DECEMBER 2023 by The Illawarra Flame

THE ILLAWARRA

December 2023

Keeping community news alive

Gentle magic

Celebrating the sculptor who inspired a generation

F r e e t o 1 1 , 0 0 0 l e t t e r b oxe s / www.thei llawarraflame.com.au

THE ILLA WARR

THE ILLAWARRA November 2023

December 2023

Keeping community news

alive

and works at the Australian Museum as a research scientist. A NSW government beetle expert, Chris describes identifying beetles as “a bit like detective work”. He says, “Working on insects means I get to indulge in two favourite pastimes: travel and bushwalking.” Rob Brander – aka ‘Dr Rip’ – is a coastal geomorphologist and professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. A resident of Coalcliff, he’s been studying beaches for more than 30 years, starting in Canada where water temperatures convinced him to come to Australia. He is an international expert on rip currents and beach safety and runs a community education program called The Science of the Surf. Janice Creenaune is a retired English teacher. A wife and mother of three, she sees the life of a retiree as an evolution, something to be cherished, enjoyed. Janice is a volunteer for PKD Australia and her interests include travel, Letters-to-the Editor SMH, letterpress printing and film study. Peter Aubourg is enjoying retirement in Coledale after spending most of his working life as an engineer, designing automated machines in the manufacturing industry. He is an Electrify 2515 volunteer and a keen cyclist and campervanner. Caitlin Sloan is an Illawarra Flame journalist. She was born and raised in Helensburgh and the fifth generation of her family to attend Helensburgh Public School. Caitlin has a passion for writing, travel and wine, and also works as a bartender at the historic Helensburgh Hotel. Duncan Leadbitter is a director of fisheries and natural resource consulting company, Fish Matter, which advises industry, government and NGOs on the sustainable use of fish. Most of Duncan’s work is in based in Asia. He is a Visiting Fellow at the Australian Centre for Ocean Resources and Security at UOW. A keen scuba diver, snorkeller, spearfisherman and photographer, Duncan lives in Stanwell Park. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The publishers acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and their cultural and spiritual connection to this land. Their stories are written in the land and hold great significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, from the mountains to the sea.

December

news alive

Caroline Baum brings festival of creative non-fiction to Coledale

Meet Our Contributors Dr Chris Reid lives in Helensburgh

Keeping community

True Story!

Gentle magic

Celebrating the sculptor who inspired a generation

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EDITORS Genevieve Swart, Marcus Craft CONTACT editor@theillawarraflame.com.au; 0432 612 168; PO Box 248, Helensburgh, 2508. TheIllawarraFlame ADVERTISING www.theillawarraflame.com.au 0432 612 168 | T&Cs apply DEADLINE 11 Dec. Contributions welcome. COVER The Gentle Project’s artistic director, David Roach. Photo: Anthony Warry THE ILLAWARRA FLAME is published by a family business, The Word Bureau, ABN 31 692 723 477 DISCLAIMER: All content and images remain the property of The Illawarra Flame unless otherwise supplied. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission. Views expressed do not reflect those of the publishers.

KANE DOWNIE

Good tidings we bring! Check out the Flame team’s bumper guide to festive fun

As the holiday season approaches, the Illawarra region transforms into a festive wonderland, adorned with twinkling lights, bustling markets and the joyful melodies of Christmas carols. Here’s our guide to finding the festive fun. Christmas Tree Sale Helensburgh Girl Guides will sell trees at their

Guide Hall at 4 Chippendale Place. Christmas trees are 6ft-8ft; prices form $80-$100. CASH ONLY. Friday, 1st December 5-8.30pm; Saturday, 2nd from 9am (unless sold out prior). Christmas Carols Combined Churches Carols In The Burgh

The 2508 community celebration is on Saturday, 9 December from 6-9pm at Helensburgh Park. Carols By Candlelight 2023, Shellharbour

On Friday, 8 December from 6-9 pm these carols will be held in a new location at Centenary Fields, Croome Road Sporting Complex. Enjoy a festive line-up of singers and treats from food vendors. Figtree Community Carols Figtree Anglican Church invites you to join in on Saturday, 9 December from 5:30-9:30pm. Carols by the Sea, Austinmer Held on Sunday, 10 December, friends and families are invited to BYO blankets, drinks and food for “Relaxed Coastal Vibed Carols” on the grass area of Austi Beach. Christmas Markets Bulli Village Christmas Market Sunday,

December 10, 9am to 3pm, with a visit from Santa, handmade artisan gifts and over 90 bespoke stalls. Crown Street Christmas Markets

Find handcrafted gifts and support local artisans at Wollongong’s Crown St Mall, 14 & 15 December.

Five Barrel Brewing Christmas Markets Find gifts by local makers and creatives, enjoy craft beer and burgers. 17 Dec, 318 Keira St, Wollongong. Shellharbour Christmas Market Enjoy a unique and kid-friendly Christmas market at The Roo Theatre on Sunday, December 3, 10am-2pm, with face painting and a visit from Santa. Good Stuff Markets Local makers, artists and brands, 10 Dec at Clay Wollongong, 70 Keira St.

The Illawarra “All I Want for Christmas” Market

Dapto Groundz Precinct’s extravaganza is back Dec 16 and 17, with food, rides, live music and Santa. Art Markets in Crown Lane Shop for creative gifts on 8 & 22 December at Artlock, Wollongong. Christmas Lights & Displays

A fine tradition since 2008, the annual Santa’s Village scene is already in place at Horizon Bank Thirroul (pictured below). Taking the family on a drive to see the lights? Check out these local Facebook pages. Admins often share maps and tips on where to find festive displays that will illuminate your holiday spirit. • Christmas Light Displays in the Illawarra • Illawarra and surrounds – Christmas Lights Fun for kids The Christmas Train Sunday, December 10,

10am-2pm Illawarra Light Railway Museum, 48A Tongarra Rd, Albion Park Rail. Ride the Christmas Train and Elf Express, enjoying the fun aboard miniature and steam trains. $10 child/concession, $15 adult, $55 family of five, www.ilrms.com.au Letters to Santa Send them at your library by 10 December, and be sure to include your wishlist! Gingerbread House Making Bookings essential, 11 Dec 3.30-5.30 at Thirroul Library.

Lyn, Sharon & Rick at Horizon Bank in Thirroul

festive fun

We wish you all a Christmas full of

joy, love, and cherished moments. As the year comes to a close, we want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for your continued support. From our families to yours, we extend warm wishes for a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year. We look forward to seeing you in 2024.

Julie York 0405 128 070

Santa Claus We are very excited to let our local community know that Santa will be coming around Helensburgh and Stanwell Tops on Saturday the 23rd December 2023. Fire and Rescue NSW, 325 Helensburgh Station will depart with Santa on board around 9am from the Fire Station in Walker St handing out prepacked lollies. There will be plenty of lollies to go around so no one will miss out. We would like to thank Kirrily Sloane for organising the lolly donations from The

IS COMING TO TOWN By Captain Roslyn Thomas

Tradies, and to our Local Lions Club who have been long time sponsors of the Santa Run. We ask that you all observe our safety requirements in the process of our Lolly Run to ensure everyone’s safety. We hope you all have a very happy and safe Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Be fire safe over the coming holiday period. Season’s greetings to you all, from Station 325 Fire + Rescue NSW.

running a gift drive for SAHSSI, the not-for-profit helping women and children affected by homelessness and domestic violence, please contribute by December 5.

Christmas Storytime At Thirroul Library 10am 12 Dec and Helensburgh, 10.30am, Fri Dec 15. Christmas stories, songs, rhymes and craft with a visit from a special guest and a gift to take home. Bikers Toy Run On 2 Dec local bikers will deliver donations for the City of Wollongong Giving Tree Appeal. The bike convoy will start at Shellharbour and arrive at Crown Street Mall around 11am.

Drop to your local library by December 11. Helensburgh Lions Wishing Tree Drop a gift under the tree at Tradies Helensburgh.

Giving trees & Christmas charity Need a Feed is holding a Christmas breakfast on

Santa Photos Wollongong Central A new Santa set is on level 1

December 18 at MacCabe Park in Wollongong. Want to sponsor a hot breakfast for the homeless? Email Shaz Harrison on shaz@needafeed.org Little Ray of Giving Drop a present to Ray White Helensburgh by December 14 to be delivered to a child who may otherwise go without. Horizon Bank at Thirroul is a collection point for Vinnies, collecting items for Christmas hampers for families in need. They’re calling for: Christmas cake, chocolate, lollies, biscuits, pudding, drink, non-perishable food. Julie York at Raine & Horne Helensburgh is 6

City of Wollongong’s Giving Tree Appeal

in the Gateway building, out the front of David Jones. People and pets are welcome to book photos. Sensitive Santa Photos will be back to ensure everyone has a chance to make memories. Sessions are on select days outside of normal trade for a calmer experience. Bulli Surf Life Saving Club Join Santa on the sand and have Bulli Beach as your photo backdrop. For $35 per family, you’ll receive two highresolution photos via email. Bookings essential as sessions fill fast. Sunday, December 3: 6:30-8:30am and 10:30am-1pm, Thursday, December 7: 5-7pm.

festive fun

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$8ist,m000 as Raffle Chr

FRIDAY – 1,8 & 1 5 D EC E M B E R Tickets on s ale 5pm. Drawn 7pm

S U N DAY – 10 & 17 D EC E M B E R Tickets on s ale 4pm. Drawn 6pm P R I Z E S I N C LU D E C H R I S TM AS H A M S A N D K I D S TOYS

PET PHOTOS WITH SANTA SAT 9 & S U N 10 D EC E M B E R This year we are giving you the opportunity to take photos with Santa with all the family, including your beloved pets Santa will be visiting from 2-4pm where you can book to see him with your fur babies Bookings essential. See website for booking details

* NOTE: BYO Camera. It is the Owners responsibility to look after their own pets, whilst taking photos with Santa.

DO N G O AT I O N T H E I N G TO RSP CA

For more details on the above events or to book go to our website or call (02) 4267 1148 2b Station Street, Thirroul

CT_Illawarra Flame_Nov_Page_A5.indd 1

22/11/2023 11:34:13 AM

Candid Spectrum Photography Santa and Mel Elf are taking bookings for winter wonderland photos for children and adults with special needs. $40-$50; December 3 at Koonawarra Sailing Club: 9am-4pm; December 9 at Corrimal Community Centre: 9am-3pm; December 17 at Koonawarra Sailing Club: 9am-4pm. Bookings on 0403 212 996. Club Thirroul is inviting visitors to take a picture with their pet. BYO camera on 9 and 10 December from 2-4pm and get a snap with Santa; $5 donation goes to the RSPCA. Bulli Village Pre-Christmas Market On Sunday, December 10, snap a selfie with the roaming Santa from 9am to 3pm. Christmas Movies Christmess Screen Illawarra will be hosting a

screening of this comedy at the Gala Cinema, Warrawong on Tuesday, 5 December at 7pm, followed by a Q&A with writer/director Heath Davis. Tickets via Eventbrite. Elf Tuesday December 19 @8pm-9:30pm Shellharbour Civic Centre Backyard. Bring a chair or picnic rug and enjoy the classic comedy. How The Grinch Stole Christmas Friday December 22 @7.45pm The Waterfront Shell Cove. A family favourite and one of Dr Seuss’ best,

following the exploits of the grumpy grinch as he learns the true meaning of the spirit of Christmas. Shows to see A Christmas Gala Performance At 2pm on Sat,

Dec 9 at Wollongong Town Hall, presented by WollCon with guests including Sydney vocalist Dan Barnett with vocalist Trish Delaney-Brown and soprano Kirsten Jones. Dress code: Christmas. SPAT Panto With weekend performances from Dec 2 to 17, Stanwell Park Arts Theatre is back with its annual panto at the CWA hall. This year, it’s The Critters’ Revenge. Bookings at spat.org.au Santa’s Secret Sack Attack Rising Arts Productions is putting on an Improv show. The Evening of Randomised Comedy will be at the Side Door Theatre in Wollongong on Friday, Dec 15. Christmas Memorial Service 6 December 6:30pm in the Main Chapel at

Wollongong Memorial Gardens. Christmas can be a difficult time for those missing loved ones and family members. This year’s service will be conducted by Paul Cosmos and will feature the celebrated vocal talents of Jason and Jennifer Turnbull. Hosted by Wollongong City Council. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Oh yes, you can! By SPAT president Sonia Westwood

It’s Panto time! Stanwell Park Arts Theatre (SPAT) proudly present their annual Christmas pantomime The Critters’ Revenge over the first three weekends in December. We are sure you can find a performance among the seven shows, and there is something for everyone in this musical melodrama – topical issues, baddies, bureaucrats, critters, puppets and maybe even some lollies as well… It is a perfect opportunity to introduce your children or grandchildren to the fun of live theatre in a friendly welcoming space. Help the Critters

festive fun

save the environment from the nasty developer Otto Ford and his offsiders. The Critters really do need your help so they can keep their homes, so please come and cheer them along. The whole show, including interval, lasts about 90 minutes and is a lot of fun for all. Tickets are already selling, so don’t miss out! Bring your family and friends and be part of community theatre at the Stanwell Park CWA Hall, 15 The Drive, Stanwell Park. Tickets are: $20 adults, $10 concession, $50 family (2 adults, 3 children), under-5s free. These can be purchased from www.spat.org.au where you can also find dates and details for each performance. If you have any questions, please email spartstheatre@gmail.com SPAT held its first pantomime in 1974 and is very proud of this annual tradition. We always welcome new members and you can help in many ways – either onstage, backstage, with set design, costumes etc. Email us if you would like to know more. We look forward to seeing you at The Critters’ Revenge, and remember to LOOK BEHIND YOU!

• • • • •

A t p f c

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• Dr Alyce Prior • Dr Anna Power • Dr Daniel Darlington • Dr Bradley Jackson • Dr Santiago Celis Monsalve All have available appointments on the day. We welcome new and existing patients and their families. Discount fees for age pension and health care card holders. Some of our services are: – Skin cancer medicine – Medicinal Cannabis – Childhood immunisations with our friendly nurses – Contraception appointments including IUDs and Implanon – Ear Microsuction

44 Hopetoun St Woonona woononamedical.com.au telephone 4283 3433

Welcoming Dr Santiago Celis Monsalve Dr Santiago Celis Monsalve is a Rural Generalist with Advanced Skill Training in Internal Medicine. He completed his MBBS in 2011 and has had the chance to work in urban and rural communities in Australia and overseas. He has undertaken substantial training in Geriatrics, Internal Medicine, Cardiology and ICU, making Adult Medicine his main focus. He also enjoys all aspects of General Practice including paediatrics, women health, sports medicine, mental health and shared antenatal care. Dr Santi is from Colombia and speaks Spanish as his first language. He welcomes anyone into his room and endeavours to provide the best medical care possible to all his patients.

