Koonawarra

Location

Koonawarra is a residential suburb of Wollongong, located approximately 15 kilometres south of Wollongong, east of the Princes Highway. It is located on Koonawarra Bay on the western shore of Lake Illawarra.

Place names

Koonawarra

Parish of Calderwood County of Camden

Koonawarra, or Exmouth, as it was then called, was one of the first five land grants located in the Illawarra. It was a grant of 1300 acres made to Richard Brooks in 1817. The grant faced Lake Illawarra and extended from Brook's Creek to Mullet Creek. Koonawarra was the aboriginal name for the area. "Exmouth" was later secured by Henry Osborne and became part of his central Illawarra estate, extending from Macquarie Rivulet to Mullet Creek, and from Lake Illawarra to the mountains. The name Koonawarra is from the aboriginal word "gkoonawarra" meaning "a high point of land with smooth, round stones". The word has also been said to mean "swan".