27 November 2012 - Wollongong Surf Leisure Resort, Fairy Meadow, NSW

In the end, I did go check out the beach yesterday while Chris was preparing dinner. I came upon a chap drying himself off after a swim, a swim at a spot clearly marked with a sign, “No Swimming”. A further sign spells out the fact that the beach drops away suddenly, there is a serious undertow and there is no lifeguard service within cooee. He, however, had survived his dip and looked happy enough to do it all again tomorrow. I walked across the golden sand and admired the many kilometres stretching both north and south, a long open bay. Out to sea, there were four freighters lying in wait, presumably for their turn at Port Kembla. Drizzle was falling leaving patterns on the sand and causing the sand to stick to my feet.

This morning when we rose, the day was overcast yet again however no significant rain had fallen overnight. It was still not a day to head up onto elevated vantage points on the escarpment, or at least for viewing purposes. Instead we set off toward Wollongong’s centre, following the shoreline’s great green recreational belt all the way down to Flagstaff Hill. This point curves around like a great fishing hook, creating the sheltered Wollongong Harbour on the northern shore. On the highest point of the hill, only 25 metres high, views can be had both north and south, the latter to the industrial area obvious by all the tall chimneys.

Here was once a fort, today just a few old cannons and a large disappearing gun emplacement left to remind us. The fort was constructed between 1890 and 1891and the two lighthouses, still standing and making the point quite an imposing landmark, were completed and commissioned in 1937.

Lighthouse at Flagstaff Hill

We found a park at the top of the cliff a little further south, immediately adjacent to the Wollongong Entertainment Centre. Crown Street, the main street, runs in a straight line from here for about four blocks; the last couple, a pedestrian mall. The lower part of the mall was made a pedestrian only area in the 1980s; the use of drab brown brick structures for seating and gardens suggests it might have been all done in the 1970s.

Interestingly Crown Street was created in the early 19^th century from a cattle track which follows a ridge from Mount Keira to the first farm house in the area.

We were distracted from our exploration of the shopping prescinct by a concert performed by a school band from Unanderra High, Unanderra being a southern suburb of Wollongong. We enjoyed a medley of Michael Jackson compositions, another from West Side Story, an instrumental rendition of the Beatle’s “Hey Jude” and a couple of numbers with female vocalists, girls who will surely make their own stardom in the future. We wandered about the shops in the excellent centre further up the mall and Chris ended up with yet another pair of shoes.

Colour in the Botanic Gardens

I make an issue of this because over the many years Chris and I have shared our lives, he has declared me to have more shoes than Imelda Marcos. In fact he has frequently addressed me as “Imelda”. Since we have been in Australia, I have joked about the fact that he has overtaken me on the shoe acquisition stakes. The current tally is 7:5, mine the lesser.

We were anxious to make our way back to the cruiser within the two hour parking time, doing so before heading back up to Flagstaff Hill where we parked and ate our lunch while sitting in out of the threatening rain.

The rain did not eventuate however it is quite a lark to sit out of hearing and people-watch; I confess we are very rude sometimes but then probably no more so that others are about us. We can all be spectacles for frank criticism and ridicule.

After this, we found a petrol station and filled the near empty fuel tanks, then found a parking spot near the City Art Gallery. As we have found so often, a couple of the galleries were undergoing a change of exhibition, however we enjoyed wandering about the two which were open to the public. We found some to our taste and some not so, but in all, the gallery is worth a quick visit if galleries are your thing. We would not however put the Wollongong Art Gallery on the top ten we have visited here in Australia.

We did enjoy a visit to the city’s Botanic Gardens, situated in the foothills of the Illawarra escarpment. The Gardens were established as the result of a gift of just over ten hectares to the City from the Hoskins family in 1954. Work began in 1964 and the gardens were opened to the public in 1970. The weather had still held off and we enjoyed immensely our stroll up through the gardens. We would certainly encourage travellers to seek the gardens out and follow in our footsteps. The lily pond was particularly attractive; the flowers and more so, the waterbirds nesting on the lily pads.

It was not too far back to our camp here. We quickly checked out the beach and agreed the golden sands were quite appealing to those with a yen for sandy activities. Chris does not particularly like getting sand in his shoes or anywhere else for that matter.

Tonight as I finish this, the rain is falling heavily on the caravan roof and thunder is crashing all about. Hopefully the worst will have passed by morning.