Bombala, New South Wales

Bombala, looking towards the town centre. The footbridge passes over the Bombala railway line. The right most building is the station building, the centre building the goods shed and above that is the bridge over the Bombala River.

Bombala

Coordinates

36°55′0″S 149°14′0″E / 36.91667°S 149.23333°ECoordinates: 36°55′0″S 149°14′0″E / 36.91667°S 149.23333°E

Population

1,211 (2011 census)

Established

1840s

Postcode(s)

2632

Elevation

705 m (2,313 ft)

Location

485 km (301 mi) S of Sydney
202 km (126 mi) S of Canberra
87 km (54 mi) S of Cooma
77 km (48 mi) WSW of Bega

LGA(s)

Snowy Monaro Regional Council

Mean max temp	Mean min temp	Annual rainfall
18.4 °C ^{65 °F}	4.8 °C ^{41 °F}	644.1 mm ^{25.4 in}

Bombala is a town in the Monaro region of south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in Snowy Monaro Regional Council. It is approximately 485 kilometres (301 mi) south of the state capital, Sydney, and 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of the town of Cooma. The name derives from an Aboriginal word meaning "Meeting of the waters". The town lies on the banks of the Bombala River. At the 2011 census, Bombala had a population of 1,211 people.

The Bombala area was inhabited by the Ngarigu Aboriginal people prior to the first European settlers arriving in the 1830s. Captain Ronald Campbell established a large property in 1833 that he named 'Bombalo'. More European settlers arrived in the Bombala area in the 1840s during which time the small township developed. Bombala had a post office by 1849 and had a number of large commercial and public buildings by the . mid 1850s.

Bombala was proposed in 1903 by King O'Malley as the site of the parliamentary seat of Australia. It was considered as a location because it was half way between the two cities of Sydney and Melbourne. The proposal was ultimately rejected in favour of Canberra.

The town lies on the banks of the Bombala River and principal industries of the area include grazing and timber. Tourism is also growing in importance to the local economy. There is also a small amount of specialty producers with meat rabbits, lavender and many herbs being grown in the district. Delegate is situated 36 km west of Bombala and The Snowy River March which commenced from Delegate in 1916 went via Bombala to Goulburn.

The timber industry has slowly begun to overtake many of the historic properties surrounding Bombala, such as the more-than-150-year-old property of Aston, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south-west of the township.

The area is known for possibly the largest population of Platypus in New South Wales and is promoted as Platypus Country.

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Wikipedia