Gerringong

Gerringong is a town located about ten minutes south of Kiama in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia in the Municipality of Kiama. At the 2006 census, Gerringong had a population of 3,588 people. One theory says that the name derives from an Aboriginal word meaning "fearful place" Supposedly great fear was caused to tribes there by the sight of Captain Cook's ship in full sail. There are other theories as to the meaning of the name. The first European settlers were red cedar cutters, who were first recorded as having visited and logged in the area in 1814. As in much of coastal New South Wales, the cleared land was used for dairy farming and cedar cutting died out, as the cedar trees disappeared. Dairy farming became the...