Cooma Hotels

Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 115 km south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega with the Riverina. The town has a population of 6,587. Cooma is the main town of the Monaro region. It is 800 metres (2,620 ft) above sea level. The name could have derived from an Aboriginal word Coombah, meaning 'big lake' or 'open country'. Bronze Nanny Goat, Nanny Goat Hill Lookout Cooma NSWCooma was explored by Captain J.M. Currie in 1823. It was first surveyed in 1840 and it was proclaimed a municipality in 1879. The railway from Sydney was extended from Royalla to Cooma in 1889 and closed in 1986. In 1949, the town became the headquarters of the Snowy Mountains Scheme and grew rapidly. In 1959 the tenth anniversary of the scheme was celebrated with the erection of an avenue of flags representing the 27 nationalities of people working on the scheme. Cooma has developed a growing tourism industry as it became the main rest stop for many travellers heading to the NSW snow fields during the winter months. As a result, the town nicknamed itself the 'Gateway to the Snowy Mountains'. The Aviation Pioneers' Memorial at Cooma contains artifacts recovered from the Avro 618 Ten aircraft Southern Cloud, which crashed on 21 March 1931 in the Toolong range of the Australian Alps. The wreck was not found until 26 October 1958.