The City of Nowra

Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Located approximately 170 kilometres (110 mi) 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 naval air station HMAS Albatross is located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south-west of Nowra.

The name Nowra, originally written by Europeans as 'nou-woo-ro' (pronounced Nowa Nowa by the Aborigines of the area), is the Aboriginal word for black cockatoo.

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 Christian 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 seven 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, Nowra Hill Public School and Terara 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