also a popular fishing location. The river divides Nowra from Bomaderry and North Nowra, and is bridged by the historic Nowra Bridge. The Shoalhaven river is a salt water river, although it itself does not flow into the sea. The Shoalhaven River meets the sea through the canal that joins the Shoalhaven and Crookhaven Rivers, which was dug by convicts.

It is also located nearby Berry, Jervis Bay, Kangaroo Valley, Culburra Beach, Greenwell Point, Huskisson and Shoalhaven Heads.

Nowra's mean minimum annual temperature is 8.5°C; its mean maximum annual temperature 25.2°C. It records a mean annual rainfall of 1256.3mm.

Education
Nowra has three public high schools, Nowra High School, Shoalhaven High School and Bomaderry High School. There are also several non-government schools, which are all denominational; a K-12 Anglican college in Bomaderry, Nowra Anglican College; a Catholic systemic high school, St John the Evangelist Catholic High School; and a K-12 Baptist college on the southern outskirts of Nowra, Nowra Christian School.

The Catholic high school is linked to St Michael's Catholic Primary School located in Nowra. There are five public primary schools in the Nowra area as well: East Nowra Public School, Nowra Public School, Bomaderry Public School, Illaroo Road Public School, North Nowra Public School and Nowra Hill Public School. The University of Wollongong also has a campus in Nowra, and there is a campus of TAFE NSW Illawarra Institute located in Bomaderry.

Sports
The four major codes of football in Australia are all popular in the Nowra area. Rugby is represented by the Shoalhaven Rugby Club, the team plays out of Rugby Park in South Nowra. The team recently won the 2008 premiership in the Illawarra district competition, and has produced international and provincial players such as Andrew Walker and Alex Kanaar.

Australian Football is constantly growing in the area. The Nowra Blues play out of West Street Oval, and the Bomaderry Tigers are located at Arty Smith oval. The Bay and Basin Bombers are also a team located at the leisure centre. these are just some of the teams.

Football (also known as Soccer) is the most popular of the football codes. Several different leagues run throughout the year.

Rugby League has traditionally been represented by the Nowra Warriors and Bomaderry Swamprats. However, at the end of 2007 these teams merged to form the Shoalhaven Jets Rugby League Football Club. The area looks forward to seeing improved results from this team.

Hockey is popular, particularly among junior players, but a lack of quality fields, particularly a synthetic pitch curtails the sport's growth.

The Nowra area has traditionally performed well in the sport of Basketball. The Shoalhaven Tigers represent the area in the New South Wales State Basketball League and have won several championships from 1988 until 2007.

Notable people

 * Arthur Boyd, Artist
 * Frank Moorhouse, Writer
 * Ashley Paske, Actor
 * Karen Phillips, Swimmer
 * William Kamm, AKA 'Little Pebble', Disgraced Religious Leader
 * Jeff Dowdell, Basketball Player
 * Ben Dowdell, Basketball Player
 * Adam Federici, Football (Soccer) Player