(Christmas) Beetling About With Dr Chris Reid

Just a reminder, in case anyone didn’t know, that this is a particular time of year. Yes, it’s Christmas Beetle season, and there’s a Christmas Beetle survey on, so get out there and record… The photo below shows such a beast. It’s a terrible photo (by me) and the animal is crushed (found on the steps to Helensburgh Railway Station), but the photo shows enough to identify this species. The plain brown colour and uniform scattering of flat white hairs are diagnostic. If you want to identify it for yourself check the ‘Christmas Beetle ID’ apps on Apple and Android. It’s Anoplognathus velutinus, named the ‘hairy spotted beetle’ by Natalie Wright in our Christmas Beetle naming competition six years ago. Among other names offered was ‘The Lamington’ which is a great fit too and my personal favourite, though I’m not a great fan of the cake. In fact, this is probably the easiest species to identify, but also one of the scarcer ones around Sydney, and one that is a spring species, rarely seen in December. I photographed it in October. There’s more information about Anoplognathus velutinus on the Australian

Museum website. The Christmas Beetle recording site is at https:// invertebratesaustralia.org/christmasbeetles We are using Christmas Beetles as a potential model group for monitoring the effects of climate change (yes, it’s happening). Please have a look at the website and have a look for the beetles… The best way to look for them is to visit strong lights at night, at the edge of forest. So far this spring/summer I have seen just two individuals at the Helensburgh Railway Station – the one photographed and Anoplognathus concolor, which is one of our smallest and also commonest species. I’ve seen ‘concolor’ (aka the Campfire Beetle) every year since I started looking under the lights. It’s possibly early days, perhaps a delayed season, but I suspect this is just a bad year. Last week I was up in the north-west Blue Mountains (around Rylstone) and failed to see any Christmas Beetles, but the area was incredibly dry for this time of year. There wasn’t much of anything. However, a colleague has shown me photos of four species attracted to a light sheet on the Putty Road, Lower Blue Mountains, last week. So perhaps you’ll have some luck too. All records are useful, from anywhere in Australia. Happy hunting and happy Christmas Beetle season.

Abseiling into next century of Scouting By Paul Rustomji of Austinmer Scout Group

It was a big weekend for Austinmer Scout Group on 11-12 November as we had our combined group camp at Mt Keira Scout Camp. This meant all five sections (Joeys, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers and Rovers) together. And on top of that, the group marked 100 years of continuous scouting at Austinmer with a dinner at the Mt Keira lodge. Abseiling at Mt Keira was ever popular with a few cubs making their first “drops” over the cliff. A bit of raft construction happened at the pool and everyone went home tired but having had a great weekend. The group would like to thank Bellambi Hotel for contributing $600 towards the light and sound set-up for the 100th event. We would also like to acknowledge the receipt from the IMB Foundation of $8000 to improve access to our hall. 10 science & nature

Over summer there are two notable events coming up for our members. Two scouts will be amongst over 600 Australian Scouts attending the New Zealand Scout Jamboree. Several of our Venturers are off to Venture24, the national meet-up for 14- to 18-year-old youth members being held in Victoria in early January. And planning has started for Austi Scouts to attend the next Australian Jamboree in Maryborough, Queensland in January 2025. More info at nsw.scouts.com.au

O Come All Ye Collectors Zachary Houtenville finds vintage stores you will adore

Wombat in Thirroul 228 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Thirroul

Wombat has all sorts of out-there items in one place. “We sell a little bit of everything and we think that’s the way to cover ourselves,” said Russell Hall, one of the owners of the store. “I don’t know how traditional antique shops, really survive, because selling just 200-year-old stuff must be a pretty hard game.” Russell, a lifelong collector with a penchant for acquiring unique items, found his calling upon returning home from time overseas. When invited to explore Wombat in Thirroul, he saw a business opportunity he couldn’t resist. “I came out here and I just fell in love with the place as I walked in.” When asked about the shop’s standout feature, Russell pointed towards a bar light. “She’s from a Jackie Chan movie that was filmed in Australia, but wasn’t released in Australia called Bleeding Steel. “We had a few of them. There was another one called Girls, Girls, Girls but that’s a stand out.” Dreams and Memories 2/6 Molloy St, Bulli

This antique store has a nice collection of vintage toys, renovated tools, lamps and much more. “It’s all vintage there, we try not to have too much new stuff,” said Alison Mulholland, who works at Dreams and Memories with her husband, Richard Ainsworth. “A lot of people have to move on their family’s possessions, and we try to help people out with that.” Alison recalls the days when she and her mother would travel the country, finding intriguing items in shops along the way. On settling in Bulli, she decided to turn this hobby into a local business. When asked about their store’s highlight, Richard and Alison were pretty stuck, picking just one thing. 12 local business

Despite an extensive record collection, masterfully designed lamps and an assortment of Gumby toy collectibles, they picked a local treasure. “The Bulli railway sign is quite unique because there’s really only two of them in existence and the other one is in the local museum,” said Richard. “It was from the local railway station. That’s why it was perfect for our shop because it is one of only two.” Retro Spectrum 114-116 Princes Hwy, Elliotts Rd, Fairy Meadow

Embracing a groovy 70s vibe, Retro Spectrum has a cosy atmosphere, so visitors feel right at home. “I mainly do 60s and 70s, and I do have other eras, but I’ve got to like it for it to come in here,” said the store’s owner, Dannielle Fletcher. Dannielle has always relished collecting items, be it from random garage sales or op shops. Then, with her husband’s encouragement, she decided to open “the little shop” she had always dreamed of. Danielle singled out a picture as her favourite piece. “Think Indigo, she’s a very rare piece by Michael Johnson. There’s always a lot of really good stuff, but this is my recent [favourite].” In a world filled with mass-produced stuff, Danielle encourages people to explore stores like hers. “You’re not following fashion or style, you’re just buying these pieces because you have sort of some kind of attraction to them,” she said. 5 more vintage stores to visit:

• Retro Groove: Globe Lane, Wollongong • Black Diamond Antiques and Collectables: 260 Princes Highway, Bulli • Thirroul Antique Centre: 394 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Thirroul • Wandering Merchants: 9 Victoria St, Wollongong • Supertrash: 162 Princes Hwy, Fairy Meadow

O Gum Tree

A new book celebrates how lovely its branches and hollows are, writes Genevieve Swart What is Tree-squeak about?

My book is about an old growth gum tree. These are our native Eucalyptus trees, that are over 170 years old, and the myriad of creatures that call them home. That includes over 75 species of gliders, birds, bats, snakes, bats, powerful owls – all use their hollows or their branches. The book is a rhyming guessing game with pictures for young children ages 3-8. Why write for children?

Robyn O’Neill with her new book, Tree-squeak

Robyn O’Neill is a teacher turned author/illustrator who has published her first children’s picture book, Tree-squeak: The Old Growth Gum. It’s had high praise from Bob Brown who, in his introduction to the book, writes: “Tree-squeak is that best of all literary concoctions – a story which does not thunder but, while offering contentment, also stirs hope for the future … A special gift for every wide-eyed youngster.” Please tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m an artist and primary school teacher living in Stanwell Park for the last 12 years. I’m a nature lover, daily swimmer and walker of my dog Matisse (also an artist). I love cycling and bushwalking

As a teacher I’m aware of how important education is. Children are so open and also have a love of nature, and innately want to make the world a better place … I also love drawing and making art! What inspired your illustrations?

We have a bush block down the South Coast that was burnt in the 2020 fires. Several of the largest old River Peppermints were burnt so badly they did not recover, though thankfully many have. I did most of my illustrations based on the trees and animals I enjoy seeing on that property. Sadly, with more frequent fires, these animals lose more trees and more habitat. Where can we buy a copy?

You can buy them at Collins Bookshop, Thirroul; on December 3 at Stanwell Park Christmas art markets outside Articles Gallery, 3-7pm; December 9 at Society City Book launch and signing (10am-12 noon, 274 Crown St Wollongong); or order from me direct at $25 plus postage, Ooranookbooks@gmail.com

Surf, Sun & Sand A new photography exhibition is coming to Wollongong Library, writes Local Studies librarian Jo Oliver

The beaches of the Illawarra are one of its most beautiful features. They have long been a place of recreation for local residents and visitors. Wollongong’s new Surf, Sun and Sand exhibition celebrates decades of people enjoying our coast and includes pictures of Surf Life Saving activities, children playing, family picnics and beach wear, from neck-to-knee costumes to bikinis. The exhibition can be viewed on Level 1, Wollongong City Library from December 12 until February 25 and online at: https:// illawarrastories.com.au/exhibitions 14 arts & culture

North Wollongong 1890s. Photo: P02726 from the Collections of Wollongong City Libraries

Montessori Based Home Care

This aged care and disability services provider aspires to set new standards Montessori Care co-founders Chris Omeissah and Mary Assaf shared their story.

preferences, and goals of each individual we serve.

What services does Montessori Care offer? An array of services designed to support the elderly and those living with disabilities right in the comfort of their own homes. Our Personal Care services focus on assisting with daily tasks, ensuring that each individual feels comfortable and well-cared for. Our Clinical Care services are delivered by trained & registered professionals who provide medical support and health management, ensuring the wellbeing of those we serve. We also offer Household Assistance, which includes tasks such as cleaning, maintenance and gardening. Recognising the importance of community, we provide services that facilitate access to community activities and events. We believe that social connections are vital for well-being, and we strive to foster these connections through our services. Our social support and mentorship services are another unique offering, providing guidance and support to our clients, empowering them to live independently and confidently. In essence, Montessori Care is more than a service provider. We are a partner in creating a fulfilling, independent, and joyous life for the elderly and those living with disabilities. Our services are not one-size-fits-all; they are carefully tailored to meet the unique needs,

What are your plans for the future? At Montessori Care, we are not just planning for the future; we are envisioning a revolution in in-home aged care and disability support. Our aspiration is to rise as the leader of high-quality care in the Illawarra region, setting a new standard for what it means to provide truly person-centred care. We recognise the pressing need for exceptional carers in our region, individuals who do more than just provide a service. We need carers who can touch lives, inspire hope and foster a sense of purpose. This is the kind of care we strive to provide at Montessori Care. Our expansion plans are not just about reaching more people; they are about making a deeper impact. We want to extend our services to the most vulnerable members of our community, not just to provide care, but to inspire them. We believe that everyone, regardless of age or ability, has the potential to lead a fulfilling and successful life. Our goal is to be the catalyst that helps them realise this potential. In essence, our future is not just about growth; it’s about transformation. We aim to transform the landscape of in-home aged care and disability support, one life at a time.

In Home Aged Care & Disability services Montessori Based Home Care

1300 918 000

admin@montessoricare.com.au www.montessoricare.com.au

December 15

Students deliver comfort and joy By Ciaron (Year 5) and Wren (Year 6) of Coledale Public School

Students with handmade wreaths

On September 14th, Wren, Rebecca, Ciaron and Koa went to Coledale Hospital to gift the sensory pillows that we had made specifically for the patients with dementia. The hospital has mainly patients with dementia, who cannot live at home by themselves. Dementia means that you can’t remember things the way you used to, but stimulating the senses helps, so we made textured sensory pillows created from our old school uniforms filled with rosemary and lavender, stuffed with old cut-up clothes, with crochet flowers and bells. The pillows were handmade using a technique called blanket stitch and they will be used to stimulate the patients’ senses and improve their quality of life. We also made flower wreaths from old plastic bottles, cut and painted to make bright colourful flowers. The flower wheels will be placed in the garden for patients to look at and enjoy.

Wishing you well By Fran Peppernell of Helensburgh Lions Club

We hope everyone is now in full swing towards Christmas time with tinsel hanging and Christmas trees decorated! We will once again be putting our Wishing Tree at the Tradies, if you would like to donate a gift under the tree this will greatly assist our families who are experiencing tough times and also the women’s refuge. Our Helensburgh Country Fair was held at Charles Harper Park on Saturday, October 28. The community had a wonderful day, with the sun shining and sausages sizzling. All the stall holders and rides worked hard to ensure everyone enjoyed the day. We will now start planning for next year! We have enjoyed a very successful year, with

We walked from school to the hospital with our trolley full of flower wreaths. When we arrived we gave the wheels to the Diversional Therapist, Laura, who showed us where they would be placed in the garden. When we were out in the garden, a group of patients were sitting and playing a game. We got to talk to some of the patients. I felt sad seeing how they can barely remember the people like Laura who are taking care of them. I hope this Connecting Threads program will help the patients at Coledale Hospital by giving them colourful things to look at when they are in the garden and something soft to hold and fiddle with in their hands. When I gave the pillows to the hospital I felt happy that I could help the patients. Connecting Threads program update

By Amy Geddes Coledale Public School’s Connecting Threads program is going from strength to strength, you might have seen us on TV (Studio 10) or heard us on the radio (ABC Illawarra) but the real success can be measured from how enthusiastic and proud each student is to be involved and the renewed sense of belonging to the community. We are very grateful to Laura Handley, the Diversional and Recreational Therapist at Coledale Hospital, for coming to the school to give a talk about dementia and for helping to make this all possible! Another huge thanks goes to Colleen Lux whose amazing idea this was in the first place! highlights including the Anzac Day Memorial, the Brick Fair, restoring coal skips and fundraising for the Neonatal Unit at Wollongong Hospital. We will continue to support our community in 2024. To be part of a great team, join us every 2nd Monday of the month at Helensburgh Hotel from 6.30pm. Wishing all our community a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

At the Country Fair. Photo: Caitlin Sloan

16 clubs & community

FINAL

Ian Gentle

the found line

NEW BOOK RELEASE from Clifton School of Arts now selling for $45

Gentle’s work is interesting for the way it reconciles seemingly incompatible subjects such as urban and bush imagery … These disjunctions and ambiguities are reflected in the obsessive wordplay of Gentle’s titles. A series of sculptures share the name of Punkocky, referring at once to punks, ockers, cockies and puns. A few spiky points protruding from a thin rounded shape remind us simultaneously of punks’ mohawk haircuts and cockies’ combs – an economical synthesis of city and bush characteristics. JOHN McDONALD, ‘If you want to see Perspecta, look around you’, Sydney Morning Herald, 9 February 1986

Artist Paul Ryan says visiting the studio as a teenager was his first insight into what an artist could be. ‘I went over there one day, knocked on the door. Ian was living downstairs. It was a mess. You could smell the mould. I mean, the building really had problems. But we walked upstairs, and this was where he made his sculptures or what he sometimes called his “critters”6 because they had animal-like features like a face, a beak or feet. The memory I have is of Ian sitting in a chair with this wall of sticks behind him and some of his sculptures there in different stages of being finished and him talking to me about what he did, and me, just getting a sense of, wow, this art thing is pretty fascinating! You can make a life out of this! This was something I had never anticipated. Was it even possible to take sticks and make sculptures out of them? I suppose I had this fairly basic idea that you either carved a stone or you put paint on a canvas and not a lot more. I was only 16.’ 7

Just across the road from Clifton School of Arts is the Imperial Hotel. Ian’s niece, Linda Fenton, says her uncle was a ‘gregarious loner’, revelling in company, then desperate for solitude.8 In rural Victoria he had grown up around men who could put in long, back-breaking days of hard work, then down tools and attack their drinking with the same kind of commitment and intensity. These early experiences may have shaped his working life. Sculptor Didier Balez worked beside him in the studio as his technical assistant and became a close friend. (Balez was one of the few people with whom Ian Gentle shared his secret method of joining sticks – bevelled joints, nail, wire, putty, charring.) He says that Ian’s long days working alone in his Clifton studio were often followed by wild, all-night binges at the Imperial with publican Flash McGill.9

