Coffs Harbour is a city on the

Mid North Coast The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens north of Sydney, and extending as far north as Woolgoo ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr are the original people of the Coffs Harbour region. Coffs Harbour's economy was once based on timber and agriculture. Over recent decades, tourism has become an increasingly important industry for the city. Once part of a region known as the Bananacoast, today the tourist city is part of a wider region known as the Coffs Coast. The city has a campus of

Southern Cross University Southern Cross University (SCU) is an Australian public university, with campuses at Lismore and Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, and at Coolangatta, the most southern suburb of the Gold Coast in Queensland. It is ranked in the t ...

, and a campus of Rural Faculty of Medicine

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

, a public and a private hospital, several radio stations, and three major shopping centres. Coffs Harbour is near numerous

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

s, including a marine national park. There are regular passenger flights each day to Sydney,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

and

departing from Coffs Harbour Airport. Coffs Harbour is also accessible by road, by NSW TrainLink, and by regular bus services.

Geography

Coffs Harbour is a regional city along the Pacific Highway between Newcastle and the Gold Coast. It has become a major service centre for those living between South West Rocks in the south and

Grafton Grafton may refer to: Places Australia * Grafton, New South Wales Canada * Grafton, New Brunswick * Grafton, Nova Scotia * Grafton, Ontario England * Grafton, Cheshire * Grafton, Herefordshire *Grafton, North Yorkshire * Grafton, Oxfordshi ...

to the north. Sawtell, south along Hogbin Drive from the city has become a satellite suburb of Coffs Harbour; it is increasingly referred to as being part of the city instead of its own entity as a town. The surrounding region is dominated by coastal resorts and apartments with hinterland hills and mountains covered by forests,

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry (botany), berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa (genus), Musa''. In some countries, Cooking banana, bananas used for ...

and blueberry

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

s, and other farms. It is the only place in New South Wales where the Great Dividing Range meets the Pacific Ocean. The greater Coffs Harbour city is broken up into several suburb and precinct areas, including: * Red Hill * South Coffs * West Coffs * Coffs Harbour Jetty *

Park Beach Park Beach is a suburb of Coffs Harbour, northern New South Wales, located in the north eastern part of the town. It has a population of around 5,000 which swells during summer as it is a coastal tourist destination containing many motels, bac ...

* Diggers Beach * Korora, West Korora * Sapphire Beach * Moonee Beach * Emerald Beach * North Boambee Valley *

Boambee Boambee is a suburb in the city of Coffs Harbour on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia ...

, Boambee East *

Toormina Toormina is a suburb in the City of Coffs Harbour, on the east coast of New South Wales, Australia. Located in the city's south, Toormina is near the seaside suburb of Sawtell. History The suburb was developed in the 1980s by Mr Patrick Hargr ...

* Sawtell * Bonville The city is surrounded by many towns and villages in the Coffs Coast region, including: *

Coramba Coramba is a small historic town north-west of Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, Australia. The North Coast railway passes through, and a now-closed railway station was provided from 1922. In the 1890s, gold was mined in the area. The ...

Nana Glen Nana Glen is a small village in New South Wales, Australia, located 25 km inland north-west of Coffs Harbour in the City of Coffs Harbour. It is located on the Orara Way and at the juncture of two main roads, one leading to Lower Bucca. ...

* Corindi Beach and Red Rock * Karangi * Ulong * Upper Orara * Woolgoolga

History

The traditional inhabitants of the Coffs Harbour region are the Gumbaynggirr people, who have occupied the land for thousands of years, forming one of the largest coastal Aboriginal nations in New South Wales. Their nation stretches from the Nambucca River in the south to around the Clarence River in the north and to the Great Dividing Range in the west. By the early 1900s, the Coffs Harbour area had become an important timber production centre. Before the opening of the North Coast railway line, the only way to transport large items of heavy but low value, such as timber, was by coastal shipping. This meant sawmillers on the North Coast were dependent on jetties either in rivers or off beaches for exporting their timber. Timber tramways were constructed to connect the timber-getting areas, the sawmills and jetties built into the ocean at Coffs Harbour.

Etymology

Coffs Harbour owes its name to John Korff, who named the area Korff's Harbour when he was forced to take shelter from a storm in the area in 1847. The name was accidentally changed by the surveyor for the crown when he reserved land in the area during 1861.

