About Forster
Forster is a coastal town in the Mid North Coast region, on country of the Worimi People, in the MidCoast Council area, about 308 km north-north-east of Sydney. It sits immediately beside its twin, Tuncurry, which is the smaller of the two, across the entrance to Wallis Lake.
Forster is known for its beaches, its waterways and the lakes around it. Because it is just under four hours’ drive from Sydney, it is a popular summer holiday destination, and in the hotter months the population increases considerably. School holidays in the colder months bring holidaymakers too.
How Forster got here
A few dates and facts that shaped the place.
1 October 1872
The first post office in Forster opens, with John Wyllie Breckenridge as postmaster on £10 a year.
1890
A punt starts carrying people across the entrance between Forster and Tuncurry, and runs until the bridge.
1959
The bridge over the entrance to Wallis Lake opens, linking Forster and Tuncurry and replacing the punt.
More about Forster
Forster is named after William Forster, who was the fourth Premier of New South Wales and later Agent-General in London. The area was known in the early days for timber cutting and sawmills, with timber collected from the lakes and rivers by log punts.
The most popular beaches are Forster Main Beach, Burgess Beach and One Mile Beach, served by the Forster and Cape Hawke surf lifesaving clubs. Forster’s ocean pool is a favourite with families. Nearby are the Bicentennial Trail, Cape Hawke and Booti Booti National Park.
Where is Forster?
Forster is in the MidCoast Council area on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales.
Nearby towns with hubs on OurHub, with straight-line distances: Tuncurry (2 km north-west), Coomba Park (8 km south-west), Hallidays Point (12 km north), Nabiac (16 km north-west).
What the Forster directory lists
To eat and drink: Cafe Toscano, Gloria Jean's, Lakes and Ocean Hotel, chilli jam. Shops and services: Forster Post Shop, Forster Shopping Village Local Post Office. For health: Amcal, Great Lakes Pharmacy, Skin Cancer Clinic. Halls and community places: Forster Civic Centre, Scouts.
Parks, beaches and recreation: Bennetts Head Reserve, Pebbly Beach Bicentennial Park, Second Head Reserve. Schools and learning: Great Lakes College Senior Campus, Kindilan Child Care Centre, Lillypilly Pre-school. Churches: Forster Christian Life Centre, Forster District Baptist Church, Forster Masonic Hall, Seventh Day Adventist Church - Forster Tuncurry. Emergency services: Forster Fire Station, Forster Police.
Get in touch
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Photo: “2020-12-17 Forster, New South Wales” by Maksym Kozlenko (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons. Town facts: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites the Australian Bureau of Statistics census. Straight-line distances are worked out from the hub’s coordinates. Directory locations © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).