Various wooden sculptures by Ian Gentle After Ian died in 2009, his niece Linda Fenton and her husband Stewart carefully packed the contents of his Nowra studio into a large crate. The crate remained with them through three house moves. In 2023 Linda and Stewart opened the crate and photographed the works for The Gentle Project. Photos Linda Fenton, compilation David Roach

Available from: CSA during gallery hours Online at www.artsclifton.org

Two-up Cockatoo 2008 Eucalyptus wood, 65 × 61 cm Photo courtesy Stella Downer Fine Art Private collection

Also at: Wollongong Art Gallery Collins Booksellers, Thirroul

Low Tide Low Life 1988 Silica bronze, 82 × 40 × 10 cm (approx.) University of Wollongong Art Collection

Published by Clifton School of Arts

FINAL PRESS READY GENTLE Illawarra Flame Full page AD 07.indd 1

15/11/2023 5:45 pm

From Honest to Dodgy Don’s By Susan Luscombe

Penny Stockley, owner-operator of Honest Don’s cafe and Dodgy Don’s bar, is proof positive that hard work, determination and ample support from your family and community can help you overcome adversity and ultimately succeed. In 2014, after moving to Thirroul, Penny and her then husband bought the Bluewater cafe in McCauley Street. They renamed the business in honour of Penny’s late father, “Honest” Don McDowell, who was a used car salesman and keen home cook. At the time, Thirroul was not awash with good coffee and the couple brought the well-respected Campos coffee from its origins in Newtown to the Illawarra. The plan: Penny would work as front of house and her husband would be the cook. But, with no cafe experience and two small children to raise, the couple found it very difficult. They separated but, with the cafe doing well, Penny decided to run it on her own, which she has done for more than eight years as a single mum. Penny says her children have been unwavering positive influences. “Both my daughters have been so supportive and encouraging to their oftenstressed mum.” Phoebe, Penny’s eldest daughter and chief cocktail maker, recently moved to Sydney but passed on her cocktail-making knowledge to her mum before she went. Poppy, Penny’s youngest daughter, has just begun working at the establishment. Penny reckons she’s not a businesswoman, but her success at Honest Don’s suggests otherwise. She’s had an eclectic series of jobs, attending art

Indigenous biz to support By Susan Luscombe

Whether you’re planning a Christmas party or shopping for gifts, these four Indigenous businesses are rich sources of inspiration. Chocolate on Purpose

Wiradyuri woman Fiona Harrison (pictured) has used her own experience and assistance from the University of Wollongong’s business incubator, iAccelerate, to develop her business as a chocolatier. Having suffered from PTSD, Fiona drew on her First Nations background and started blending native botanicals with chocolate to heal herself. Today Chocolate on Purpose is not just a business but a movement with a mission to heal and educate. 18 local business

school where she majored in film and video (before digital), becoming a short filmmaker, even receiving an SBS grant for the Eat Carpet short film program. Later, she fell into the music industry, working as the band booker for Sydney live music institution, the Lansdowne Hotel, then running a booking agency for bands and musicians. “I stopped when I became pregnant and too old and tired to go to gigs!” For eight years Penny has juggled everything, including Covid curve balls, ongoing staff shortages and the cost-of-living crisis. Penny says her customers keep her going. “[Honest Don’s] feels like a happy place. It’s like my lounge room,” she says. After Covid, Penny decided the time was right to open a bar, but it took 18 months for the Dodgy Don’s liquor licence to be approved and the bar finally opened – in winter. But due to Penny’s drive and tenacity, and the support of her daughters and the community, both Don’s are thriving.

IndigiGrow

Based in La Perouse, this social enterprise propagates native plants including bush foods to nurture people, land and culture. There is a retail nursery is at La Perouse Public School or you can shop online. Gift vouchers are also available. Aboriginal Catering

Part of Koori Kulture Aboriginal Corporation, a non-profit that provides education and employment for Indigenous people, the Bowral caterers have function rooms onsite and also do off-site catering and have a food truck. The Unexpected Guest

Based in south-western Sydney, Jenny Khan’s business specialises in breakfast foods and health bars infused with Indigenous botanicals. Products available via Flame Tree Co-op in Thirroul.

ACO 2O24

WOLLOngOng

December 19

The penguins are coming! By Kevin Fallon of Symbio Zoo

Tree of the Month By Kieran Tapsell, of Banksia Bushcare

The long wait for the pitter-patter of little penguin feet is nearly over, with the final touches being made to the new penguin shores exhibit at Symbio in Helensburgh. With a gorgeous, resort-style river that feeds into a large pool with underwater viewing, the little penguins will be living in the lap of luxury when they arrive. With 10 penguins set to arrive in the second week of December, they will be out and about enjoying their new home in time for the Christmas school holidays. The first group includes four males and six females aged between two to 12 years old. Unlike their Antarctic cousins, little penguins don’t live on the ice, instead they prefer the warm shoreline of the East Australian Coast. Locally, there are breeding colonies just off Port Kembla in the Five Islands Reserve, along with a breeding colony at Manly.

Polyscias murrayi (Pencil Cedar)

Pencil Cedar has a large central stem about six metres long and with large pinnate leaves radiating from it, giving a kind of umbrella canopy. It can reach 30 metres and is easily to spot. It is generally found in the rainforest but also in wet sclerophyll forest. The pinnate leaves with between 9 and 31 leaflets can be over a metre long. It is found right along the Illawarra escarpment, but is also found from the Victorian border to New Guinea. There is one example of Pencil Cedar in the Stanwell Park Reserve, planted about 30 years ago. Banksia Bush Care wins grant to cage trees

We recently applied for a Local Environment of Australia Funding (LEAF) grant from Sutherland Shire Environment Centre to help us pay for hinge wire and star pickets to enable us to protect Stanwell Park bushland from Rusa deer. The removal of Lantana, Senna and Ochna from local bushland is an important step in restoring our endangered littoral rainforest. While these weeds impeded the regeneration of the rainforest, they also provided some protection from Rusa deer for any trees that did manage to poke through. Once they were removed, we have had to protect trees and their progeny, and the only practical method is to cage them. We are grateful to the centre for granting us $2000 for this program. 20 science & nature

Just add penguins: The zoo’s new exhibit will open in December. Photos: Symbio

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See Side

ptical

Anita’s Theatre

Shop 10, King St, Thirroul Call 4268 3933. Online booking now available

December 21

Rise of Climate Safe Rooms By architect Ben Wollen

I know this is going to be a tight Christmas for a lot of Illawarrans. I’d like to encourage you all to shop local and consider some local charities this year. Great communities thrive by looking after those who are less advantaged amongst us. One of those great local charities is SAHSSI. They provide supported accommodation and homelessness services. Although modest in its first year, the profits from the inaugural Festival of Architecture and Design all went to SAHSSI. You can donate directly on their website, www.sahssi.org.au This leads me to the topic of this month’s article – “Climate Safe Rooms”. The title came up in one of my many sustainability email feeds and I just had to find out what the heck these were! Essentially, there’s a pilot program down in Geelong that is retrofitting rooms in private homes for those most vulnerable to climate extremes. In the Australian case, this is primarily to combat temperature extremes. Rather than retrofitting a whole house, one room of a house is selected (usually a living room) to be upgraded with things such as better insulation, draught sealing, efficient lighting, double glazed windows, external blinds, solar panels and dedicated air-conditioning. Climate-safe rooms offer a first step towards protecting the most vulnerable. As temperatures rise, marginalised people, including the elderly, children and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, find themselves disproportionately affected. The rooms offer householders a better sense of security, so in extreme events they at least have one room to safely retreat to. Furthermore

they will reduce the impact on emergency services during such events. While I can see the reasoning behind this program, for me it highlights the terrible state much of our existing housing stock is in. And not just older homes but newer built as well. There are areas in the more recent land release areas of the Illawarra that have collections of black-roofed houses tightly sandwiched together without a tree in sight. These homes aren’t that old! The big missed opportunity here was to have made these more recent homes more climate resilient back when they were built or at least had information available to those purchasing them on the level of sustainability they were buying into. Now that all new homes in NSW need to achieve a minimum 7 star (NatHERS), I feel it’s time the state government requires all homes going onto the market to have their star rating advertised. The implications of such programs extend beyond immediate physical safety. They contribute to a more inclusive and equitable urban landscape. Whilst I’m still on my pulpit – I’d like to also extend this to playgrounds! Shade structures or even better trees should be mandatory. People of the Illawarra – say no to burnt bums on slides! Sign the petition at www.change.org/p/shade-forbulli-playground. Wishing you all a very merry and safe festive season.

What’s On

Launch: Honk Oz Street Music Festival 2024 Thu Dec 7 Join ‘The Con Artists’ and CROW, 7pm

Submit notices via our Get In Touch web page Thirroul Music Festival Sun, 3 Dec 4 venues, 1 day of amazing music,

thirroulmusicfestival.com.au

Emerging Artist Concert Series

Music and Tea at Wollongong Art Gallery at 11am. Thu Dec 7 Birth and Rebirth & Premiere of New Works. Paul Nicolaou harp, Emily Su violin & James Monro cello. Free. Donations welcome. Cakes for Kids Sat, Dec 9 From 9am at Thirroul Railway Institute

Hall to raise funds for children in Gaza.

22 clubs & community

Crown St Markets, Wollongong CBD for a fun-filled night with music, dance and food. HONK! Oz will be on January 11-13 in the CBD. Join Helensburgh guitar/singalong group

Seeking expressions of interest for a informal Acoustic Guitar, play and singalong group for Helensburgh. Folk music style. If interested, let us know what instrument you play or would like to play. Developing or experienced players welcome. Monday, Thursday or Friday afternoons, venue TBA. Contacts: Bruce Hamilton 0490 509 328; Dave Oliphant 0419 218 926. ACO in 2024 $199, 3 shows, aco.com.au

December 23

Diary of an EV Driver: 1 month in By Peter Aubourg

I have now had my EV for a month. I just slip into the driver’s seat with the ease of putting on a well-worn pair of shoes. I comfortably know where most of the controls live, which makes life easier. And the comfort extends to driving, with manoeuvring and parking becoming fairly automatic. But, tragically, the new car smell is gone. I understand you can buy “new car smell” sprays, but it wouldn’t be the same. I am enjoying trying the EV-specific features. Using the regenerative braking is a really different thing. When you lift your foot off the accelerator pedal, the car does not coast along, it slows down as if you are gently braking. But it is not braking. When your foot comes off the pedal, the electric motor switches to being a generator and it is charging the battery. You still use the brake pedal to bring the car to a complete stop or if you want to stop quickly, but most of the slowing down can be done by the motor turned into a generator. It feels a bit like changing down gears in the old petrol or diesel car when you are going down a hill, to save the brakes. But in the EV, instead of wasting energy, you are recharging the battery! Wouldn’t it be great if you could get back all the energy you put in going up a hill when you went down the other side? Dream on. It is not that efficient. You still burn energy pushing the car through the air and in friction on the tyres, and you are not going to get that back. I feel an experiment coming on… I just came back from driving the car from the bottom of Bulli Pass to the top and back down

again. On the way up, the battery charge level dropped -5% and on the way down, it went back up by +2.4%. In other words, it regained almost half of what it lost on the way up the hill! By the way, you can set the level of regeneration to mild or strong. I go for full-tilt strong, so I hardly have to use the brakes at all! This is “one pedal driving” in EV talk. This explains why EVs are so efficient at stop-start driving around town compared to petrol cars. Petrol cars burn up their kinetic energy in their brakes when stopping, whereas EVs pump a good proportion back into the battery, to re-use when they set off again. Unfortunately, with highway driving, you are not getting much regeneration, because you are not slowing down much. The drag from pushing ANY car through the air increases exponentially with speed. At 110km/h it is like pushing the car through treacle. Even with good streamlining you only get slightly warm treacle. In short, if you want efficiency, don’t drive too fast.

• Subscription eBike discount: Interested in Electric transport offers electric bikes but not ready to purchase one or

know which would suit you best? We can offer 50% off your first month of eBike subscription with Thank you to everyone who came out to November Lug + Carrie. • Ebike discount: If you’re ready to purchase 12’s EV & E-bike Open Day. About 450 people one, another leading eBike retailer, Dutch Cargo, is turned up, which was so encouraging. As offering a 20% discount until the end of 2023 on announced at the event, we have secured special specific brands. offers for all Illawarra locals. Here’s a brief list: • Fully Charged Show: We’ve got 20% off tickets • Win a home EV Charger! We have one Fronius to the 2024 Fully Charged Show in Sydney, which Wattpilot EV Charger to give away! This home charger is valued at $1,900 and was kindly donated is Australia’s biggest home electrification and energy expo. by AG Solar, one of our solar partners. • EV discounts: Good Car Co are offering $3000 • EV Novated Lease offer: For those employed, off their second-hand EVs and BYD are offering novated leasing an EV can be the cheapest way to own one due to tax exemptions. A novated leasing $500 off their new BYD Atto 3’s. company is offering our community a free Tesla charger (valued at $750) and 4% off Polestars if you View offers and watch a recording of EV Day buy outright or take out a novated lease with them. info sessions at electrify2515.org/transport By Kristen McDonald, Electrify 2515 Coordinator

24 clubs & community

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New clinic now open at Thirroul Shop 12, 345 Lawrence Hargrave Drive Thirroul, NSW 2515 Book online at molemap.net.au

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Scan me to learn more

December 25

Here today, still there in 100 years? Photo: Rob Brander

Dr Rip’s Science of the Surf With Coalcliff’s Prof Rob Brander. This month: Sea Level Rise and our Beaches and Surf

Last month I mentioned the impact that sea level rise might have on our beaches and surf and suggested that the news might not be so good. It’s worth exploring that a little more as the reality is that it’s not all doom and gloom. Sea level is rising, there’s no doubt about it, and it will continue to rise. The question is by how much and that’s the big unknown. We already know that sea level has risen about 20 centimetres in the last century and, for the most part, our beaches are doing just fine. They are remarkably resilient and adaptable features. But what would happen if sea level rose by a metre in the next 100 years, which is on the higher end of projected sea level rise scenarios? The good news is that most beaches won’t disappear. They’ll just move. Beaches are dynamic features that are constantly adjusting to shifting wave and tidal action. They start hundreds of metres offshore where sand is first moved by the action of waves and extend inland to where sand is blown by wind, often forming dunes. On a completely natural beach that has natural dunes and no urban infrastructure, if sea level rose by a metre, the beaches and dunes would simply shift further inland and would look exactly the same – just in a slightly different place. So the majority of our beaches will be just fine. Unfortunately there are many locations where we have built buildings, car parks and roads too close to the ocean and this is where the story is different. Beaches would have nowhere to go to 26 science & nature

keep up with rising sea level. There are already numerous erosion ‘hotspots’ throughout New South Wales where properties and infrastructure are at risk and the Illawarra coast is not immune. If sea level rose by a metre, even more of these hotspots would occur and we would need to resort to coastal engineering responses, such as seawalls, to stabilise our shorelines, which will do the job, but won’t do our beaches any favours. What about the quality of surf? On most beaches that have been able to migrate naturally with sea level rise, the behaviour of sand bars and the shape of the beach will be the same, so beach breaks will still be as plentiful as ever. The story is a little different for reef breaks, which rely on a fixed substrate and are ‘tuned’ to work best at certain water depths and wave conditions. Yep, we’ll probably lose some of our favourite breaks, or they won’t provide as good a wave, but others will be created. The news isn’t always bad – there will always be good surf no matter what sea level is doing! A new edition of Dr Rip’s Essential Beach Book is out now. Visit www.unsw.press/DrRip or Collins Booksellers Thirroul

