WOOPI DO

WOOLGOOLGA IS THE 4WD CAPITAL OF NSW, SO HEAD TO THE STATE’S MID-NORTH COAST FOR THE BEST BEACH AND BUSH ADVENTURES

- KEV SMITH

WOOLGOOLGA (or Woopi, to the locals) is quickly becoming a beachside boutique town, on the north coast of NSW. The aborigines called it ‘Wei-gul-ga’ which came from a tree that bore berries and turned purple when ripe. Woopi is also known for its Sikh population, where they have made this town their home, built amazing temples and hold festivals each year; but it’s the hinterland located close to the coast that holds many interesting features.

Woopi was settled back in the 1870s and prior to that the Gumbaynggirr Aboriginal people had this place all to themselves, with excellent fishing, plenty of local animals to hunt, and cropping in the fertile soil.

By 1883, the early settlers saw the value of the timber in the hills and timber cutters soon moved in. Bush sawmills were established, and timber tramlines ran from the beach all the way into the hinterland to transport the heavy logs to waiting ships. With this, a huge (nearly 500m) jetty was built to accommodate the ships, to carry the timber away and to bring goods back to Woopi. Originally, a shorter jetty was built by an early settler named William Pullen, but needing a longer one the government stepped in and extended it. Over the years, bashing from ships and storm damage soon made it unsafe. Sadly, in the 1960s the jetty was deemed dangerous and it was blown up and dismantled.

The infamous Buster (a local shipwreck icon) was moored here back in 1893 when a huge storm broke the ropes, and all 198 tonnes of Buster floated ashore where it now lays rotting away, only exposed at low tides after storms.