Destination: Ulladulla South Coast Regional Harbours, NSW

Ulladulla is situated on the south coast of New South Wales, 230 kilometres south of Sydney. It is one of those rare places where the main artery – the Princes Highway – actually passes the harbour, which is nestled between enclosing headlands. On either side of the town there are quiet beaches and seven lakes – in the scenic hinterland, state forests, mountain ranges and national parks. Ulladulla has close links with the nearby historic settlement of Milton and many services are shared between the towns.

The local Yuin Aboriginal people referred to the bay as 'ullada ullada' (or 'woollahderra') – from which the town's modern name is derived – it means 'safe harbour'. And so it was, not only for the traditional owners but also for the European settlers who followed them. Ulladulla harbour has always played an important role in the development of the town. Historically, Ulladulla was a port for the local timber and agricultural industry. Today, the harbour is home to a fleet of commercial fishing trawlers and has become a popular holiday resort focused on recreational fishing, boating and diving.

The harbour lies within a natural east-facing bay, bounded in the north by Ulladulla Head and in the south by Warden Head, which extends 1.5 kilometres seaward to submerged reefs and bomboras. To improve the anchorage within the bay a stone pier was built in 1866 and two more substantial breakwaters were added in the 1960s. A 60-metre wide gap between the breakwaters provides access to the inner harbour. 

Inside the breakwaters, at the western extremity of the bay, is a curving 450-metre beach, which extends from the northern breakwater to the base of the southern wharf. It is backed by a narrow reserve, the Princes Highway and the Ulladulla shopping centre. Boat ramps are located at the northern and southern ends of the beach and, offshore, the sandy basin is a popular zone for swing mooring with numerous small boats. A berthing wharf and boating facilities occupy the southern half of the harbour, while the southern breakwater forms the boundary of another long beach fronted by intertidal rock flats that terminate at the base of the Warden Head peninsula. The local Marine Rescue base is located just behind this beach, off Wason Street.

HISTORY

In 1827, Thomas Florance surveyed the local coastline and anchored his boat, the Wasp, in the bay which, for a time, was known as Wasp Harbour. He was soon followed by the first white settler, Reverend Thomas Kendall, who began cedar cutting at Narrawallee Creek near Milton. (Kendall's grandson, Henry, was born on the family estate in 1839 and later became one of Australia's most famous poets.)

On the site of present-day Milton, a settlement  of farmers began to use the harbour at Ulladulla (then known simply as 'The Boat Harbour') to ship their produce to markets in Sydney. At that time the harbour was open to the elements of the sea and vessels were secured in the roads by mooring chains. Cargo was transferred to and from the beach by barges and timber, transported to the harbour by bullock dray, was floated out to the waiting ships. 

In the early-19th century, shipbuilding was an activity seen at many ports and coastal rivers along the New South Wales coast. It began at Ulladulla in the 1830s, when shipwrights David Warden and Robert Gee started building boats on their land on the Boat Harbour foreshore. Over the next two decades the local industry produced many brigantines and schooners using cedar and timber from the surrounding forests. (Shipbuilding would return briefly to Ulladulla during World War II, with local shipwright Ken McLeod building vessels for the American Navy.)

In the mid-19th century, several ships were wrecked in and around Ulladulla, despite it being one of the safest harbours on the south coast. The 13-ton schooner Susan, carrying tallow and hides from Bermagui to Sydney, struck the Ulladulla Reef (South Bombora) in 1849; the 21-ton ketch Currency Lass was thrown up onto Ulladulla Beach in 1851; and the following year the 12-ton schooner Medina sank in the Ulladulla Bight during a storm.

From 1852, the farmers and residents of Ulladulla (along with most ports on the south coast) were provided with a regular passenger and cargo service by the Illawarra & South Coast Steam Navigation Company. In 1859 the company declared that it would not call again at Ulladulla unless better mooring facilities were provided there and, in order to retain the service, a wooden jetty was built at the harbour by private subscription. The jetty served shipping at Ulladulla for seven years until it was replaced by a protective stone pier built by the government on the line of a natural reef. (The weekly ferry service to and from Sydney eventually ceased in the mid-1950s.)

In 1873, the end of the pier was crowned with a grand lighthouse at the entrance to the harbour. The Ulladulla Lighthouse was unusual for being one of only two such structures made from pre-fabricated curved wrought-iron plates that were riveted together to form a shell over an iron frame. (Its sister light was erected on Wollongong Breakwater five years earlier.) 

The plates were manufactured in Mather's foundry at Wollongong and shipped for assembly on site at Ulladulla. The elegant tapered tower rises 12 metres to a lantern house with an outer gallery surrounded by an ornamental cast iron railing. In 1889, the light was re-located to Warden Head where it stands 34 metres above sea level. In 1920 it was automated and demanned; electricity now powers its quartz halogen light with a range of 17 nautical miles (28 kilometres). 

In August 2017, the NSW Government announced a $460,000 package to improve and upgrade the iconic lighthouse and its surrounds – to construct additional parking facilities, shot blast and paint the lighthouse, improve landscaping and make general safety improvements. These works are in addition to $150,000 already spent to construct a new shared user path for pedestrians and cyclists, to improve access to the lighthouse and promote it as a regional tourist attraction.