Dr Luke Harvey now practising in the place he calls home By Danika Hall

Dr Luke Harvey is excited to finally work in the place he’s called home for many years. He arrived in the northern Illawarra as a teenager, emigrating from Scotland with his family. He lived in the area through most of his studies and returned in 2022 with his wife and two children after living and working for a few years in Sydney. Luke undertook medical school at Western Sydney University before completing hospital training in western Sydney. He went on to complete his general practice training, qualifying as a specialist GP in 2019. He is currently undertaking further training in dermoscopy and skin cancer medicine. He is also an accredited supervisor for GP trainees through the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Luke passionately believes that general practitioners are integral to good patient health. He enjoys being the ‘first port of call’ for any issue a patient may be having and will work with his patients to figure out the best management plan. He prides himself on being thorough but also efficient. Luke strives to be accessible to the entire community. He is happy to see patients of all ages and backgrounds, and practises in a nonjudgmental manner. He welcomes members of the LGBTQI community and is keen to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients to improve health outcomes to Close the Gap. Luke is available for face-to-face or telehealth consults (phone or video). He believes that telehealth, while not always the best fit, can be extremely useful. He endeavours to make the experience as smooth as possible with paperless solutions for prescriptions, referrals etc. Away from work, Luke enjoys spending time with his young family, watching soccer (for his sins, he follows Partick Thistle FC from afar), cooking and performing questionable cover versions of The Smiths on his guitar. Dr Luke Harvey works at Bulli Medical Practice on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and some Saturdays. Book online via HotDoc. Pictured: Dr Luke Harvey welcomes patients of all ages and backgrounds. Photo: Bulli Medical Practice

Book online* via our website: bullimedicalpractice.com.au or call 4284 4622 *if you have respiratory symptoms please call for an appointment

Monday to Friday: 8am-6pm Saturday: 8am-12 noon 74 Park Road, Bulli

QUALITY PERSONAL HEALTHCARE AND TRAVEL MEDICINE December 27

Tale of the snail A Rockpool Ramble with Amanda De George

Giant Hairy Triton Snail is not exactly the prettiest name but Monoplex parthenopeus doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue either. Whatever you call it, this marine gastropod just happens to be a little bit ugly on the outside, beautiful inside and found in rock pools throughout the Illawarra. Even though these snails are quite large (some shells reaching 18cm) they can be hard to spot on account of the rigid hairs on their shells which, of course, attract a bit of algae as well, so they kind of blend into the background. Also, when compared to the brightly patterned sea stars and cow-like sea hares they often share the water with, they just don’t really grab your attention. Okay. I admit it, this is all about me. They just don’t grab my attention. Or at least they didn’t. Until I saw one of the snails extended out of its shell, making its way across the bottom of a fairly deep rock pool, its body an almost golden cream, marked with yellow-ringed spots of brown. These snails are truly beautiful. And frightening if you happen to be a another gastropod, bivalve, like mussels or oysters, or a sponge, which are on the menu. They are found throughout the world, thanks to their super-long larval stage, which lasts for about nine months and where they can disperse up to 4000 kilometres. Those who don’t mind getting their feet wet can find them up to a depth of 75 metres but luckily for

Whale poo for the win By Amanda De George

Thirroul-based film and video production company Painting in Pictures has taken out the grand prize in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Indie Film Showcase. Their film, How Whale Poop can Help us Remove Carbon Dioxide from the Ocean, chronicles the WhaleX team as they explore the potential of artificial whale poo to stimulate 28 science & nature

those of us who appreciate not donning the scuba gear, they are pretty common locally. I’ve seen them in Shellharbour, Port Kembla and around Sandon Point. If you find one, you’ll most likely find the door of the shell, the operculum, shut tight to prevent the animal from drying out at low tide… and to keep prying fingers away. But it’s worth pulling up a chair, or a rock, and waiting to see if the snail emerges and you’ll see that you shouldn’t judge a snail by its hairy cover.

Little beauty: The Giant Hairy Triton Snail. Photos: Amanda De George

phytoplankton growth and, in turn, capture and store carbon. For local filmmakers Kirsty B Carter and Joe Harrison (pictured), this was right up their alley. While the eco-conscious company has worked around the globe, their award-winning documentary was made much closer to home, with filming at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science in Chowder Bay and out on the water along the east coast down to Cronulla. The team faced several challenges in the process, including how to take a scientifically dense subject and make it engaging for everyday viewers. Kirsty said, “It’s one thing to understand the science myself, quite another to translate it into human-speak. You have to think like a scientist and then be part translator, part storyteller. The primary challenge is to fully grasp the life’s work of experts who’ve devoted themselves to the ocean and climate science.” The team are currently in post-production with their upcoming feature, Dayakland.

Photo credit: Destination NSW

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December 29

‘Send help’: A plea from the NT By Caitlin Sloan

Stanwell Park Rural Fire Brigade captain Gary Laker. Photo: Caitlin Sloan

Even after 47 years of volunteering with the NSW Rural Fire Service, Stanwell Park Rural Fire Brigade captain Gary Laker was caught off guard by the very hot, very fast fires sweeping remote areas of the Northern Territory. When we sat down to chat in late October, Gary had just returned from a seven-day deployment to the Barkly Tableland. Fires had been burning across a large part of the territory for almost four months. In September, fireground officials reported that crews were fighting a fire front three to four times the size of the ACT. By November, more than 13 million hectares had gone up in flames. Unsurprisingly, Bushfires NT volunteers were exhausted and in September they had called on the Australasian Fire Authorities Council’s National Resource Sharing Centre for help. “The Northern Territory sent them an email – ‘We are done. Send help.’ – and they had the South Australian CFS that went first, then we [NSW RFS] came in after that,” Gary said. “The local conditions and the local fire behaviour’s very different to what we’re used to; obviously a lot of low, grassy scrub, and it burns very hot, and it burns very fast, but here we’ve got gum trees. “In the week that we were there, I think there was seven or eight new fires started, and possibly not all by natural causes.” NSW volunteers also found the climate testing. “It would sneak up on us coastal guys,” Gary said. “A few of the guys were surprised by how hot and how dry it was; one day was 37 degrees and six per cent humidity. We were drinking about six litres of water each – I’m lucky if my wife can get me to drink two glasses of water, but we were just throwing it down, and we had a paramedic travelling with us just in case.” Gary was in the last of five strike teams sent by the NSW RFS. It was a mixed bag of firies from the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, the Hunter Valley and four Illawarra volunteers. All could empathise with the exhaustion confronting NT crews. 30 clubs & community

“That’s the furthest I’ve been and the longest I’ve been away [on deployment],” Gary said. “When they said the locals were worn out, I could relate to that, so I thought there’s a good chance to give them a rest. “Theirs is an entire state that has 300 volunteers and 20 fire stations – we have 35 fire stations in our district alone. They were just exhausted.” Gary knows how burnout feels. In early October, Stanwell Park Rural Fire Brigade spent more than 20 hours assisting local crews at the Bermagui bushfires. In the Black Summer of 2019, days before Christmas, Gary was fighting the Green Wattle Creek inferno that all but wiped out Balmoral in the Southern Highlands, destroying more than 20 homes and resulting in the deaths of two RFS volunteers. In the littlementioned 2002-03 bushfire season, Stanwell Park’s brigade alone volunteered 10,000 hours, travelling to fire fronts statewide. But it was the 2001 Black Christmas bushfires in Helensburgh and Stanwell Tops that took the heaviest toll. “I’ll say I was more burnt out physically and mentally after the 2001 fires – that was worse because it was closer to home,” Gary said. This season, Gary is reminding the community that the best bushfire mitigation tactic begins at home. “[People] need to investigate what they need to do to make their property as safe as possible, because the catch cry is we can’t put a fire truck in every driveway,” he said. Since joining in 1976, at age 14, Gary has encouraged friends to volunteer alongside him. This summer he would like more people to help. “People say, ‘Oh no, it’s too scary’ and ‘I couldn’t breathe in that smoke’, and that’s fine – we can cater for that. That makes up a tiny proportion of what we do, so there are many facets to it if someone wants to contribute to the community.” To volunteer, visit www.rfs.nsw.gov.au. Stay up to date via the Hazards Near Me NSW app

Artists of the Illawarra Northern Illawarra Art Trail’s Edith McNally introduces Holly Eva

Holly Eva is a wonderful artist with a studio at the Bulli Timbermill. Creating art as a contemporary expressionist painter is her full-time job. She likes to paint how she feels about something rather than representational perfection. Holly’s work celebrates bold, brave colours and expressive marks, capturing the emotions she channels into each and every piece. The strength the colour holds gives a naive feel to pieces that are intuitive, contemporary and sometimes with a touch of whimsy. Her natural skill and artistic flair have been enriched through working with and under brilliant Australian artists, including Amanda Penrose Hart, Idris Murphy, Jo Bernini and Ross Laurie. Holly has been a finalist in the Mosman Art Prize and the Thirroul Art Prize, featured in The Block Shop and Belle magazine, as well as held solo and group exhibitions. Currently she is working with Jumbled and loves knowing that her art is enjoyed in homes around the world. Holly holds regular workshops for women that facilitate creative expression in an intuitive,

Visit www.hollyeva.com

Merry Christmas from Shedman

Men’s Shed’s to Probus, Lions Club and radio audiences; The Walk for Prostate Cancer with fiery musicians; Julie’s bench seat – the list goes on! Can you see Shedman in the photo? Is that him just there, next to Ron, fixing a kiddie’s rocking kangaroo? Maybe that’s him with Bob, making a bespoke timber serving tray? No, that’s him with Stephen, working out a timber puzzle… But more importantly, can you see yourself here too? Helensburgh Men’s Shed wishes you all a Merry Christmas, a safe holiday, and a warm welcome to our Shed. To find out more, visit 199A Parkes St, Mon-Wed 9am-3pm, call/text 0478 892 485 or go to helensburghmensshed.org.au

By Paul Blanksby, Helensburgh Men’s Shed

What a great year Shedman and his mates have had at your Men’s Shed! Here’s a snapshot of what Shedman, the blokes in the photo plus lots of other shedders have done in 2023: An easel for Kids Korner Preschool; a Very Excellent Country Fair; restoring the Coal Skips in Charles Harper Park and the Miner’s Tribute plaques; working on a very special medical cabinet; repairing for display a 1950s Okanui surfboard; learning to make beautiful timber pens; men’s health talks; cleaning up the Glowworm Tunnel; rescuing old picture frames and mirrors; making new again a Depression-era glory box; presenting 32 clubs & community

liberating way. No rules, just freedom and fun. “Each and every day I wake up, head to the studio and get covered in paint and love it,” she says. Holly disregards the rules, blocks out opinions and allows the art to respond to her soul. “It’s a blessing to be a painter. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Cakes for Kids

Bake sale on Saturday, December 9 To be held at Thirroul Railway Institute Hall on Dec 9th, from 9am until the cakes are sold out, this is a bake sale to raise funds for children in Gaza. All the proceeds will go to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund. More info: www. good-work.com.au/events or contact Kat at kat@good-work.com.au

Introducing our new Management Committee for Northern Illawarra Neighbour Aid Inc. Left to right: David Oliver, Dennis Hamilton, Bob Scullion, Barry Thompson, Peter Ryan, Richard Smart. Missing: Sonia Markoff

Welcome to our newly elected Management Committee for Northern Illawarra Neighbour Aid Inc. These volunteers, some of whom have given long term service, are responsible for accounting to Government and other bodies and ensuring NINA is able to continue to provide the services so important to our clients. The importance of our transport and social support programmes is often emphasised by client comments such as, “NINA is a great service that helps me remain independent. I don’t know what I’d do without them!” As in all areas of our organisation, the committee needs volunteers. We assemble at the NINA office on the second Wednesday of the month at 9.30am for a two-hour meeting. Recruitment to the committee is especially important this year as changing circumstances will preclude some standing members for nominating in 2025. We need a new volunteer pool from which to fill the Secretary, Vice President, and committee member positions. Barry is our new president and will be ably supported by Immediate Past President David, Public Officer Richard, Treasurer Peter, Dennis and Sonia. Bob Scullion is a welcome addition after he volunteered at the AGM. If you are thinking of voluntary community service, please consider NINA and phone 02 4294 1900 or drop into our office at Walker Street for details.

We will close at 12noon on Friday, 22 December 2023 and reopen on Tuesday, 2 January 2024 at 8.30am. On behalf of our staff, I will wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I am looking forward to having a great new year working for NINA and supporting the clients. Fiona – Office Manager.

Monday–Friday (8.30am-4.30pm) | telephone 02 4294 1900 18 Walker Street, Helensburgh

TRUE

STORY.

