Puckeys Estate Reserve

Botanical gardens in New South WalesNature reserves in New South WalesNorth Wollongong, New South WalesUse Australian English from August 2019

Puckey's Estate Reserve is a coastal nature reserve in North Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It is mainly she-oak forest, but also has sand dune and wetland areas, including areas along Para Creek. It is located in the suburb of Fairy Meadow and is bounded by Fairy Meadow Beach to the east, Squires Way to the west, Elliotts Road to the north and Fairy Lagoon to the south. Puckey's Estate was traditionally used by the Wadi Wadi people, the Aboriginal tribe in Wollongong. It was once owned by a Mr Courtney Puckey for use as an experimental saltworks and still contains the historic site of Puckey's graduation tower and house, a jetty site he built and plaques on aboriginal and European historic uses for the area. The area is used by many locals and visitors as a recreation area. It is also used for education purposes; schools and community groups work there, and on some days including Australia Day, runs are held through the reserve, along the main track. The south end of the main track, running through the reserve, comes to a wooden boardwalk, from which Fairy Lagoon, Mount Keira, Stuart Park and parts of North Wollongong can be viewed. Cyclists generally take the paved Squires Way route. The reserve is also locally famous for its bird-watching opportunities, having over 120 species recorded. It is important to local flora and fauna, but is also the scourge (dealt with by local volunteer groups) of bitou bush, Lantana and other imported weeds such as prickly pear. Puckey's is managed as a separate section (annexe) of the Wollongong Botanic Garden.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Puckeys Estate Reserve (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Puckeys Estate Reserve
Squires Way Shared Path, Wollongong City Council North Wollongong

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude	Longitude
N -34.405555555556 °	E 150.90111111111 °

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Address

Squires Way Shared Path

Squires Way Shared Path
2500 Wollongong City Council, North Wollongong
New South Wales, Australia
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Nearby Places

Brandon Park

The former Brandon Park at Fairy Meadow was the home ground of the Wollongong Wolves FC in the defunct National Soccer League from 1988 until 2000. The old site was then leased to University of Wollongong to be used as a satellite site named the Innovation Campus.

Balgownie Migrant Workers Hostel

Balgownie Migrant Workers Hostel is a heritage-listed former migrant hostel at Squires Way, Fairy Meadow, City of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1950 to 1951 by Concrete Constructions Pty Ltd. The surviving remnants of the hostel are Huts 201, 204 and 210. It is also known as the Fairy Meadow Migrant Hostel. The site is now used for student accommodation as part of the University of Wollongong's Campus East. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 28 August 2009.

North Beach Precinct

North Beach Precinct is a heritage-listed precinct at Cliff Road, North Wollongong, City of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It includes North Wollongong Beach, the North Beach/Wollongong Bathing Pavilion, Puckey's Salt Works, the Tram Cutting, Battery Park and Smiths Hill. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 17 June 2005.

Fairy Meadow, New South Wales

Fairy Meadow is a suburb in the City of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Located in the Illawarra region and only 4 km from the city centre, it is a mainly low-density residential area, with a large strip of commercial and industrial properties along and off the Princes Highway.

Smiths Hill Fort

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International House, University of Wollongong

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Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts

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Keira High School

Keira High School (abbreviated as KHS) is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located in Lysaght Street, North Wollongong, in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1917 as the Wollongong Junior Secondary Technical School at a different location, the school enrolled approximately 900 students in 2018, from Year 7 to Year 12, of whom five percent identified as Indigenous Australians and forty percent were from a language background other than English. The school is operated by the New South Wales Department of Education.

Smith's Hill High School

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Mount Ousley Public School

Mount Ousley Public School is a Kindergarten to grade six primary school, located in Fairy Meadow, New South Wales. The school was established in 1959, commonly known as 'MOPS'. In 2022, there were eight classes with 175 students in total, and 30 staff. The school is a secular government school primarily funded by NSW Department of Education and Parents and Citizens' Association (P&C).