Hyams Beach, New South Wales
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Hyams Beach is a seaside village in the City of Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia, on the shores of Jervis Bay.[2] At the 2016 census, it had a population of 112.[1] The village, 180 km south of Sydney, is bordered by two beaches, Chinaman's Beach to the north and Seaman's Beach (sometimes referred to as "Sailors Beach") to the south, with Hyams Beach being in the centre. A seaside resort, its beach is known for having turquoise/aqua-coloured waters and fine, squeaky, brilliantly white sand composed of pure quartz.[3]
Geography
The beaches face east, out across Jervis Bay and Point Perpendicular to the Pacific Ocean. The village is bordered by Jervis Bay National Park to the north and Booderee National Park and Botanic Gardens to the south which gives Hyams Beach a 'natural bush' feel with an abundance of native plants, animals and birdlife. Other nearby attractions include Jervis Bay Marine Park and surrounding trails and forests.[4]
There is a myth that the beach has the whitest sands in Australia.[5][6][7] The misconception started at the town's main store, which had a billboard stating the seaside village had "the whitest sand". Eventually, the idea became widespread and was promoted by tourism organizations. In fact Australia's whitest beaches are Lucky Bay and Hellfire Bay near Esperance, Western Australia, and Tallebudgera Creek Beach in Queensland.[8]
Wildlife
Local wildlife is typical for the coastal
Birds
140 bird species have been reported from Hyams Beach and surrounds.[9] Birds likely to be found on the beach itself, or flying over the bay, include:
- Silver gull
- Crested tern
- White-bellied sea eagle
- Australian pied oystercatcher
- Australasian gannet
- Sooty oystercatcher
- White-faced heron
- Masked lapwing
- Little pied cormorant
- Little black cormorant
The coastal heath hinterland behind Hyams Beach supports one of the largest remaining populations of the endangered Eastern bristlebird.[10]
Tourism
Most accommodation in the village ranges from basic
Tourism and infrastructure financed has assisted in transforming Hyams Beach to one of the popular areas within the NSW
Environmental issues
The village's success is known to
Demographics
In the 2016 Australian census, Hyams Beach appeared to be wealthy for a beach resort with 20% of its inhabitants earning more than $3000 a week, 90% of inhavitants owning their home and 93% of the houses having three or four bedrooms.[1]
- 80.4% of 112 people living in Hyams Beach were born in Australia. The other responses for country of birth were England 8.8%, South Africa 3.9% and New Zealand 2.9%.
- The most common ancestries were English 31.7%, Scottish 19.0%, Irish 18.3%, Australian 16.2% and German 5.6%.
- The most common responses for religion were Catholic 20.4%, Jehovah's Witnesses5.8% and secular beliefs 5.8%.
- 96.1% of people only spoke English at home. The only other response for language spoken at home was Afrikaans, at 3.9%.
- 70.5% were married and 7.4% were either divorced or separated.
- Of occupied private dwellings, 100% were separate houses.[1]
History
The area now known as Hyams Beach lies on the traditional lands of a group of the
Hyam's Beach is named after Michael Hyam, who was granted 41 acres of land there in 1859.[18]
Developer Henry Halloran, who bought up tracts of land around Jervis Bay following the declaration of the Jervis Bay Territory. was offering land for sale at Hyams Beach around 1916. Hyams Beach would have been adjacent to his far larger 'Pacific City' development, which never eventuated.[19][20] In the mid-1920s, Halloran was erecting holiday cottages for letting at Hyams Beach.[21] As late as 1938, the village still had no electricity.[22]
Gallery
See also
- Callala Beach, a beach to the north in Jervis Bay also featuring white sands and aqua waters
- Lucky Bay, a beach in Western Australia which also claims to have the "whitest sand"
- Whitehaven Beach, a white sandy beach in Queensland
References
- ^ a b c d Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Hyams Beach (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
- ^ "Hyams Beach". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ^ "Tim the Yowie Man: White out over which beach has the whitest sand in Australia". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. 7 January 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
- ^ "Hyams Beach". Destination New South Wales. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
- ^ "The Australian beaches with the whitest sand". Australian Geographic. Australian Geographic. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- ^ "These Beaches Have The Whitest Sand In The World". Sporteluxe. The Wylde Group Inc. 4 December 2016. Archived from the original on 2 July 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- ^ Gazing onto the world's whitest sand, SMH, 31 December 2005.
- ^ Acott, Kent (13 March 2017). "Lucky Bay crowned Australia's whitest beach". The West Australian. Perth, WA. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ^ "Hyams Beach, Shoalhaven, NSW, AU - eBird Hotspot". eBird. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ "Eastern Bristlebird". NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ The Australian Financial Review. Fairfax Media. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- ^ "Hyams Beach, Jervis Bay, struggling under the weight of numbers". Illawara Mercury. Fairfax Media. 6 January 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- ISBN 086418-112-4.
- ^ Tindale, N.B. (1974). Aboriginal Tribes of Australia. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- ^ "S56: Dharamba". collection.aiatsis.gov.au. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
- OCLC 2948202.
- ^ "S53: Dhurga". collection.aiatsis.gov.au. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
- ^ "Jervis Bay". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 February 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
- ^ "Part of Pacific City and Jervis Bay, St. George's Basin [cartographic material] : for private sale". Trove. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
- ^ "Parish of Bherwerre, County of St. Vincent [cartographic material]". Trove. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
- ^ "CLYDE SHIRE COUNCIL". Shoalhaven Telegraph (NSW : 1881 - 1937). 23 December 1925. p. 8. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
- ^ "Untitled". Shoalhaven News, Nowra (NSW : 1937 - 1940). 2 November 1938. p. 9. Retrieved 13 January 2021.