True Story festival inspires book lovers By Elizabeth Heffernan of South Coast Writers Centre

The South Coast Writers Centre hosted a fantastic True Story Festival at Coledale Community Hall on the weekend of November 18 and 19. Thanks to Ironbark Photography’s Matt Houston for capturing photos of the inspirational authors and the crowds who came to hear them talk. Look out for a full gallery of photos on the Illawarra Flame’s website in December. The Writers Centre now has a few final exciting events and opportunities to close out the year. The SCWC End of Year Celebration will be held on Saturday, December 16 at 2pm in Coledale Hall, with readings by our 2023 Wollongong Writers Studio writers-in-residence, Tonya Lee, Lajos Hamers and Sky Carrall, alongside recently published members Elanna Herbert and Paris Rosemont. There will also be a members’ open mic at this event. Interested in speaking? Please email news@southcoastwriters.org with expressions of interest. In 2024, workshops will include ‘The Gentle Art of Poetry’ at Wollongong Art Gallery, ‘Essential Ingredients for Great Fiction’ with Meredith Jaffé, ‘Crafting Your Crime Novel’ with Dinuka McKenzie, and a six-month gentle-critique course, ‘First Time Fiction’, for novice writers aged over 25. The SCWC currently has two writers residencies, one anthology and one screenwriting program 34 arts & culture

open for submissions. The Nan Tien Residency is offering up to 12 residency places for writers in March 2024. It’s for those living on the South Coast of NSW or with a connection to Nan Tien Temple. Applications close 14 December. Also open for applications is the Bundanon Group Writers Residency, taking place in May 2024. All are welcome to apply, but to accept a place on this retreat you must be a SCWC member. Open until 9 February 2024. The 2023/24 anthology Chroma is still open for submissions of prose and poetry up to 1500 words on the theme ‘in colour’. Applications are also open for the 2024 SCWC Screenwriting Program, run by film expert and director Graham Thorburn. Graham aims to form a group of mutually supportive writers interested in drafting feature-length screenplays. An info night will be held on 7 December 7.30pm at Coledale Hall. For more information or to join SCWC, visit southcoastwriters.org Pictured from top, L to R: Jack Manning Bancroft, Wendy Harmer in conversation with Caroline Baum, Fiona Weir Walmsley. Second row: Dr Jodi Edwards, Chris Masters, Indira Naidoo. Third row: Siobhan McHugh, Eda Gunaydin with Sarah Ayoub, Bronwyn Adcock. Photos: Matt Houston/Ironbark Photography

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If attendance at the True Story Festival is any indication, then interest in nonfiction is thriving in 2515, and spread over a range of genres. Our best sellers at the event were Hoodie Economics (Jack Manning Bancroft), hotly followed by From Scratch (Fiona Weir Walmsley), both available instore. With only weeks to go until Christmas, our extended December trading hours offer plenty of time for your shopping to be a relaxed and pleasant experience. We’re open every day from 8.30am to 5pm, and in the final lead up to Christmas come along for Thursday evening shopping on the 14th and 21st, open till 8pm. As the year comes to a close, we’ve been reflecting on the wonderful author events we’ve enjoyed in 2023. The success of these events, as I’m sure anyone who has attended would concur, is much due to the incredible local identities who have generously donated their time and energy to be the conversation partners. We appreciate the lengthy preparation involved in what always seem like relaxed, casual conversations. These events simply couldn’t take place without these conversation partners and we thank them enormously. Finally, to our wonderful customers, our heartfelt appreciation for your ongoing support. We wish all of you a safe and happy festive season, and the very best for 2024.

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December 35

Tale of two GENTLE MEN By Genevieve Swart

Ceoavtuerre f

Wombarra’s David Roach is an artist and a musician, but mainly a filmmaker. Quite how this award-winning director/screenwriter came to pour all his energy into Clifton School of Arts, leading a small band of volunteers through years of fundraisers, events and a DA application, is a mystery the Gentle Project finally explains. It began about eight years ago, with a photograph. David and his wife, journalist Caroline Baum, had held an exhibition at the School of Arts. Inspired by the CSA’s history, David did something uncharacteristic – he joined the community organisation and soon after found himself on the committee. One day an old picture caught his eye. “Downstairs in one of the store rooms, there was a photograph on the wall of this fellow, who looks a little bit like a hobbit, with a long beard, sitting in this extraordinary space filled with sticks,” David says. “Then I realised – because the School of Arts now is this pristine gallery space – that it was the same room. And I wondered who this fellow was.” The stick collector turned out to be the late sculptor Ian Gentle, a character from an era when ‘artist in residence’ meant exactly that. 36 arts & culture

“In 1986, two artists came knocking on the door; this place was a complete wreck,” says David. “One was Ian Gentle, the other was Brett Whiteley.” The committee at the time thought Brett looked like trouble so picked Ian, “the country bloke”, who moved into the crumbling School of Arts, slept in the storeroom and made his studio upstairs. “This whole area was a mining community. The Coalcliff Mine was at the time the biggest underground coal mine in Australia. So, this was a pretty rough industrial area. For young people at that time, he was the first artist they’d ever met and this was the first studio they’d ever stepped foot in.” David learned that Ian had inspired the current generation of artists, including Thirroul’s Paul Ryan, and taught at the University of Wollongong. “He was the most successful art lecturer in their 40-year history of the creative arts. The CEO of Powerhouse was one of his students. The head curator of Australian Art at the National Gallery, one of his students. So he had a huge influence. “People just came out of the woodwork and they wanted to tell me stories about Ian and what he meant to them.

David Roach (at left) and Ian Gentle (photo: John Storey, Macquarie Galleries, AGNSW Library Archive)

you stay for a while, you realise actually it’s like an installation. He would know where to get the exact stick with the exact curve that he wanted and where he’d put it … So there is that sense of, if not Gentle Project to run all through summer chaos, at least serendipity.” What started as an idea for “a little show” has Gentle was known for using whatever materials become a celebration of many parts, some of them came to hand. “In the early 70s, in Woolloomooloo, moving. The Gentle Project includes a book, a film, he used to work with old bits of metal and old talks, workshops, merchandise and three exhaust pipes,” David says. exhibitions. At Wollongong Art Gallery from “When he moved down here, he looked around December 2, Horny Sticks and Whispering Lines is a and he found sticks and he called them ‘Found collection of Gentle’s art while A Gentle Response Line’. He would go off into the forest and he’d find shows works by artists he influenced. these lines, which are really just eucalypt sticks, The CSA exhibition is called Gentle at Clifton. and he would create these beautiful wall sculptures. “It’s an exhibition about process, because this “He had a method of shaping them and joining was his studio,” David says. “A lot of these works them and making them permanent and charring. were actually made in that room, and that’s sort They were half animals and half abstract.” of magical.” Ian Gentle lived at the slowly crumbling School For the teenagers of the 1980s, the artist’s studio of Arts for about 10 years. was an eye opener. “People describe it as like “The only reason he moved out is that they walking into a forest. He would have these huge condemned the building. He was one of the drivers quivers of sticks, either hanging from the rafters or of getting people organised to raise money to save in huge bins, and then he’d have big workbenches. it … they had lamington drives and all that stuff. “Your first impression of it is just chaos. But if They raised $200,000 and they saved the building.”

“I think that an artist living in a community like this has ripple effects over generations. And that’s what the project celebrates.”

December 37

An unconventional artist

Ian Gentle’s work is in the NSW Art Gallery and the UOW Gallery, as well as overseas collections, but he never became hugely popular. “That’s sort of how he liked it,” David says. “He didn’t play the game, he didn’t network.” When Ian died, suddenly of a heart condition in 2009, he was working in Nowra, with a studio full of sticks, unfinished art presumed lost – until David travelled to Queensland to meet his niece, who turned out to have it stored safely in a crate. “Our philosophy was if Ian loved it, we kept it,” she told him. David has made a film including two rare interviews in which Gentle talks about his love for the environment. “He wasn’t an environmentalist in the contemporary sense. He was just a bloke who was brought up in the bush, in country Victoria.” Ian would famously wander solo along escarpment tracks, picking up sticks, then head home and make stuff. “He was really lazy about titles and so about 50% of his titles contained the word Lowlife. He liked that term because he considered himself, ironically, lowlife, that he wasn’t part of the Sydney network. It drove him a bit nuts the way that people wrote about him, because they would call him ‘the artist from the bush’ and stuff. “He loved things like echidnas and lizards and snakes; he loved cockatoos. A lot of his works are about using these eucalypts and this timber to create wall works, almost three-dimensional works, referencing Australian animals. But in an abstract way. It’s almost like the personality

David Roach at home with Ian Gentle’s Startled Skink. Photo: Anthony Warry

38 arts & culture

of an animal rather than the animal itself. “Ian was a maker. He was really grounded in the bush and the earth and timber. That’s where his ideas came from. I think that’s what gave him comfort as well.” How two creators connect

David owns an Ian Gentle work called Startled Skink and, as an artist himself, feels a strong connection to the medium. “I love working with timber. Timber has that sense of malleability, you can turn it into anything. You can burn it, you can scrape it, you can make it smooth, you can make it rough. I’ve always loved that feeling.” David grew up in Moruya; like Ian, he loved the sense of unlimited space of growing up in a country town. After school he left to go surfing, funding North Coast travels by sketching country houses, then selling them to their owners. He studied art at Newcastle University – “it was so extraordinary I almost gave up surfing” – but ended up specialising in film. Over the next 10 years, in between working as a percussionist, he made a film with a friend. Released in 1988, this was the award-winning

Ian Gentle at Clifton School of Arts Studio circa 1990. Photo: Guy Freer. Inset: Ian Gentle’s Dancing Turtle (1988) and Two-up Cockatoo (2008), photos thanks to Bernie Fischer and Stella Downer Fine Art.

comedy Young Einstein starring Yahoo Serious. From then on, David was a filmmaker. His screenwriting credits have included Beneath Hill 60, the story of a platoon of Australian tunnellers working behind enemy lines in World War 1, and Red Obsession, narrated by Russell Crowe. “But I never really fully gave up my studio practice,” David says. “Though it’s claimed that art is this elitist thing, there’s something wonderful and elemental about it and I’ve always loved it. There’s something about working alone in your studio, just on an idea that you have yourself, that I also really love.” It’s a contrast to the film world. “Film is very high tech. I’m a director and producer, and screenwriting is the core of what I do. It’s very much a collaborative process. Film is collaborative and, if you can’t collaborate, you’re not going to get very far.” And this is how an artist, musician and filmmaker came to be Clifton School of Arts president, artistic director of the Gentle Project,

and give up his own creative work for two years. For in community organisations, as in film, collaboration is the key to success. “I’m treating it like public artwork,” David says of The Gentle Project. “We’ve got a fabulous committee. People laugh at me for saying this – but I call it this unbroken chain of love, this chain of committees that stretch right back to 1911. They’re the volunteers who’ve kept the lights on and the building standing. When you think about that, it’s quite an extraordinary history. “So I’m really proud to be on a community committee, I’m proud to be a part of that tradition.” The Gentle Project is by the CSA in partnership with Wollongong Art Gallery. It has produced a range of great gifts, including the book Ian Gentle: The Found Line, tea towels, notebooks, caps and art cards. Funds go to the CSA, a registered charity. Gentle at Clifton opens on Dec 3. For all event dates, visit artsclifton.org

December 39

o t e m i T sketch with the navy

Janice Creenaune meets long-time Austinmer resident Bob McRae, a Wollongong TAFE art teacher for over 30 years who continues to practise as an Australian naval war artist

Bob McRae’s love of military history and natural history combine in his sketches, paintings and sculptures. It’s what makes his artwork stand apart and why he’s held in such high regard at museums around the country. In 1999, Bob took on a year-long role at the University of Darwin, transporting his family to the Northern Territory capital where he developed a strong association with the Australian Navy. “The war in Timor was complicated and raging,” Bob said. “During this period I painted canvases of the naval vessels going to and from the war. “The Darwin Memorial of the period bought a number of my paintings, as well as the Australian War Memorial.” The Maritime Museum in Sydney also holds a large collection of his work. “I have always been particularly interested in naval history and Australia’s first submarine, the AE1 class, disappeared in 1915 and was discovered finally in 2017, (somewhere near Bougainville) by a collaborative team including the Maritime Museum. I painted a commemorative work for the descendants of those lost in the submarine which is in the Sydney Maritime Museum. “A sculpture of F.E. Getting, the first Australian submarine commander, was of particular interest to me. But what I have found is that it is of particular interest to the submariner community, as well.” During the Iraq War, Bob spent time

with the Australian Navy in the Persian Gulf. “I travelled on HMAS Arunta (FFH 151) under Commander Tim Brown. Then, more recently, in the Gulf of Oman on HMAS Ballarat. This was a very difficult period but I was able to sketch soldiers on operation. The tired expressions on their faces is indicative of the tensions within the operations. “I mainly used red and black charcoal to sketch, and their experiences exhibited ‘danger’ in all its wartime facets … Photos were not allowed so my sketches were capturing the moment. “Later I would paint some of the sketches – some went into museums around the country and many have been commissioned by the Australian Navy for boardrooms etc.’’ Bob also channels his love for natural history in his work. “I walk along ‘Hills and Dales’ in Austinmer and see beautiful spinebills, for example, so I feel inspired to paint strong green behind relief sculptures of the birds in wood and paint with oils to capture the moment.” His influences include Australian maritime and war artist Dennis Adams and German artist Käthe Kollwitz. The beauty of the local area inspires him. “My works often display a love of the ocean, often perceived as ever changing and we are never sure of what is coming.” Bob acknowledges there can be contradictions between war and the beauty of nature. “But natural history is not always peaceful either,” he said. Occasionally his subjects overlap in works featuring war and birds. “I am an avid reader of military history and my work can display that. A plane crash from WW2 up near Darwin, for example, can also be surrounded by living creatures with birds hovering above.” Bob was recently honoured with a set of submarine medallions from the Australian Navy for his service to the naval community. Readers can find Bob on Facebook and Instagram, and at Coledale Markets. Janice is a volunteer for PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease) Foundation Australia. Email janicecreenaune@gmail.com

40 arts & culture

Jessica Hewett’s How do we know? Photo: Children of the Revolution

uNCOILEd eXposed Lisa Maris McDonell reviews October’s show at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre

uNCOILEd eXposed is AUSTI. Dance and Physical Theatre’s annual choreographic platform for emerging and mid-career choreographers, presented as part of Merrigong Theatre Company’s MerrigongX program. This year’s offering by three young choreographers was an entertaining evening of movement, voice and physical theatre performed by AUSTI’s company of pre-professional dancers, who rose to the occasion with aplomb.

First up was Soft Mirror by Bonnie Curtis. Before the start, women – resembling Barbie dolls who had been well played with – posed and preened amid the audience. With matted acrylic hair and long-ago lost gowns revealing a PG level of nakedness, these human dolls were at once vulnerable and yet oh so in your face. The posturing was like something from a TikTok video. It didn’t end there, however. Familiar sexual gyrations were deconstructed and fragmented to the point of absurdity, the silliness enhanced by nonsensical vocalisations. This well-considered movement vocabulary was the highlight of the work, allowing dancers the chance to relax into an exploration of their femininity. AUSTI alumni Jessica Hewett choreographed the second offering, the extremely well-crafted How Do We Know? Clad in red and black, the dancers explored facets of power in a show featuring interesting ensemble work, descriptive choreographic motifs and compelling partnering. The image of individual dancers, at various moments self-satisfyingly placing imaginary crowns upon their own heads, resonates and lingers beyond the ephemerality of the work. To close the triple bill was Lato2x by Queensland’s Buddy Malbasias. This was a wonderful and absurd collage of text, movement and really great music that created something that was part game show, part fever dream. Humour and chaos were the elements that stood out within this entertaining, beautiful mess of a work.

CWA to bring cakes to Burgh Carols By Jan Johnston

The CWA has been busy with fundraising and social events, as well as planning for Christmas. The Referendum in October was an opportunity for CWA to fundraise by selling home-made cakes and raffle tickets. We were fortunate to have a beautiful, donated, hand-made quilt to offer as a prize which was drawn at our last meeting and delivered to Christine Sykes of Stanwell Park. Voting days always provide a sense of community and pride as everyone registers their ballot and the CWA cake stall has become part of the tradition of the day. To celebrate Spring, a day at the Illawarra Rhododendron Gardens was arranged. The flower display was wonderful and it has been agreed that revisiting every year just as the display is at its best would be an ideal spring adventure.

The CWA will organise a cake and treats stall at the Helensburgh Christmas Carols on Saturday, 9 December. Remembering last year’s Christmas carols, I found baking for the stall such a joy as well as the fun of the evening when children arrived with their pocket money and took their time over the big decision of which yummy cake to buy. We hope to have POS facility available. We are also organising two Christmas hampers to help those having cost of living pressures. One will be a food hamper; the other will include children’s gifts. Any donations towards our hampers can be delivered to the CWA hall on Tuesday, 5 December between 10am-12 noon. The first meeting of the new year will be Tuesday, 6 February.