Heritage listings

Coffs Harbour has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 1 Breakwater Road: Ferguson's Cottage *Coffs Harbour timber jetty, Jordan Esplanade

Demographics

According to the 2016 Census the population of the suburb of Coffs Harbour is 25,752. This is an increase from 24,581 in 2011. 52.5% of the population is female in contrast to the national average of 50.7%. The average age is 43, which is higher than the national average of 38. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.6% of the population. 75.5% of residents reported being born in Australia; higher than the national average of 66.7%. Other than Australia the most common countries of birth are England (3.2%), New Zealand (1.3%),

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

(1.1%), India (0.9%) and Germany (0.5%). 62.2% of residents also reported both their parents being born in Australia, considerably higher than the national average of 47.3%. 82.1% of people spoke only English at home. The top religious affiliations in Coffs Harbour are Catholic 20.0%, Anglican 17.9% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.9%. 29.3% declared no religion and 11.1% did not submit a response.

Climate

Coffs Harbour has a humid subtropical climate (''Cfa'' according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

system) with marked seasonality of rainfall. The city is relatively sunny, receiving 122.1 clear days annually, higher than Brisbane and Cairns but not as sunny as

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 30 ...

. Summers are moderately hot, wet and humid. Winters are mild with moderate rainfall.

Attractions

The Bunker Cartoon Gallery Coffs Harbour

Coffs Harbour was the hub for a thriving banana industry. One of the biggest attractions is the Big Banana, one of the first of

Australia's Big Things The big things of Australia are large structures, some of which are novelty architecture and some are sculptures. There are estimated to be over 230 such objects around the country. There are big things in every state and territory in contin ...

(it celebrated its 50th birthday in 2015), with the World's Largest Banana celebrating the region's best-known export. There is also a popular

underwater diving Underwater diving, as a human activity, is the practice of descending below the water's surface to interact with the environment. It is also often referred to as diving, an ambiguous term with several possible meanings, depending on contex ...

spot on a small natural

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic processes—deposition (geology), deposition of ...

. The Coffs Harbour Jetty is an historically important timber wharf where coastal shipping once moved the timber from the hinterland. It was listed on the NSW State Heritage Register on 25 June 2021, recognising its significance "as the longest coastal timber jetty built by the Harbours and Rivers Section of the NSW Public Works department in the 19th century." The jetty area is the subject of planning from 2018 by Council and consultants to develop a cultural precinct and rejuvenated residential area. Nearby, the Solitary Islands Marine Park preserves a diverse underwater ecosystem that mirrors the terrestrial biodiversity, covering the southern limit of northern tropical species and the northern limits of the southern temperate species. Muttonbird Island is accessible by walking along the breakwater from the harbour, with the nature reserve protecting a significant

wedge-tailed shearwater The wedge-tailed shearwater (''Ardenna pacifica'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a muttonbird, like the sooty shearwater of New Zealand an ...

breeding site. The Muttonbird Island footpath leads to a viewing platform where whales are often spotted between June and November. There are many national parks, reserves and marine parks surrounding the city, including: *

Bellinger River National Park Bellinger River National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, about 410 km north of Sydney. The main feature of the park is the Bellinger River and the unspoilt forests on its upper reaches. In a word, the untouched wildern ...

(west of Bellingen in the Bellinger headwaters) *

Bindarri National Park Bindarri National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 431 km northeast of Sydney. It is considered the epicenter of biodiversity, due to the rare and endangered species found here, such as fish bone fern, southern quassia ...

(20 km west of the city, near Ulong and Dairyville) * Bongil Bongil National Park (south of Sawtell) * Cascade National Park (north of Dorrigo) * Coffs Coast Regional Park (beachside reserves and parks along the Coffs Coast) * Dorrigo National Park (just south of the Dorrigo township) * Hayden Dent Nature Reserve (northwest of Coffs Harbour) *

Junuy Juluum National Park Junuy Juluum is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, northeast of Sydney. Positioned on the slopes of Campion Mountain, this remnant of warm temperate rainforest is a haven for paradise riflebirds and sooty owls. The avera ...

(north of Dorrigo) * Moonee Beach Nature Reserve (Moonee Beach-Emerald Beach) * Nymboi-Binderay National Park (north of Dorrigo, east of Glenreigh, on the Nymboida River) * Solitary Islands Marine Park (in the Tasman Sea from Coffs Harbour to Wooli)
South Solitary Island
(18 km NE from Coffs Harbour in the Marine Park) *

Ulidarra National Park Ulidarra is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 442 km northeast of Sydney. The Ulidarra National Park comprises huge forests. Picturesque rain forests and ancient eucalyptus trees adorn the park. These forests sustain a variet ...

