Catherine Hill Bay

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Catherine Hill Bay is unique in New South Wales. A coastal village of about 100 houses it is located approximately 100km north of Sydney on the Wallarah Peninsula, which lies between Lake Macquarie and the Pacific Ocean.

The village - two tiny settlements about 1km apart - consists mostly of modest timber miners' cottages, some dating from the 19th Century and remnant infrastructure from almost 140 years of underground coal mining, set in a dramatic natural landscape of bush and heath beside the Pacific Ocean.

Almost 100 years ago it was described as "favoured by its excellent situation (and) for those in need of change and rest, or in search of health, a more ideal spot would be hard to find."

Today the Bay remains beautiful and welcoming, yet its heritage as a company coal mining town includes hardship and a long struggle to maintain its distinctive community identity, most recently in the face of large scale coastal development which would destroy for ever the unique character and environment of this special place.