December 41

Thirroul thanks Murray Jones By Genevieve Swart

TVC in 2023: (L to R) Tony Horneman, Annette Jones, Murray Jones, Ray Smith, Elliot Stein, Stephen Le Bas and John Mebberson.

The TVC presented Murray with a painting by Christine Hill at its AGM

A region as lovely as the Illawarra has many advocates, volunteers who work behind the scenes, devoting a lifetime’s service to the greater good. In Thirroul, one of those people is Murray Jones, who spent 20 years as the secretary of Thirroul Village Committee (TVC). Murray stepped down at July’s AGM and, in summing up his time, told the Flame simply: “I did my best to do what needed to be done.” In doing so, he’s upheld the legacy of Don Gray OAM, who – worried the town “was looking rather tatty” – called TVC’s first public meeting in 1991. Murray is the sixth generation of his family to live in Thirroul and – thanks to research by Illawarra pub historian Mick Roberts – can trace his ancestry to 1870s settlers, including a Norwegian pioneer named George Whitford. “He went to America in the 1850s, 60s, for the gold rush,” Murray said. “And then he followed the gold rush out here. The joke in the family is … he got off in Sydney instead of Melbourne. “He started walking south, found this place, and a girl. He was a pastry cook by background, so he opened up some sort of bakery in Thirroul, actually where the Ryan’s Hotel is, on the corner. He became a timber getter; he got the contract to supply the piers for the jetty at Sandon Point and was paid in barrels of rum. So he started selling it.” Ultimately – after a few run-ins with the law – this led to the establishment of the hotel we know today as Ryan’s. “Believe it or not,” Murray said, “he died of cirrhosis of the liver.” Growing up in Thirroul

Thirroul was a great place for a child of the 1950s and 60s. Major developments were stymied by the area from Stanwell Park to Thirroul falling into a 10-mile green belt around Sydney, designated as 42 clubs & community

part of the Cumberland Plan post-World War II. Murray started work at the steelworks as a trainee in 1969 and studied mathematics part time at the University of Wollongong. He’s had a successful career in information technology, including roles at major companies like BHP, Xerox and 3M, lecturing at TAFE and starting up three different software companies. “I got on the ground floor on it, if you like,” he said. Now 72, Murray has not got around to retiring. “I don’t think I will whilst I enjoy what I’m doing. I still have a business with my sister, a company called Ecquate. We use life-cycle analysis to trace the environmental cost of products through their supply chain. It’s interesting work.” Teamwork keeps the town tidy

The past two decades of TVC achievements have been “a team effort”, Murray said. The TVC leads the beautification of Thirroul, removing graffiti, caring for gardens and planting trees. To a lesser degree, it is involved in development applications. “The other thing is to try to make people proud of the area where they live,” Murray said. “That’s quite easy to do in Thirroul, because it’s such a beautiful place.” Murray only has praise for council’s efforts today. “To me, that council does a good job and the TVC is only too happy to deal with them.” His first TVC task – convincing council of the time to keep a key laneway open – remains a personal highlight. “That’s the reason why I got involved in 2004. A public notice appeared in the Mercury saying that Kelton Lane will be closed.” As Murray pointed out, “If that road is closed, then there’s only one way in through the northern suburbs.” One car accident in the wrong place on

Lawrence Hargrave Drive, as happened about a year ago, and everyone north of that point could have been cut off from the southern suburbs. “To have a basic closure of a road in such a way that, in certain circumstances, they could lock up thousands of people in an area and they wouldn’t be able to get out – it was just absurd.” Thirroul – the new Bondi

New developments south-west of Sydney will make our beaches more popular than ever, with Thirroul tipped to become “the new Bondi”, Murray said. “It has one of the best beach complexes for families in Australia. It’s got a big pool, a huge

picnic area, which has never been open to vehicles. The only event that’s allowed there is the Thirroul Seaside and Arts Festival.” Keeping the grassy beachfront pristine – as it was when Murray got his first part-time job as a 12-year-old, collecting pennies at the entrance to Thirroul Beach dressing sheds – is one of the TVC’s big successes. Even today, you can run across to the beach barefoot, without the fear of broken glass. Murray won’t be lost to the TVC – he’s staying on as a member and a friend from Uni, Annette Jones (no relation), has taken on the secretary role. “We’ve got a good group of people who will carry it forward,” he said.

The TVC looks back at 2023 By Annette Jones, secretary of Thirroul Village Committee McCauley Lodge

Two development applications (DAs) were submitted by Fresh Hope Care to redevelop their aged care facility known as McCauley Lodge at 8-10 Tasman Parade and the independent living centre known as Tasman Court at 19-23 Tasman Parade. Fresh Hope Care made a submission to the Land and Environment Court with proceedings fixed for a conciliation conference on 27 February. Sandon Point Seniors Living Development

Anglicare information sessions in September and November were great opportunities to see what is proposed at the site, which borders Wilkies St, Geraghty St and Tramway Creek in McCauley Estate. Anglicare proposes to build 229 apartments for seniors living and 41 aged care rooms. There will be 24 apartment buildings, of 2 to 4 storeys. Anglicare hopes to have a modified Concept Plan (‘Modification 6’) on exhibition by early December, allowing for public submissions. The proposed modifications seek to amend the mix, type and number of dwellings on the site (now limited to Residential Aged Care Facility beds and Independent Living Units). This Concept Plan Approval is schematic and does not permit any physical works. A DA will be submitted later with the design for the site’s ultimate construction. Thirroul Plaza

There has been no news from the developers since the Land and Environment Court (LEC) rejected the DA in October 2022. The TVC encourages the developer to work with the community. Lot 101 Amy Street

A DA was lodged with Council to subdivide Lot 101 Amy St, Thirroul into three Torrens Title lots

(Lots 301, 302 and 303) and for access works to land behind Panmills Drive in McCauley Estate. The LEC approved the DA. A Planning Agreement was reached between Council, Anglicare and the developer for the relocation of part of the public pathway known as Wilkies Walk at the corner of Wilkies Way and Panmills Drive, Thirroul. Traffic changes

In early June, Transport for NSW (TfNSW) informed neighbouring residents of traffic changes to the southern part of Lawrence Hargrave Drive (LHD). The wider community was only consulted after Heathcote MP Maryanne Stuart intervened as a result of contact by the TVC. Residents continue to be concerned about the safety of these changes, especially the location of new bus stop. In relation to traffic changes slated for Bulli, TfNSW advised Ms Stuart all the changes, apart from the extended clearways (which were the major issue raised by residents and businesses), will be going through. The TVC remains concerned about access to and from Thirroul. If ever there is an accident blocking the railway bridge or the bottom of Bulli Pass access to Thirroul would be extremely difficult. With this in mind members of the TVC executive and Save Thirroul Village took Maryanne Stuart on a tour of Thirroul to show her the locations of potential secondary access routes. This is just the start of a much-needed discussion. Community Recognition Certificate

Heathcote MP Maryanne Stuart presented the TVC with a Community Recognition Certificate for continued work and commitment to Thirroul. The TVC meets five times a year at TRIPS Hall. Email thirroulvillagecommittee@gmail.com

December 43

Meet a councillor Brian Kelly interviews Elisha Aitken, a Liberal councillor for Ward 3

Elisha Aitken was washing dishes one night in August 1998 in Figtree, biblical rains teeming in the dark, when she and her housemates heard a banging sound. The noise was made by floating logs knocking against her car. “The water was over the dashboard – there was nothing we could do,” said Aitken, then a resident near the hilly Koloona Ave. “It was just an old second-hand Camry, but it was my car!” As someone who grew up in occasionally soggy Forbes, Aitken knows how being inundated with water affects a community. “It was one of the biggest challenges for my parents’ business because there are regular floods there – a 10- or 15-year cycle. Any impact on the operations of those sorts of businesses can be the death knell,” Aitken said, recalling a two-week hiatus her family’s service station went through in 1991 that nearly stopped it functioning. Growing up in that environment showed Aitken the connection between business and community at a fundamental level. “Businesses would sponsor sporting clubs … that’s where a lot of funding would come for your little NRL or cricket club. And not just monetary donations but manning the barbecues and getting hands-on.” Since moving to Wollongong in the mid-90s to pursue a metallurgy cadetship, Aitken has moulded an impressive career that has included 21 years at BlueScope and work in areas such as project management, materials, supply chain optimisation and demand planning. Then there’s her Master of Science in logistics. Does she consider herself an organised person? “Yes, but then I have a background in planning and scheduling! “But you need to be – I have a full-time job, and a lot of our evenings are taken up with briefings and community forums. I have two nieces and a nephew in Kiama I try to get down to see often.” If the Liberal Party has a “women problem”, it’s lost on Aitken, who has never encountered any gender discrimination in party dealings. “They’ve always been welcoming,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed state conferences, and the debate and the civility of it; there has never been any exclusion.” Encountering compromised driving conditions on the five-hour trip to Forbes to see her parents brings issues of road maintenance to mind for Aitken, who now knows about what it takes to manage asphalt surfaces. “There are whole sections of road that just got washed away,” she said. “I’ve never seen it like that. 44 clubs & community

Ward 3’s Elisha Aitken. Photo: Wollongong City Council

One of things people don’t realise about council is they have their own budgets for their own sections of repair; then there’s the bigger projects about expanding into, say, West Dapto, which is a lot of state government money.” Improving sporting field facilities tops Aitken’s list of things to get done – and there’s a connection to her being on council’s flood committee. “There’s been a massive increase in participation – a lot more women are getting into sports. You’ve only got so many sports fields, and maybe five different codes who want time on them,” she said. “Plus all the rain we’ve had. Sporting groups have lost so much time on them – we have to find new ways to drain these fields. “The floods committee has been great learning – in the time I’ve lived here, I’ve seen a massive improvement in terms of how council keeps creeks clear, for example.” At a recent vote over the controversial Illawarra wind farm zone, Aitken was the sole councillor opposed to the proposal. “There is a wealth of information regarding the impacts and economic viability of these turbines in other parts of the world, much of which seems to be bad – how about we learn from these mistakes,” she said. “If we must change our energy generation then we need to work hard to select only those alternatives that lead us to better outcomes for our environment, communities, and our businesses. Switching to renewables should not be progressed regardless of the cost to our environment and region.”

Your Letters

Write to editor@theillawarraflame.com.au – please aim for 100 words Servo update

I have spent the past year investigating the issue of redundant petrol stations in NSW. Like the one at Stanwell Park, these petrol stations have become not only eyesores but potential environmental hazards. Recently it has come to my attention that the EPA are only taking action where contamination from a redundant petrol station is adversely affecting a groundwater system. I have approached both the government and fossil fuel companies, advocating for retrospective legislation to hold these companies accountable for the remediation of sites they once operated. Unfortunately, the response has been slow and negligible; the issue remains unresolved. We need a comprehensive plan to ensure that those responsible for their creation take responsibility for their cleanup. – The Hon. Ted Pickering AM Editor’s note: The Flame contacted the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), which has no register or list of redundant service stations. It is working on a project to assess the risks of a leaking Underground Petroleum Storage System contaminating the water supply of groundwaterreliant communities. A spokesperson said: “Under Environment

Protection laws, Wollongong City Council is the appropriate regulatory authority for the former service station at 54 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Stanwell Park.” “We understand the site has been closed for a number of years and the EPA isn’t aware of any evidence that the site is contaminated or poses a threat to the environment.” Fostering Fairness in Community Magazines

Community magazines have long been the voice of our neighbourhoods. Recent coverage of an important vote has raised concerns about bias, specifically a strong focus on the “yes” vote while neglecting the “no” perspective. 1. The Importance of Balanced Reporting: Presenting both sides allows readers to make informed decisions and fosters healthy debate. 2. The Role of Businesses in Community Magazines: While businesses may advertise, editorial independence is crucial. 3. Addressing the Discrepancy: Providing a platform for the “no” vote and encouraging community members to share their perspectives will help restore credibility and promote inclusivity. 4. Community Engagement: Host community forums or letters to the editor. This promotes dialogue and strengthens community ties. Conclusion: Our community magazine can be a unifying force. Promoting balanced reporting will ensure it remains a trusted source. – Randall Moore

change and adapt the support we provide to meet Annual barbecue their needs.” Thank you to the volunteers who helped welcome welcomes refugees community members, serve food, and entertain By Cristina Sacco, of MCCI

MCCI Refugee Support held its biggest social inclusion event of the year in November, with more than 170 community members attending the annual BBQ at Live Steamers. “Events like these are so important. While young and old enjoyed the train rides, sausage sizzle and face painting on a stunning Illawarra spring day, this was about so much more,” said MCCI Executive Operations Manager, Sarah Wilson. “These events help foster a sense of belonging and connection for people who have recently arrived in the Illawarra, and give us another chance to listen to refugee families in a relaxed setting so that we can

children with face painting and other fun activities. Circus Monoxide provided entertainment and long-time supporters Rotary Club of Corrimal provided the BBQ and extra volunteers.

December 45

Photos: Anthony Warry

A lifelong advocate for the ocean By Genevieve Swart

Associate Professor Michelle Voyer, of the University of Wollongong’s Blue Futures Energy Lab, supports offshore wind if it’s done to the highest standards. At the same time, she empathises with protesters because, when all is said and done, Michelle and the ‘No Turbines’ campaigners share something powerful: a deep love for the ocean. Michelle’s PhD, which she did 10 years ago at the University of Technology Sydney, investigated exactly this sort of situation. “My PhD research was looking at social acceptability of marine protected areas and how different people respond to things like protected areas in very different ways, but often all driven by fundamentally the same values – this kind of love and care for the ocean,” she says. “There’s a massive global movement of marine social sciences. People have realised how deeply connected people are to the ocean and how important it is that we consider that and think about that in terms of how we manage and use ocean spaces.” Michelle was born in Sydney and grew up in Maitland, on the banks of the Hunter River. Most holidays, her family would head for the ocean. “My grandparents had a holiday house in Boat Harbour in Port Stephens, and they’d had it since the 1940s,” she says. “So it was always a really big part of our childhood to spend holidays on the coast. And that to me was my favourite place in the world, growing up, was to go there and just hang out by the coast and in the water, on the water with my cousins.” Arts and humanities vied for her interest during high school and she wound up doing a degree in both marine science and the arts at the University of Newcastle. After that, Michelle spent 10 years in government departments in NSW, Tasmania and Queensland and NSW. She’s worked for Fisheries, Parks and Wildlife as a ranger and for the National Oceans Office. 46 news

“I’ve always been interested in the governance space and managing human uses,” she says. “The way I came to my PhD was having worked in government for 10 years and really feeling like science sometimes took a backseat in decisionmaking, and I got quite frustrated with that.” The heated discussions about the offshore wind zone come as no surprise to Michelle, whose 25-year career has included its fair share of controversial projects, starting with her first assignment out of uni. “I went to work for New South Wales Fisheries, at Taylor’s Beach in Port Stephens. And the very first project I did was looking at establishing new aquatic reserves up and down the coast. I was 22 years old and I was sent out with a team to talk to communities about how they felt about having a proposal for an aquatic reserve in their backyard. “I got yelled at a lot; people weren’t happy. “Not long after that, I did another project on Grey Nurse Sharks. Very similar. Then there was a proposal for marine protected areas – the South-East Regional Marine Protected Area Network. “A memorable part of that was being told that if I had been a man, I would’ve been tarred and feathered.” Michelle says this kind of intense response is surfacing again as the Illawarra region grapples with the idea of offshore wind. “People are really, really passionate about their ocean spaces and any kind of activity or change of use or management action in the oceans, people respond really strongly to them.” She takes heart from the fact that we are united in caring for the ocean. “I would say the majority of people engaged in this debate recognise that climate change is a huge threat, including a huge threat to our oceans, and that we need to transition as quickly as we can to a renewable energy future. That’s a really solid base for us to work from.”

