The Entrance (wikipedia) is a district centre and town of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Wyong Shire local government area. At the 2006 census, The Entrance had a population of 2,632 people. The town occupies an area of land that is bounded by water on three sides. The Entrance gains it name from the channel that runs along much of its northern border that is the entrance to The Tuggerah Lakes. The Entrance has been a very popular holiday destination for many people since the first guest house was established in 1885. The area is currently experiencing enormous growth as a result of small holiday cottages that dominated The Entrance for most of the 20th century being replaced by multi-storey apartment blocks. The region’s main tourist attractions are its beaches, lake, town centre, and the nearby Terrigal and Ettalong Beach. History Settlements at the entrance Although the area was previously inhabited by the Darkinjung people, the local Indigenous Australians, it is believed Europeans first discovered it in 1796. It was found by Governor of Tasmania, Colonel David Collins, who had arrived on the First Fleet during the search for an escaped convict woman, Mary Morgan, who was said to be living with the Aborigines to the North of the Hawkesbury River. The area now known as The Entrance was occupied by Henry Holden in 1828. He occupied 640 acres (259 ha) and was bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the eastern side, Tuggerah Lake on the northern and western sides and extended all the way to the current Toowoon Bay Road. Holden named the property Towoon. In 1835 the deeds were issued to John Edye Manning and he sold the land for £200 to Thomas Cade Battley who renamed the property Terilbah. In 1850, ownership was transferred to the Taylor Family and it was referred to as Tuggerah Beach. The land remained privately owned until about 1900 when it was divided up among the twelve children of Richard Brown Taylor and Norberta Maria Gertrude (née Watkins). The Taylors donated land to the Roman Catholic Church, The Church of England and The Entrance Public SchoolMany streets in the area are named after them including Taylor Street, Richard Street, Norberta Street and Victoria Street. On 15 December 1910, Karagi Receiving Office was opened. Karagi, meaning the entrance, was the Aboriginal name for the point on the south bank of the channel at the Pacific Ocean, a name which has since been officially adopted. On 1 June 1911, Karagi Receiving Office was designated a Post Office. The name Karagi was not popular locally and on 15 November 1911, the English interpretation was adopted. In 1889 the railway line was completed from Sydney to Newcastle and tourism began to develop in the area during the late 19th century following the construction of several guest houses. The first guest house in the area was built at The Entrance North by Mr and Mrs Walter Denniss in 1885 and was called Dunleith Guest House. Bayview Guest House was the first to be opened in the Entrance and was opened in 1900 by Mr and Mrs Dening (née Taylor). Pinehurst Guest House was another that was constructed in 1903 by Les Taylor and was by far the largest at that time. By 1912, members of the Taylor family were operating four guest houses at The Entrance. In March 1920, 200 parcels of land were auctioned after it had become clear that the land in the township needed to be subdivided. Each block of land averaged a selling price of £60 to £80, although some blocks closer to the water sold for as much as £200. Immediately holiday houses began to be built rapidly. It also resulted in a total of 15 guest houses operating soon after, including Lakeside built by Rene Johnson (née Taylor) that was the most exclusive. Although competition was fierce, the guesthouses had high occupancy rates in the booming times. Bayview Avenue and Ozone Street are both named after guest houses that were located at The Entrance. Despite the growth, the area was still isolated and access was restricted to a wagon on the bush track from Gosford or by a ferry from Wyong. The area was popular among fishermen and prior to 1908 the majority of boats that travelled to The Entrance used Tuggerah Jetty, the remains of which, still exists on the shore of Tuggerah Lake between the entrances to Wyong River and Ourimbah Creek. When Wyong River was dredged in 1908, the boats would take their catch into Wyong. The construction of Wyong Wharf allowed greater access to The Entrance and the demand for ferry transport boomed. Numerous operators took advantage of the demand and ferry’s such as Wyong, Waiwera, Loongana and Maheno were making regular journeys across Tuggerah Lake. In 1922, the bush track to Wyong was opened as a road. By the end of the nineteen-twenties the ferry’s were rendered obsolete by buses that could reach The Entrance quickly and cheaply. The Entrance Bridge links The Entrance with The Entrance North over The Entrance Channel as part of Wilfred Barrett Drive. It was originally a wooden single lane bridge with bypass bays that allowed traffic travelling in the opposite direction to pass. It was opened in 1934. The original bridge was adequate until 1965 as it only served traffic travelling as far as The Entrance North. By the end of 1965 the traffic flow over the old bridge at The Entrance increased to such an extent the structure was under constant repair. Work began on the current two lane, concrete structure on 17 July 1967 after a successful tender by Transbridge Pty Ltd. The bridge was opened to traffic on 20 December 1968 and officially opened by the Premier of New South Wales, the Hon. Robert Askin on 18 April 1969. another well-known icon. It is located on the corner of The Entrance Road and Bayview Mall. The cinema was opened as The Prince Edward Theatre in 1934 and was immediately popular due to the fire that burnt the other cinema in The Entrance, the Wintergarden Theatre in the same year. The Prince Edward Theatre closed in 1977 but was reopened in 1981 when it was purchased and converted into a smaller cinema. A second screen was added in 1988. The cinema achieved notoriety in 2006 when it refused to screen the film, The Da Vinci Code as it was contrary to the owner’s beliefs. In 1999, The Entrance waterfront was named ‘The Pelican Capital of Australia’ by Wyong Council to coincide with the opening of a pelican feeding platform as part of the waterfront redevelopment. The daily feeding of the pelicans at 3.30 pm daily has been a regular event at The Entrance for around 20 years since an employee at Clifford’s fish shop Peter Major started giving them his scraps during his lunch break. The daily practice attracts 20,000 visitors annually. The Entrance is the perfect place for fishing. There are many species of fish that can be found in the area such as whiting, flathead, bream, and blackfish. 1^st November, Saturday We can’t believe that it’s November already, the months are flying by. We were running around at midnight getting the awning up as the wind was getting really strong and we thought that we might get airborne. We had a bit of rain but not much as the chairs were left out and they were dry in the morning. We left late this morning as we only had 80kms to do and you can’t generally book into a caravan park until about 11am. Claud (our GPS) took us on the scenic route, through farm land the mountains (again) and it beat the Highway which was the choice on our map.  It took a little longer because of speed limits but was well worth the little detour for the scenery and stillness.  I am glad that we did farmland first because The Entrance is busy, busy, busy.  Hussle, Bussle, traffic, people, little roads, EISH. We are close to Sydney and this is about as far as we will go to Sydney……. NO THANKS.  We really only stopped off here to catch up with Jan and Eric and Nick and Jassie. We will probably go straight to Canberra from here. The caravan park is Sardineville.  They actually put your caravan in for you with a tractor because there is no way anyone is going to get their vans in by themselves, we are all packed in close together, very cosy.  The caravan park is on the water which is nice and people are fishing and swimming and dogs are allowed so Hugo will be happy and Ralphie can do some fishing.  It’s really a family place and this place would be packed in December.  It is very hot, humid and windy here today.  They are expecting a storm later (not a big one we were told but the winds are pretty strong).  We have been told not to put the awning up as we might not have it in the morning.  One caravan had theirs ripped off last night.  We will put it up tomorrow with some extra bracings.  Jan and Eric arrive in the morning and tomorrow will be cooler so we will probably spend the day catching up and go to the beach as tomorrow they are expecting a cooler change in the weather.  There is a side gate from the Caravan Park right onto the beach which is great.  We have the air con on at the moment but it is really struggling to cool the van down. We had a bit of a storm, thunder, lightning, rain and it blew over then cleared up then blew over again then cleared up and then blew over for a third time while we were eating.  The wind came up that strong that it blew the salad spoons out of the bowl and knocked over the olive oil, we had to grab our stuff and run inside.  It’s bed time now and there’s a slight breeze and the stars are out.  Night all. xxxx