FISHING INDUSTRY

Ulladulla Harbour has always been the home of fishermen, but it wasn’t until the 1930s that Ulladulla became established as a major commercial fishing port. The local industry was boosted in 1937 when many Italian families transferred from Wollongong with their trawlers. After World War II, other Italian migrants from fishing backgrounds settled in Ulladulla and, by the 1950s, 19 locally-owned trawlers were operating out of the port.

In 1956, the Ulladulla Fishermen’s Co-operative was formed, and soon set about upgrading the harbour’s facilities and establishing infrastructure necessary to service the growing industry – a new timber jetty (replaced by concrete on steel pipes in the 1970s), slipways, an engineering workshop, ice making and refrigeration plant. Today, Ulladulla Harbour accommodates the largest commercial fishing fleet on the New South Wales South Coast.

The Italian fishermen brought not only the boats and skills to establish a successful industry, they also continued the time-honoured tradition of the annual ‘Blessing of the Fleet’. This centuries-old rite, which originated in Sicily, calls on divine providence to safeguard ships and crews from the danger of the seas and return to port with a bountiful catch. The first blessing was staged in Ulladulla in 1956 and has become a popular festival and tourist attraction conducted on Easter Sunday. The trawlers are decorated for the occasion, which includes a variety of entertainment, the crowning of a Festival Princess, a community-wide picnic and fireworks.

NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT

Harbours like Ulladulla are important layovers for cruising vessels as well as focal points for tourism and commercial activities. But burgeoning marine traffic puts great pressure on small harbours that currently offer limited casual moorings and long waiting lists for permanent vacancies, especially at ports like Ulladulla with large resident commercial fishing fleets. The need to identify on-water and land-based storage options at key boating areas has been the subject of extensive consultation between state and local governments and other stakeholders. 

SOUTH COAST DESTINATION MANAGEMENT PLAN

The South Coast Destination Management Plan, prepared by the South Coast Regional Tourism Organisation, sets the framework and strategic direction for the development and management of tourism and the broader visitor economy on the South Coast for the period 2013 to 2020. Among the projects identified for Ulladulla are the expansion and upgrading of marina facilities to cater for small boutique cruise ships and cruising yachts and launches; additional berths and moorings in the harbour; and construction of infrastructure to support the growth of marine-based tourism such as commercial charter and tour operations, water sports, scuba diving, recreational boating and fishing.

SHOALHAVEN-ILLAWARRA REGIONAL BOATING PLAN

Through its Better Boating Program (superseded by NSW Boating Now), the NSW Department of Transport (Roads and Maritime Services) has provided grants totalling over $2.4-million for 32 projects in the Shoalhaven-Illawarra region between 2005 and 2014. One of those projects was the installation of a new pontoon at the Ulladulla Harbour northern boat ramp, at a cost of $100,000.

REGIONAL PORTS STRATEGY 

At the same time, the NSW Department of Industry (Lands and Water) has devised a Regional Ports Strategy, to guide future investment and operations in regional ports under its management, including Ulladulla. A lengthy consultation process between government, industry and community bodies spanning 2015 to 2016 identified a range of potential projects to be addressed in future planning for this port, including: general maintenance of fenders, bollards, utility services and access to/from vessels; installation of a sewage pump-out facility; provision for unleaded fuel; slipway refurbishment; public amenities closer to the boat harbour; redesign breakwaters to extend available water area in the outer harbour; reconfigure the inner harbour breakwater layout to make more wet area available and improve access for superyachts; and construct a new mooring pontoon with up to 20 additional berths.

CONCLUSION

Ulladulla is primarily a fishing harbour, with a home fleet that is vital to the local economy. But with all the challenges facing the industry in recent years, there is an increasing emphasis on tourism as the town’s raison d’etre and recreational boating is already a big part of that. While the harbour does its best to accommodate private craft, there is clearly potential for more and better facilities and development that could see Ulladulla become a base for small cruise ships and superyachts on the South Coast.

FACILITIES

Commercial fishing - unloading & berthing Yes

Charter vessels Yes

Recreational & visitors berthing Yes

Slipway & boat maintenance Yes

Car park Yes

Vessel sewage pumpout No

Fuel - diesel Yes

Waste oil collection & storage Yes

Water & electricity Yes

Boat launching ramp & car park Yes

Public toilets Yes

Fresh fish outlet Yes

Retail food & beverage Yes

KEY CONTACTS

Marine Rescue NSW Ulladulla

331 Wason St

P (02) 4455 3403

MHz Channel 27.88

VHF Channels 16, 73 & 80

Ulladulla Fisherman's Cooperative

Fishermans Wharf, Wason St

P (02) 4455 1922

(for casual berth and slipway inquiries)

Roads and Maritime (Batemans Bay) 

P (02) 4472 8376

Ulladulla Tourist Centre

Civic Centre, Princes Hwy, Ulladulla 

P (02) 4455 1269

W www.shoalhaven.com.