Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia

🇦🇺 The Central Coast is a peri-urban region in the Australian state of New South Wales, comprising localities such as Gosford, Wyong and Terrigal, it is located on the Tasman Sea coast to the north of Sydney and south of Lake Macquarie. Geographically, the Central Coast is generally considered to include the region bounded by the Hawkesbury River in the south, the Watagan Mountains in the west and the southern end of Lake Macquarie, lying on the Sydney basin.

History The region has been inhabited for thousands of years by Aboriginal people. The local Kuringgai people were the first Aboriginal people to come in contact with British settlers. An Aboriginal man from the region named Bungaree became one of the most prominent people of the early settlement of New South Wales. He was one of the first Aboriginal people to learn English and befriended the early governors Phillip, King and Macquarie. He accompanied explorer Matthew Flinders in circumnavigating Australia. Macquarie later declared Bungaree "The King of the Broken Bay Tribes".

In addition to Kuringgai-speaking people (referred to as the "Pittwater tribes" and "Broken Bay tribes" by early colonists), Awabakal lived around Lake Macquarie, and Darkinyung people lived inland, to the west of the Mooney Mooney Creek. The Kuringgai (Guriŋgai), Awaba and Darkinyung languages are related to each other, but are distinct from the Dharrug and Sydney languages that were spoken south of the Central Coast. Post-settlement disease, disruption and genocide greatly reduced the numbers of Aboriginal people.

In 1811, the Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie, gave the first land grant in the region to William Nash, a former marine of the First Fleet. No further grants were made in the area until 1821.

The Great North Road was built by convicts from 1825 to 1836. Today the 260-km historic road, part of the Australian Convict Sites, is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Geography The region is a network of towns that have been linked in recent years by expanding suburban development. The main urban cluster of the region surrounds the northern shore of Brisbane Water and includes the Coast's largest population centre, Gosford, stretching east to the retail centre of Erina. Other major commercial "centres" on the Coast are Wyong, Tuggerah, Lakehaven, The Entrance, Terrigal, Bateau Bay and Woy Woy.

Large numbers of people who live in the southern part of the region commute daily to work in Sydney or Gosford. The Central Coast is also a popular tourist destination and a popular area for retirement. The Central Coast has significant employment including services, tourism, manufacturing, finance, building, retail and industrial. As a result, the cultural identity of the region is distinct from that of the large and diverse metropolis of Sydney as well as from the Hunter region with its mining, heavy industry and port.

On 2 December 2005, the Central Coast was officially recognised as a stand-alone region rather than an extension of Greater Sydney or the Hunter Valley, a few years after the Central Coast got its definition, it officially got recognised to be part of Regional NSW instead of Greater Sydney by the NSW Government.

Retail and commercial The Central Coast is home to Erina Fair, the largest single level shopping mall in the Southern Hemisphere and the largest regional shopping mall in Australia. It provides many of the area's amenities such as restaurants, cinema, fast food and shopping. Another large shopping mall exists to the north, Westfield Tuggerah.

Other smaller local shopping malls are located throughout the region, including at Woy Woy, Umina Beach, Kincumber, Gosford, Wyoming, Bateau Bay, Wyong and Lake Haven.