Nelson Bay is a significant township of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia.[4][5] It is located on a bay of the same name on the southern shore of Port Stephens about 60 kilometres (37 mi) by road north-east of Newcastle, its nearest rail link.[6] At the 2021 census, Nelson Bay had a population of 6,141.
| Nelson Bay New South Wales | |||||||||||||||
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 Looking south from Tomaree Headland | |||||||||||||||
  Nelson Bay | |||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 32°42′54″S 152°9′4″E / 32.71500°S 152.15111°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 6,141 (2021 census)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| • Density | 393.65/km2 (1,019.5/sq mi) [Note 1] | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 2315 | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 15.6 km2 (6.0 sq mi)[Note 2] | ||||||||||||||
| Time zone | AEST (UTC+10) | ||||||||||||||
| • Summer (DST) | AEDT (UTC+11) | ||||||||||||||
| Location |
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| LGA(s) | Port Stephens Council | ||||||||||||||
| Region | Hunter | ||||||||||||||
| County | Gloucester[2] | ||||||||||||||
| Parish | Tomaree[2] | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Port Stephens | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Paterson | ||||||||||||||
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It is a major tourism centre, particularly for dolphin and whale watching, surfing, diving, fishing and other recreational aquatic activities. The eastern boundaries of Nelson Bay lie within the Tomaree National Park while the southeastern section is almost entirely within the park. Nelson Head Light, an unusual lighthouse built in 1875, is positioned on the northeast corner.[7]
Early settlers
editEarly settlers included the Dalton family, the patriarch being Captain John Dalton who sailed his ship SS Kingsley to Sydney with fresh marine produce from Port Stephens. He built a house "Westward Ho" in 1882 on the hill overlooking the modern town, on 16 ha (40 acres). He donated land from his holding for the Methodist Church, and for a school.[8]
Demographics
editAt the 2021 census, there were 28,418 people in Nelson Bay.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.7% of the population.
- 78.3% of people were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were England 5.7%, New Zealand 1.6%, Scotland 0.7%, South Africa 0.7% and Germany 0.6%.
- 89.6% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian and Greek, both at 0.4%.
- The most common responses for religion were No Religion 37.3%, Catholic 20.4% and Anglican 20.0%.[9]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1,787 | — |
| 1966 | 2,727 | +52.6% |
| 1971 | 4,185 | +53.5% |
| 1976 | 5,376 | +28.5% |
| 1981 | 7,931 | +47.5% |
| 1986 | 9,376 | +18.2% |
| 1991 | 6,766 | −27.8% |
| 1996 | 7,001 | +3.5% |
| 2001 | 7,968 | +13.8% |
| 2006 | 8,152 | +2.3% |
| 2011 | 11,060 | +35.7% |
| 2016 | 13,966 | +26.3% |
| 2021 | 14,593 | +4.5% |
| Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics data.[10][11] | ||
Transport
editPort Stephens Coaches operate local services to Newcastle, Raymond Terrace and Soldiers Point as well as an express service to Sydney.[12]
Climate
editNelson Bay has a maritime-influenced humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with warm humid summers, damp autumns, cool wet winters and relatively dry springs. The suburb is relatively sunny, receiving 117.8 clear days annually. Despite the high amount of rainfall throughout the year (due to its exposed location on a peninsula), the rain days are relatively few, barely reaching over 10 days per month.
| Climate data for Nelson Head (1881–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 38.5 (101.3) |
41.5 (106.7) |
36.0 (96.8) |
30.5 (86.9) |
26.7 (80.1) |
24.0 (75.2) |
24.7 (76.5) |
28.5 (83.3) |
34.2 (93.6) |
34.5 (94.1) |
40.6 (105.1) |
39.3 (102.7) |
41.5 (106.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 27.3 (81.1) |
27.0 (80.6) |
25.9 (78.6) |
23.5 (74.3) |
20.8 (69.4) |
18.3 (64.9) |
17.5 (63.5) |
18.9 (66.0) |
21.4 (70.5) |
23.2 (73.8) |
24.7 (76.5) |
26.1 (79.0) |
22.9 (73.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 18.9 (66.0) |
19.1 (66.4) |
17.8 (64.0) |
15.2 (59.4) |
12.4 (54.3) |
10.2 (50.4) |
9.0 (48.2) |
9.8 (49.6) |
12.0 (53.6) |
14.1 (57.4) |
16.0 (60.8) |
17.7 (63.9) |
14.4 (57.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 11.0 (51.8) |
14.5 (58.1) |
11.5 (52.7) |
9.0 (48.2) |
6.1 (43.0) |
4.4 (39.9) |
2.2 (36.0) |
1.1 (34.0) |
5.0 (41.0) |
6.1 (43.0) |
6.7 (44.1) |
9.0 (48.2) |
1.1 (34.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 100.5 (3.96) |
111.3 (4.38) |
117.5 (4.63) |
129.3 (5.09) |
150.7 (5.93) |
155.9 (6.14) |
138.5 (5.45) |
102.4 (4.03) |
89.2 (3.51) |
77.9 (3.07) |
80.2 (3.16) |
93.2 (3.67) |
1,343.2 (52.88) |
| Average precipitation days | 10.5 | 10.3 | 11.3 | 11.9 | 12.7 | 12.3 | 11.7 | 10.6 | 10.0 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 10.4 | 132.1 |
| Source: [13] | |||||||||||||
Notes
edit- ^ The density figure provided is that for the whole of Nelson Bay. However, the population listed in the ABS data reside in only about 3.9 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi) (approximately 25%) of the suburb, the remainder being uninhabited for various reasons including that a large portion of the suburb is part of Tomaree National Park. The density in the inhabited area is approximately 1,383.6/km2 (3,584/sq mi).
- ^ Area calculations are based on 1:100000 map 9232 NEWCASTLE.
References
edit- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Nelson Bay (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ a b "Nelson Bay (suburb)". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
- ^ a b c "Nelson Bay (Nelson Head)". Climate statistics for Australian locations. Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
- ^ "Suburb Search – Local Council Boundaries – Hunter (HT)". New South Wales Division of Local Government. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
- ^ "Nelson Bay (bay)". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
- ^ "Nelson Bay". Land and Property Management Authority - Spatial Information eXchange. New South Wales Land and Property Information. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
- ^ "Nelson Head Inner Lighthouse Nelson Bay Tourist Information". nelsonbaygetaway.com.au. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
- ^ "Dalton Family Papers". University of Newcastle. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
- ^ "2021 Nelson Bay, Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
- ^ "Statistics by Catalogue Number". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ "Search Census data". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ Bus Timetables Port Stephens Coaches
- ^ "Climate statistics for Nelson Bay (Nelson Head)". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