2^nd November, Sunday Not a lot to report for today. It is windy and cooler today.  The wind comes right off the water and I think that is what has cooled the weather down. 37 degrees yesterday and 23 degrees today, what a difference in temperatures.  Jan and Eric arrived just before lunch so we basically spent the day catching up with each other, it’s nice to see them. They have brought a tent and will stay for 3 nights and then off back to Sydney. 3^rd November, Monday The sun is shining and we don’t have any news for today. xxxxx 4^th November, Tuesday The sun was shining again this morning and it was a very sad Melbourne Cup day. I don’t think that I will ever bet another dollar on a horse race ever again. On a brighter note we had a lovely surprise visit from our new friends, John and Sue, who we met in Inverelle.  They live close to where we are staying an decided to surprise us with a visit. Jan and Eric leave tomorrow and it will be sad to see them go.  They leave for a cruise on the weekend.  Jassie and Nick are picking us up in the morning and we will spend the day and night with them.

5^th November, Wednesday

Jan and Eric left us this morning to go home, it was sad to see them go but at least we had the time to catch up. Nick and Jassie picked us up at about 10.30 to spend the day and night with them. They took to a restaurant over the water and opposite to our caravan park, so we got a view of the other side. It was a lovely restaurant, the food was mainly Asian and really good. They then took us for a drive around to see some of the beaches (Avoca, which is close to their home).  The places we went to were beautiful.  It’s a lovely coast line here and some gorgeous beaches, from there we were taken to their beautiful home and their gorgeous doggies and cats.  Nick and Jassie cooked us an awesome dinner, talk about being spoiled.  We got sat around chatting and catching up and then beddy byes for us.  For some reason, I didn’t get a picture of all the furry family, only Brendan.  Hugo was fascinated with Oliver the cat and spent the whole time following him around, again, I didn’t get a picture.

6^th November, Thursday

It’s a beautiful morning here after the storm last night which we enjoyed but Jass is scared of them. The dogs were fine and it was just Jass that was scared. The kookaburras come onto Jass and Nicks deck as Nick feeds them mince when they around.  They are gorgeous and quite tame and one sat on my arm to get some food.  It’s quite humbling really to realise that they are so trusting.  When we had to leave Jass and Nick Hugo refused to get into the car and kept running away.  I think that he was so happy with all the animals and being fussed over and not having to be on a chain and a real home for awhile and I think that he will miss Oliver the cat the most. They dropped us off at the caravan park quite early as they had things to do and we had things to book and shopping to do and start packing up for the next leg of our trip.  Hugo is still not himself, I think that he is in love with Oliver.

7^th November, Friday

Not a lot to tell you for today, another beautiful day. We were going to leave this morning but we had to do some repairs to the caravan so we will leave tomorrow and we head for Goulburn (where the canned peaches come from) ha, ha. Speak to you all when we get there.