Outside of her day job at UOW, Michelle is equally passionate about spending leisure time in the sea. The family first came to the Illawarra about 14 years ago, when her husband took up a job with Maritime NSW. At the time, Michelle had a baby boy, was pregnant with her second son and keen to be closer to family. They moved to Kiama and fell in love with the coastal lifestyle. “We’re big campers. My husband’s an avid fisherman, so we’ve had lots of boats over the years.” Almost all their recreational time is spent on the coast. “Surfing, fishing, diving, snorkelling, paddle boarding – between us all, we cover off on most of those things. I sometimes joke that we’re not allowed to leave the coast even on holidays.” Independent research is a vital next step in the offshore wind process, she believes. “We [the Blue Energy Futures Lab] certainly put in some recommendations in our submission that there needs to be more independent research in this process. At the moment it does feel like it’s quite developer-centric. “But I think we also need to push for some more community discussions and collaborations in a bit more of a respectful environment. “The concerns that have been raised are very valid … we need to determine whether those concerns are deal breakers or whether they’re things that we can manage and accommodate and mitigate.” Back home, her sons, now aged 14 and 16, are mostly mystified by the furore. “To be honest, they don’t get it. They go, what’s all this fuss about? It just seems to them to be a no-brainer. And I think that’s quite common in the younger demographic – the ‘we just need to get on with this’ kind of thinking.” Like many young fans of renewable energy, part of the appeal for Michelle’s sons is the future job opportunities and economic security it’s predicted to bring. “My oldest, in particular, is interested in the engineering aspects of it. He’s one of these kids that likes to pull things apart and understand the mechanical aspects of it. It’s interesting to him to think about that scale and size of it.” Yet, as many working parents will know, adult careers are less than impressive to one’s offspring and even being the Keira Endowed Chair in Energy Futures, a Research Fellow with the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security and a spokesperson for UOW’s Blue Energy Futures Lab is nothing to boast about at home. “They’re teenagers,” Michelle says, laughing. “Mostly that’s just mum’s work and they’re not that much interested in anything mum does.” Visit www.uow.edu.au/ancors/blue-energyfutures-lab/frequently-asked-questions.

Ask an Energy Expert Opponents of offshore wind have suggested various alternatives, from nuclear to on-shore turbines. All of these are impractical, says Ty Christopher, who left Endeavour Energy in 2020 after 37 years in the power industry and is now the Director of Energy Futures Network at the University of Wollongong. “Technology that’s viable for the capacity we need – it is build a new coal-fired power plant, build a new gas-fired power plant, build an offshore wind industry or build nuclear power plants.” Why not nuclear? In the climate emergency, time is precious. “The reality of where we’re sitting at the moment with nuclear is nuclear power is not legal in Australia,” says Ty. “There’s only one legally allowed nuclear reactor here in Australia, it is the one up at Lucas Heights. There is an entire legal framework that needs to be established just for nuclear to even start the process to exist as an industry in Australia. “Quite frankly it can’t happen within the time-frame that we’re talking about, which is zero to 10 years from where we are now.” “As an engineer and a scientist, I think nuclear is best framed as a missed opportunity for our nation in terms of decarbonisation. Had we as a nation started this journey three decades ago … We would be in a very different situation now and not still relying on fossil fuel for 70% of our electricity.” The other problem with nuclear energy is its huge cost. “No one can come up with where the money for it is going to come from. And that means government’s going have to pay for it, and that means we are going to have to pay for it. And it’s going to be very expensive. “So while I don’t like simple headlines, the nuclear discussion for a solution to decarbonise our electricity at the moment really fits in the category of too expensive and too late.” Scan the QR to read, Why not solar or onshore wind?

December 47

Tomorrow’s ‘wind farm boy’ How a young law graduate became an activist. By Genevieve Swart

Two days before more than 1000 people attended an anti-turbines rally at Flagstaff Hill, a small group from the Tomorrow Movement invited local media to an event at the same location. “We’re a group of young people, we’re really concerned about climate change,” said Luke Gelder, a 22-year-old University of Wollongong graduate who took time off his job as a law clerk to attend. “We’ve accepted that science and we recognise how dire the situation truly is and how little time we actually have left.” The group’s October 27 media call aimed to send out a rival message in the wind farm debate. The Tomorrow Movement – a grassroots project of the national charity Young Campaigns – was calling for supportive submissions ahead of the offshore wind zone consultation closing on November 15. “This renewable technology and development opportunity is something that could be very beneficial for us in that fight against climate change,” Luke said, “because, well, it’s getting dire.” “We’re talking biodiversity loss on a scale that’s similar to other extinction-level events.” Luke grew up in Thirroul, went to Bulli High School and started a Bachelor of Law in 2020, enjoying three weeks of in-person classes before Covid hit. Like many young people, he’s worried about the wide-ranging fallout from a changing climate and, in between finishing his law degree, Luke has spent much of the past three months campaigning for renewables. “I’ve become a little bit of ‘the wind farm boy’, if you will,” he said. “I actually joined Tomorrow Movement through another organisation, which is very similar, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. Both are youth-based climate groups, just people very concerned about climate change who want to help the change that we need to happen.” He chanced on the Tomorrow Movement’s table at a uni clubs day. “I was, I think, personally a little 48 news

daunted by the task – you know, activism – and not sure what I could even bring to the table. And then the wind farms came up.” Luke immediately knew his legal training would come in handy. “I thought, ‘I can get through the extensive reports and documentation that’ll arise.’ “I feel like I can understand a few things that are going on – without falling into traps, basically. “I remember seeing, in the early days of the Anti Wind Farm flyers going around, The New York Post had an ex CEO of Greenpeace saying, wind farms are killing whales.” Greenpeace – which issued a statement saying its former leader “exploits long-gone ties” – has also recently published an article to clarify that offshore wind farms are not killing whales. “It’s scary to see how people are very taken in by the media that supports their views,” Luke said. Luke has seen other disturbing things on Facebook, from people boasting of using ChatGPT for submissions to images of windmills billowing black smoke. “I think a lot of young people will recognise that you don’t trust everything that you read on social media,” he said. Luke went to uni wanting to study criminal law, but switched to marine resources law, which opened his eyes to how law and the environment could work together. “I ended up doing an internship with the Environmental Defenders Office in Sydney, who deal with climate change litigation. They’ve also dealt with litigation in regards to seismic testing and all those sort of things with whale impacts, in the Northern Territory with the Beetaloo basin and the pipelines and the offshore rigs and stuff going on there.” Those developments are far worse for whales, Luke said. He did initially worry about wind farms being in the migration route but was reassured after researching the subject. “Seeing that the environmental impact seems to be minimal to beneficial in some regards – it might be creating a bit of a manufactured biodiversity spot for some types of fish, potentially – I was like, okay, well, I’m sold on that front. “Climate change is the real big issue here. It’s coming for all manner of creatures.” Luke likes the idea of Wollongong being powered by “clean renewable jobs” and helping BlueScope decarbonise to make green steel. He even looks forward to seeing wind farms off Wollongong. “They’re white sticks on the horizon, some of which spin a bit. If anything, they’re almost a symbol of progress… “I don’t mind them being in my backyard.”

From Facebook to Flagstaff Hill How a Stanwell Park admin helped organise a huge rally. By Genevieve Swart

A lifelong surfer, long-time local and Stanwell Park Community Forum admin, Grant Drinkwater was one of the organisers of the Coalition Against Offshore Wind’s rally at Flagstaff Hill in October. Grant – who regular readers may remember launched a start-up called Save On Shave along with fellow ex-Qantas flight crew members in 2021 – is now working in the arts and entertainment industry, although recently most of his time has been dedicated to volunteering with the Coalition Against Offshore Wind (CAOW). “It’s just overtaken my life,” said Grant, a CAOW spokesperson and one of the Facebook admins. “From five o’clock in the morning till 11 at night. “I’ve been a surfer for 50 years, so I basically surfed nearly every day of my life. I love the ocean and the things that it gives us. I love plants and nature; I’m a horticulturist as well. “I came down from Newcastle 25 years ago and I really just love the area and that’s what’s given me the motivation to be involved with this.” October 29’s rally attracted more than 1000 people, Grant said. Politicians present included One Nation MP Tani Milhailik, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Mark Banasiak and independent Kiama MP Gareth Ward. “The rally was fantastic,” Grant said. “It was such a perfect day and the whales were actually breaching behind us when we were there. The highlight for me was just the broad range of opinions and the broad range of people who are involved.” Like many people across social media, Grant has been critical of the government’s submissions process, describing it as “obfuscated”. “I’m a supporter of renewable energy and I think

the bulk of the people in the group are as well. We’re not climate deniers. We don’t deny that possibly there is a changing climate, but is this the right way to go? I think that’s the big question.” In Grant’s view, the energy transition needs to be “more strategic”. “It’s something that the government needs to have a proper grown-up discussion about … instead of just coming out with these crazy ideas and just throwing it up and all of a sudden we’re going to save the world by putting a couple of hundred wind turbines off the sea. It just doesn’t work like that, unfortunately – that’s my personal opinion, not the group’s.” Speaking to the Flame on October 30, Grant said it had been a whirlwind four weeks since he first got involved and started delving into offshore wind and reading many different government reports. “We’ve ridden the learning curve,” he said. “It’s been crazy. We’ve run three town hall meetings in that time. We’ve delivered 25,000 pamphlets. We had the rally yesterday with over a thousand people. We’ve been on radio, TV, newspapers. It’s been incredible. “Isn’t it great in a way that anyone can get involved, and really have a go about things if they’re really passionate about them? I think we should be very proud of the country we live in and proud of the media… The mainstream media has been fantastic. They’ve really listened to what we’ve had to say and given us a platform to say it.” Pictured above, L to R: CAOW’s Michael McKeogh, Amanda De Lore, Grant Drinkwater and Chiara Nakashian. Flagstaff Hill image thanks to Kramer Photography

December 49

What’s next for wind groups? By Genevieve Swart

With the Illawarra’s offshore renewable energy zone (REZ) consultation ending on November 15 and a decision from the government not expected until next year, two Facebook group founders told us what’s next for their communities. Incorporated

Good for the Gong has expanded off Facebook and become an incorporated association. Founder Sean Moran said volunteers had pooled donations to pay a fee of about $200 and turn the Good for the Gong Facebook group into a non-partisan not-for-profit in early November. “We’re very much in start-up mode,” he said. “We’ve put this together in a matter of weeks, and – considering we’re a bunch of volunteers doing this in our spare time – have accomplished a lot.” Sean said the volunteers wanted a legal set-up to give them a solid base for long-term involvement in offshore wind discussions. “The process of developing an offshore wind farm is likely to take between five and 10 years,” he said. “Our door is open to anyone from across the political spectrum who wants to join us in supporting good climate solutions.” The REZ consult began on August 14 and Sean started the Facebook group in October, after seeing a flood of negative comments online. “I was very frustrated, at times angry, that that sort of disinformation that was being put out there,” he said. The goal was to counter misinformation and provide in principle support for the offshore wind area. “Good for the Gong was started by a bunch of local volunteers, who want to limit climate change by replacing coal and gas with renewables. It was a

pretty organic sort of thing. I think a lot of people were feeling similarly frustrated, that this is one of our first big opportunities in decades to work on that transition – and a lot of us were frustrated to see that getting shouted down.” Sean, who has a background in environmental engineering, now has help to run the group, which swiftly grew to 1.1k members. Two more volunteer admins are on board: Courtney Venaglia and Elliot Stein, a fourth-generation Thirroul local who is also president of Thirroul Labor, vice-president of the Thirroul Village Committee, on the TRIPS hall management committee and a volunteer at Coledale RSL. “We don’t have any financial backing,” Sean said, emphasising the group will remain non-partisan and won’t accept funding from political parties. Paused

As the social media debate became increasingly polarised, one group wanted to create a more balanced, fact-based forum. Damien Toogood started The Illawarra Wind Farms Discussion Group, which grew to about 500 members. “It was late September, very little information was available, we started with ‘Fact not opinion’ as our primary rule,” Damien said. “All posts had to be accompanied by a link of unquestionable integrity. “We got facts out there very early on, with no resources in the challenging world of social. In our own small way, it got the community talking. I’m proud of that.” Asked “what’s next?”, Damien said: “Social media is divisive. If we are not unified, our children will inherit a hellscape. We need a forum with the utmost integrity where we can constructively discuss renewable energy while protecting the last bastion of development, the ocean.” Fellow admin Melissa Barnard said the closure of submissions was a chance to pause for reflection. “Due to the huge time and energy constraints on the admins as individuals – with families and other jobs – we have put a pause on our group for the time being. All articles and comments on the group are still visible to read but no new posts or comments – for now.” Discussions continue

Good for the Gong volunteers at a recent social gathering to mark the close of submissions on November 15. Photo supplied

50 news

The Coalition Against Offshore Wind (CAOW), with 2.3k members, No Offshore Wind Farms Illawarra (8k), No Offshore Wind Farm For The Illawarra (4.5k) all continued to receive 10+ posts daily almost two weeks after submissions closed.

NIRAG/NF3 report By secretary/treasurer Ross Dearden

NF1 needs a co-convenor from February 2024.

NIRAG held its last quarterly meeting in August and the minutes are on the Flame’s website. It’s been another busy year with a lot of community interaction with Wollongong Council in the interim role as Neighbourhood Forum 3, covering the suburbs from Woonona to Austinmer. NIRAG members shared information about the engagement process and responded to planning and draft strategy documents. We have had some success representing community concerns to Council about various Development Applications, the Infrastructure Development Plan, the Integrated Transport Strategy, and the Climate Change Mitigation Plan 2023, and supporting active transport. Early in the year the Council revised plans for the cycleway in Pioneer Estate in response to residents’ concerns. Another major achievement was the commencement of the Trinity Row cycleway reconstruction at Bulli which is now being widened to 4m as a result of community submissions. NIRAG is still actively working to achieve a footpath for children and elderly to walk safely along Point Street before Geraghty St bridge is constructed to connect to Wrexham Road Thirroul, which will increase traffic considerably. This is anticipated as part of the Anglicare Seniors Living Development plans for the site between Wilkies Street, Thirroul and Tramway Creek, Bulli. NIRAG has supported the Old Bulli Community Group concerns aiming to improve Hospital Road parking for Bulli Hospital following redevelopment and the sale of the old building site to Landcom. Other activities included supporting the Referendum YES23 vote campaign; submissions in support of The Lower Escarpment Walking Track; changes to Private Certifiers notification requirements; Thirroul Plaza; Bulli Showground Master Plan; McCauley Lodge redevelopment and associated emergency access/ evacuation concerns for developments relying on Lawrence Hargrave Drive in particular; and opposing the Transport NSW decision to ignore the Movement and Place planning and design process for Thirroul village. NIRAG made a submission to the Federal Government in support of a future offshore wind zone providing there is full compliance with a detailed environmental assessment. Throughout the year each Monday morning the NIRAG / Hewitts Ck Bushcare group meet at the Hewitts Ck cycleway bridge to care for the site.