(Bruxner Park and Mount Coramba area) * Yuraygir National Park (stretching from Yamba to Red Rock and west along the Coast Range) The town's water supply comes from the nearby Orara River at Cochranes Pool and is supplemented by the Nymboida River. The city hosts the Coffs Harbour Regional Botanic Garden.

Education

Coffs Harbour is home to the Coffs Harbour Education Campus (CHEC) which is a partnership between the

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...

and the

Coffs Harbour Senior College Coffs Harbour Senior College is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive senior secondary day school, located within the Coffs Harbour Education Campus, on Hogbin Drive, Coffs Harbour, on the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales ...

. Other universities include the University of New South Wales Rural Clinical School located on the Coffs Harbour Health Campus. Australian Catholic University, Rural Education (REZ). Local state and private high schools include Coffs Harbour, Woolgoolga,

Orara Orara is a historical town and Union Council of Kasur District in the Punjab province of Pakistan.Before Partition, Orara fell under the Lahore District and Tehsil Kasur. The village was largely populated with Dhillon Jatts, predominantly Sikhs w ...

, Toormina, John Paul College, Coffs Harbour Christian Community,

Bishop Druitt College The Bishop Druitt College (abbreviated as BDC), is an independent Anglican co-educational primary and secondary day school, located in southwest Coffs Harbour, on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Named after Cecil Druitt, the ...

and the Coffs Harbour Senior College. Primary schools include; Boambee, Bonville, Coffs Harbour Public, Coramba, Corindi, Crossmaglen, Karangi, Kororo, Lowanna, Mullaway, Nana Glen, Narranga, Upper Orara, Sandy Beach, Sawtell, Toormina, Tyalla, Ulong, William Bayldon and Woolgoolga Public School. Private primary schools in the area include; Mary Help of Christians, St Augustine's and St Francis Xavier's. Defunct primary schools * Brooklana Public – 1920–49 * Bucca Central Public – 1910–63 * Bucca Lower Public (Formerly Bucca Creek until May 1919) – 1896–1978 * Corindi Creek Public – 1920–62 * Timmsvale Public – 1928–70 * Yalbillinga Special School (Amalgamated with Coffs Harbour PS) – 1965–93 Other schools * Casuarina School for Steiner Education * Bishop Druitt College * Coffs Harbour Bible Church School * Coffs Harbour Christian Community School Special schools are public schools designed for children or youth with chronic disabilities or who for other reasons cannot be accommodated in the comprehensive school system. Coffs Harbour Learning Centre is available for these students.

Bypass

The Pacific Highway cuts through the centre of the city. Work has commenced to build a deviation. The project was approved in November 2020.

Local media

Newspapers

* ''News Of The Area'' - Printed and on-line publications. * ''Coffs Coast Advocate'' – The ''Advocate'' newspaper was until 2019 published on Wednesdays and Saturdays and delivered free to all homes. The newspaper is now online only. An online index of articles between 1993 and 2004 and selected articles dating back to 1900 is maintained by the Coffs Harbour City Library, though only articles relating to Coffs Harbour and its people are indexed. Historical: * ''Coffs Coast Independent'' – Weekly full-colour newspaper delivered free each Thursday to all homes in the Coffs Harbour district, closed 2012.

Television

* ABC,

ABC TV Plus ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment prog ...

, ABC Me,

ABC News ABC News is the journalism, news division of the American broadcast network American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other progra ...

(public broadcaster) * SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS Food, NITV (multicultural commercial broadcaster) *

Nine 9 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 9 or nine may also refer to: Dates * AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era * 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era * 9, numerical symbol for the month of September Places * Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...

( NBN Television), 9Gem, 9Go!,

9Life 9Life is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Nine Entertainment. The channel airs mostly foreign lifestyle and reality programs, with the channel having a licensing agreement with Discovery Inc. (previously Scr ...

( Nine Entertainment owned and operated) * Prime7, 7two,

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a ...

, 7flix (

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australi ...

owned and operated affiliate) * 10,

10 Bold 10 Bold is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It originally launched on 26 March 2009 as One HD with a focus on broadcasting sports-based programming and events, but rebranded to One in April 2011 to ...

, 10 Peach, - (Owned by WIN Corporation), (

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of fi ...

affiliate) * Sky News Regional Of the three main commercial networks: * NBN Television airs ''NBN News'', a regional hour-long program including opt-outs for the

, every night at 6pm. It is broadcast from studios in Newcastle with reporters based at a local newsroom in the city. *'' Prime7 News'' airs a half-hour local news bulletin for the North Coast at 6pm each weeknight. It is broadcast from studios in Canberra with reporters based at a local newsroom in the city. * WIN Television airs short local news updates throughout the day, broadcast from its

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near w ...

studios.

Radio

Commercial

* 2HC 639 AM and 100.5 FM – talkback, news - including local, national & international; sport; and music. Part of the Broadcast Operations Group's Super Network relaying a majority of programs from 2SM in Sydney and 2HD in Newcastle. The station was purchased by Bill Caralis in 2005. *

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back t ...

106.3 FM – Part of

Southern Cross Austereo Southern Cross Media Group Limited, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Australia, operating 86 radio statio ...

, Triple M has limited local content - with shows such as ''Moffee For Breakfast'', as well as networked programming - like ''The Ray Hadley Morning Show'', and ''The Marty Sheargold Show''. The station was formerly known as 2CS FM until 15 December 2016. * Hit 105.5 (105.5 FM) – Part of Southern Cross Austereo, Hit 105.5 has a local Coffs Harbour Breakfast Show called the ''A.B & Ben Show''. It began in 1997 as a third commercial licence for the Coffs Coast. The station was formerly known as Star FM until 15 December 2016.

Government

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

91.5 FM *

Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

99.5 FM * ABC Classic 97.9 FM * ABC Coffs Coast 92.3 FM *

ABC NewsRadio ABC NewsRadio, since 2017 broadcast under the ABC News brand and for a short time known as ABC News on Radio, is a 24-hour news radio service broadcast by the Australian public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). ABC ...

90.7 FM

Community

* CHY FM 104.
CHY FM website
* Racing Radio 107.1 FM * 2AIR FM 107.
2AIR website

Narrowcast

* RawFM 88.0 FM

Transport

Bus

Beaumonts, Busways, Forest Coach Lines, Newcombe and Sahdras all run service throughout Coffs Harbour and the surrounding areas. Greyhound Australia and Premier Motor Service long-distance coach services which run along the east coast also stop at Coffs Harbour. Forest Coach Lines runs frequent buses to the northern suburbs of Coffs Harbour and some less frequent services to Grafton. Most of the Beaumonts buses in 2011 were bought by Newcombe, originally Beaumonts bus service ran in the Orara Valley carrying high school and primary school students from the city of Coffs Harbour to their rural homes.

Train

Coffs Harbour is serviced by NSW TrainLink. Three northbound and three southbound XPT trains stop at Coffs Harbour station each day.

Taxis

Local taxis are run by Holiday Coast Transportation and operate as 13cabs.

Air travel

Coffs Harbour Airport is regularly serviced by Fly Corporate,

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the List of airlines by foundation date, world's third-oldest airline sti ...

Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue'', with two a ...

and Regional Express. The passenger terminal is accessible via Hogbin Drive. The Coffs Harbour Aero Club on Aviation Drive supports private pilots. Flying lessons and discovery flights, as well as air-work and charter flights are available from the club, which is also working closely with local high schools to provide flying training for students.

Sport

The most popular sport in Coffs Harbour is

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

. The city has four clubs in the Country Rugby League of NSW's Group 2 rugby league competition; Coffs Harbour Comets, Sawtell Panthers, Woolgoolga Seahorses, and Orara Valley Axemen. All clubs offer entries in age groups ranging from under-7s to first grade. The Sawtell Panthers are the current champions in first grade and under-18s, and Woolgoolga Seahorses were runners up to the Port Macquarie Sharks in reserve grade. Rugby League Clubs in Coffs Harbour * Coffs Harbour Comets *

Orara Valley Axemen Group 2 is a rugby league competition on the north coast of New South Wales Since 1966, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. The Group 2 area runs from Grafton in the north to Macksville in the south. Group 2 teams played for man ...

* Sawtell Panthers * Woolgoolga Seahorses There is a local Australian rules football competition with three clubs in the city; Coffs Harbour, Northern Beaches-Woologoolga and Sawtell Saints. There is also a men's and women's soccer league, two rugby union clubs (Coffs Harlequins and Southern Cross University), junior and senior basketball competitions and the representative Coffs Suns, field hockey and netball competitions. In 2001, Coffs Harbour hosted the Oceania region's qualification matches for the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea ...

. One these matches played at Coffs Harbour was the Australia 31–0 American Samoa game, which set a new world record for international association football's biggest-ever win. Pacific Bay Resort hosted 'Camp Wallaby' throughout the 2000s, in which the Wallabies called Coffs Harbour home. The 2007 and 2013 City vs Country Rugby League representative fixtures were held in Coffs Harbour. The city is home to the Coffs Harbour International Stadium, which has hosted FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and a Women's 2008 Beijing Olympics Qualification fixtures for the Matildas in soccer as well as some

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

(NRL) pre-season fixtures and domestic one day

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

matches. Coffs Harbour is also known for a great place to skydive due to the hinterland views where The Great Dividing Range meets the sea. The region has hosted international

rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

through the 1970s through to the early 1980s. After that time, the events became part of the Australian Rally Championship and NSW Rally Championships. It was the host city for Rally Australia, a round of the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. There are separate championships ...

in 2011. The rally used roads from the neighboring Bellingen, and

Nambucca Nambucca Valley Council is a local government area in the mid north coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The shire services an area of and is located adjacent to the Pacific Highway and the North Coast railway line. At the , Nambucca ...

shires in addition to Coffs Harbour. The rally returned permanently to Coffs Harbour in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

. In 2016, the rally was run in November with a Super special Stage at the Coffs Jetty. It was last held in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. Coffs Harbour is home to three locally grown sporting events attracting thousands of competitors each year: the Coffs Harbour Triathlon (bcu Coffs Tri), the Coffs Harbour running festival and the Coffs Ocean Swims, all raising money to local children's charities.

Notable residents

Attila Abonyi Attila Abonyi (born 16 August 1946 in Budapest) is a former Hungarian-born Australian soccer manager and player and played for the Australia national team. Abonyi made his senior international debut for Australia in 1967 at age 20, and had ...

– former Australian international

Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

player who was capped 61 times for the Socceroos *

Liz Cambage Elizabeth Folake Cambage (born 18 August 1991) is an Australian professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Cambage currently holds the WNBA single-game scorin ...

– basketball player * Russell Crowe – actor * Jon English – singer-songwriter-actor *

Michael Ennis Michael Ennis (born 16 March 1984) is an Australian sports commentator for Fox League and former professional rugby league footballer of Irish descent. A New South Wales State of Origin representative , he played for the Canterbury-Bankst ...

– rugby league footballer and sportscaster * Kevin Gordon – rugby league footballer * Clint Greenshields – rugby league footballer * David Helfgott – concert pianist *

Deborah Knight Deborah Knight (born 23 November 1972) is an Australian television and news presenter, radio host, and journalist. Knight is currently a radio presenter on 2GB and host of '' A Current Affair'' on Friday and Saturday. Previously she has been a ...

– radio host and news journalist for the Nine Network *

Wendy Matthews Wendy Joan Matthews (born 13 January 1960) is a Canadian-born Australian singer-songwriter who has been a member of Models and Absent Friends and is a solo artist. She released Top 20 hit singles in the 1990s including " Token Angels", " ...

– singer * Mark McGowan – 30th

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive br ...

Luke Metcalf Luke Metcalf (born 1 March 1999) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL). He previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL. Also ...

– rugby league footballer * Emma Moffatt – triathlete, Beijing Olympics bronze medalist *

Tom Mooney Thomas Joseph Mooney (December 8, 1882 – March 6, 1942) was an American political activist and labor leader, who was convicted with Warren K. Billings of the San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916. It quickly became apparent that ...

– rugby league footballer * David Mullane – rugby league footballer *

George Negus George Edward Negus AM (born 13 March 1942) is an Australian journalist, author, television and radio presenter specialising in international affairs. He was a pioneer of Australian TV journalism, first appearing on the ABC’s groundbreaking T ...

– author, journalist, and current affairs presenter * Ben Newton – Paralympics gold medalist, wheelchair rugby player *

Melinda Pavey Melinda Jane Pavey (; born 1969), an Australian politician, is the New South Wales Minister for Water, Property and Housing since April 2019 in the second Berejiklian ministry and the Perrottet ministry. Pavey has been a member of the New Sout ...

- NSW state politician * Dick Smith – entrepreneur * Jack Thompson – AFI award-winning actor

Annual events

* National Touch League (March) * "International Charity Football Match", August 9, proceeds go to Wesley Mission for local homeless youth * Ella7s (Australia's largest Indigenous Rugby Carnival) (March) * Coffs Coast International Buskers Festival (October) * Harmony Festival (March) * Rally Australia (November) * STILL: National Still Life Award (November)

References

External links

*
Coffs Harbour City Council

Our Stories: Coffs Coast Heritage
{{Authority control Cities in New South Wales Coastal cities in Australia Marinas in Australia Mid North Coast City of Coffs Harbour