14 Feb 2024: Meet 7pm at Otford Community Centre unless notified of alternative venue

Next meeting: Wed, Feb 7 at 7pm at Bulli Community Centre, nirag@bigpond.com

NF1 report By Neighbourhood Forum 1 convenor Warwick Erwin Otford Causeway

Now open. Boom gates at causeway & electronic warning signs at Helensburgh and Bald Hill yet to be done. No tender by Council yet for these items. Council complaints update

NF1 convenor Warwick Erwin met Wollongong City Council General Manager Greg Doyle and Director of Infrastructure and Works Joanne Page in Helensburgh to discuss the list of complaints relating to works around Helensburgh. In some cases, the GM agreed the complaints were justified. The delay with Phase 3 of the Town Plan was acknowledged. We await further responses. Both committed to regular visits to the NF1 area. Helensburgh Town Centre update

Council’s crew finished and opened the footpath under the awning between Salvos and Red Nectar. Railing on stairs to be installed before Christmas. Budget Items for the NF1 area

• Relining of the Helensburgh swimming pool • Construction of the roundabout at the intersection of Parkes and Lilyvale streets • Extra parking at Helensburgh sport fields • Fencing for Charles Harper Park playground • Construction of new public toilets near the current Helensburgh Community Centre • The design of the Helensburgh Community Centre and Library Now is the time to inform Ward 1 Councillors of your “wishes” for the 2024/25 Council budget. Council notices

Find details on council’s website or at Helensburgh Library of Christmas events at Wollongong mall; New Year’s Eve and Australia Day events at Wollongong Harbour; Wollongong Council works update monthly newsletter. Nomination of NF1 co-convenor

December 51

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52 local directory

YOUR LOCAL TYRE SPECIALIST

A wide range of Brands with Unbeatable Prices! All Tyre Sizes available - Wheel Alignments Tyre Repairs - New Wheels - Balancing - Rotations

177 Old Princes Hwy Helensburgh Phone: 4294 8973 Mobile: 0420 764 668

AUTOMOTIVE

Helensburgh Car Services

Small Business Accountants Pty Ltd

JOHN INGRAM MVRL 54398

ACCOUNTING & FINANCE

Authorised

Specialising in quality custom builds and inspired spaces from concept to completion. RENOVATIONS + ADDITIONS BATHROOMS + KITCHENS DECKS + PERGOLAS DESIGN & CONSTRUCT Call us today to discuss your next project.

Leon Hahipene leon@ebopbuilding.com.au Ebop Building Pty Ltd

PRESTIGE WARDROBES ALL WORK GUARANTEED.

Timber Doors Polyurethane Painted Doors Mirrored Doors Laundry Closets Drawers Internals

0449 149 779 ebopbuilding.com.au LIC. 269452C

CALL 518 CALLPAUL PAUL:0425 42272729911

RAY SHAW 0432 633 679 LIC. 370003C

Lic 311958C

EXCELLENCE IN BUILDING

JOHN MAHLER 0414 924 411

BRAD MCNALLY

Carpenter/Joiner • Reconstruction • Decks Home maintenance & small plastering jobs

0418 430 901

L/N: 870C

KITCHENS P/L

New kitchens Modernising old kitchens Laundries Vanities Entertainment units Call Mitch Smith m: 0406 043 370 e: mitch.smith@live.com.au

GLEN ROBINSON

FENCING

EST. 1990

Email: bmcnallycarpentry@bigpond.com

M: 0409 664 221 E: glennrobinsonfencing@hotmail.com Specialising in: Colorbond fencing, Fence repairs, Extending fences for privacy Lic. No. 263661C

ABN 33 676 627 825

December 53

BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION

SPECIALISING IN: Bathroom Renovations and detailed Carpentry

Property Solutions

PEST MANAGEMENT Lic# 7001

Retaining Walls • Pergolas • Decking Paving • Landscaping Lic: 151773C Complete Makeovers Call Daniel: 0422 503 193

Lic no 349364C

TERMITE & PEST SPECIALIST

Termite Treatments & Inspections General Pest Treatments • Cockroaches • Spiders Ants • All Pests • Fully Licenced and Insured

Call: 0420 480 036 pestfix.com.au

UPGRADE YOUR HOME Carpentry & Building Works - Home Maintenance - Roof Repairs

0420 819 037

Matt Reardon 0411 419 467

Lic No. 242432C

shamrockglass@y7mail.com

Northern Illawarra

Gutter Cleaning Reliable, Local & Insured

0403 851 399

Cement Rendering Acrylic Coatings

Cement Bagging Painting

CEMENT RENDERING Lic No. 845 91C / ABN 69 863 526 604 / Fully Insured

Paul Channer 0408 814 518 channerfoster@gmail.com

COMPUTING

Stanwell Tops Technical Services

Home and Small Business IT » Sales » Service » Support » Microsoft Partner

54 local directory

Warwick Erwin JP

0419 413 935

warwick@stts.com.au

OVER 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE

KNG Solutions HANDYMAN HANDYMAN SERVICING CORRIMAL TO SCARBOROUGH

Your entire handyman needs! All types of repairs: fencing, Your entirepainting, handyman needs! All typeslandscaping of repairs: and fencing, plumbing, paving, clean-ups, gardens, plumbing, clean-ups, landscaping carpentry,painting, cleaning,paving, tiling, picture hanging, mirrors, and lightgardens, carpentry, cleaning, tiling, picture hanging, mirrors, light fittings, retaining retaining walls, walls, furniture fittings, furniture assembling, assembling,hose hoserepair, repair, brickwork, rendering rendering and brickwork, and much much more more ......Reasonable Reasonablerates!! rates!! KNG SOLUTIONS SOLUTIONS PTY PTY LTD KNG LTD (Greg (Greg Ruskin) Ruskin) MOBILE 0488 0488 036 036 763 763 EMAIL MOBILE EMAIL kng@froggy.com.au kng@froggy.com.au

DOMESTIC SERVICES

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24hr Emergency Service Available All glass replacement Window Maintenance

I E T S Specialists in all aspects of 28 YEARS INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

Wayne Teal 0408 776 099

Lic No. 15-003682-004

Specialist in the management and control of Pests, Termites and Bird Management Solutions

PH: 4294 4777 E: alloverpest@bigpond.com

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N Roofing I E Guttering T Leaf Guards S

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0414 892 601

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9576 6088 www.impactpestcontrol.com.au www.impactpestcontrol.com.au impactpc@optusnet.com.au info@impactpestcontrol.com.au

thirroul.nsw@hireahubby.com.au

2515’s Home Handyman -Ross SERVING THIRROUL TO CLIFTON

ABN 42 650 568 437

DO YOU NEED HELP WITH ......? • Minor repairs around house or garden, • Trimming vegetation or bushes off paths, • Access and safety in the home or garden, • Other jobs as needed.

Contact Ross on 0459 910 102 Email - wavesross@iinet.net.au

BELTER ELECTRICAL Lic 264525C Quality workmanship + friendly service Call Dan Belter

0407 767 654

Nex Gen Eco Clean Who are we? 0434 973 079 - 0434 507 325 • exterior cleaning specialists • pressure cleaning • softwashing

• gutter cleaning • window cleaning • concrete sealing • solar panels Abn 76 146 457 422

DAE

the future! DAEelectrIcal 0451 657 928 December 55

ELECTRICAL SERVICES

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0423 563 654

JONAT’S GARDEN TRANSFORMERS Cheap paths for a better garden • Fully insured Domestic and commercial • Free quotes

• Turf Laying • Pest and Diseases Control • Tree Removal

• Lawn Mowing • Gutter Cleaning • Rubbish Removal

Qualified Horticulturist (Dip of Horticulture) P: Jonathan 0423 457 629 ABN: 57245334210 E: jonatsgardentransformers@hotmail.com

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Need a tree stump or small tree removed? www.southsidestumpgrinding.com.au

0408 389 829 • dalmerstrees@gmail.com

Call / text Luke 0413 655 655

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7/115 Parkes Street, Helensburgh

Local and owner operated

All Stone work and Garden maintenance from lawns to landscaping

0412 232 433

bohmerstreecare.com.au Lic # 109670c

Ph: 02 4283 7280 (24hrs)

0410 636 847 www.jpowelljewellery.com.au Room No 16, 3rd floor, 428 George Street, Sydney PO Box 57 Helensburgh NSW 2508 56 local directory

JEWELLERY

Engagement • Wedding • Eternity & Dress Rings • Repairs • Remodelling

PAINTING

LEGAL SERVICES

Incorporating Bensons Conveyancing Service

ph 0439 623 286 or 02 4294 4915 PO Box 182, Helensburgh NSW 2508

www.integrityconveyancing.com.au kylietheconveyancer@integrityconveyancing.com.au Licence No 05001133

FORT KNOX LOCKS

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We also supply and fit security doors and screens

Martin Matheson Master Lic No 407 424 921

fortknoxlocks@bigpond.com

MEMBER OF MASTER LOCKSMITHS ASSOCIATION

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0402 277 928

0419 432 482

Email: info@abovealllocksmiths.com.au

Pantone 802 C Website: www.abovealllocksmiths.com.au PO Box 969, SUTHERLAND NSW Mention this ad to receive 10%2232 off

Master Licence Number: 000102854 | ABN: 44690806859

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0418 CMYK: 54 686 0 100 0 800

kpetcare@tpg.com.au pets@karenspetcareservice.com.au

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Lic# 267636C

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Call the Painter & Co for an obligation free quote.

0424 828 566 // thepainter.co@hotmail.com

Hot water repairs ■ Drainage ■ Gas ■ Roof & Gutters Blocked pipes ■ Maintenance ■ Rainwater tanks

FREE QUOTES LIC NO: 226808C

Call James Cattley

0409 875 391 www.cattleyplumbing.com.au

December 57

Lic No 212622C

YOUR LOCAL HOT WATER SPECIALIST ELECTRIC, SOLAR & GAS

• Sales • Service • Installation

0422 533 046

By Marion Cook of Thirroul Probus

All Brands • Free Quotes 24hr Emergency Service srmplumbing.com.au

David Wagstaff

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Plumbing and Drainage • General plumbing • Specialising in storm water construction • Sub divisions and easements • Domestic drainage problems • Mini excavator hire also available

free quotes

CALL NOW 0417 677 345

e: davidwagstaffdrainage@gmail.com

LICENCE NO. 8987C

TMS Roofing Contractors Pty Ltd Tile – Metal – Slate

0414 533 374

FREE ABN 67 “LEARN 661625 903 TO SWIM” CLASSES Email: tmsroofing.reception@outlook.com

SERVICING CUSTOM APPAREL FREE “LEARNPARTS TO SWIM” CLASSES & ACCESSORIES FORNIXWHEELS@GMAIL.COM WWW.FORNIXWHEELS.COM.AU

0423 489 432 SPORT

Swimming lessons for all ages children, adults and families of refugees and asylum seekers in the Illawarra area.

FREE TOinSWIM” CLASSES Learn“LEARN to stay safe the water at the: Swimming lessons for all ages BEACH children, adults and families of refugees ROCK POOLS and asylum seekers in the Illawarra area.

HOME POOLS

Learn to RIVERS, stay safe in the water&atDAMS the: CREEKS BEACH ROCK POOLS HOME POOLS RIVERS, CREEKS & DAMS

Text or Call Peter - 0424 199 299 Swimming lessons for all ages -

58 local children, and families refugees Textdirectory or adults Call Peter - 0424of199 299

and asylum seekers in the Illawarra area. Learn to stay safe in the water at the: BEACH ROCK POOLS

Fun & friends in retirement Probus provides retirees with the opportunity to connect socially, which is so important in today’s world. Membership is open to anyone who is retired or semi-retired, so why not join the tens of thousands of Probus members across Australia and New Zealand and find your local Probus Club today. Probus Club members meet monthly, to enjoy the company of like-minded fellow retirees and listen to interesting guest speakers. Go on outings, make new friends, learn a new skill, explore new interests and hobbies – there is so much to choose from when you become a member of your local Probus Club. Our community celebrated the inaugural Probus Day on 1 October 2020 – in line with the United Nations Day of Older Persons. In 2021 and 2022, celebrations of Probus Day grew. Monthly meetings became a festival of blue and gold, Probus Clubs took to their local parks, stadiums and public spaces for the jubilee. Landmarks across Australia and New Zealand were lit up in Probus colours of blue and yellow and it has become clear that one day a year is just not enough to celebrate all that Probus does. With that in mind, 2023 is the first year we celebrated Probus Month. The Thirroul club celebrated Probus Day on October 9 at Thirroul Sport and Recreation Club with our regular meeting and a day of fun with 91 members attending and enjoying an introduction to line dancing (pictured) and barefoot bowls. Enquiries thirroulprobus@gmail.com

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Erosion exposed ancient worm In his latest ‘Hello Fish’ column, Duncan Leadbitter looks at what this means for sea levels

During February 2022 we had a series of big swell days that removed large amounts of sand from Stanwell Park beach. Previous erosion events have exposed a rock shelf hidden under the sand at the northern end of the beach but the 2022 event exposed more than I have ever seen. Wandering among the exposed rocks I noticed what looked like coral in the crevices. Closer inspection revealed it to be a species of worm (Galeolaria caespitosa) that makes its own tube to live in. This tube is made of calcium carbonate and so it’s often called Sydney coral, as corals are made of a similar material. Galeolaria is normally found in the intertidal zone down to depths of 30m or so. It feeds when it is covered by seawater. So, how did this worm come to be covered by 2.5m of sand? One conclusion is that it was once underwater, which implies that at some time there

was no beach and that the rock shelf in which the Galeolaria was found was either covered by water all the time or, at the very least, covered by the tide. The sea level along the NSW coast was once higher than it is now by about 1 to 1.5m. It reached its current height about 10,000 years ago but then continued to rise by 1.5m before dropping back to its current height about 4000 years ago. So my Galeolaria could be about 4000 to 10,000 years old. I collected samples to give to a researcher and am hoping it may be Carbon-14 tested. If the sea level was a metre higher than it is now, what would Stanwell Park look like? Well, the beach would be gone and the seawater would flood the parks, likely creating a small beach near the tennis court on Hargraves Creek and maybe a similar beach near the weir on Stanwell Creek. The kiosk would be partly under water as would parts of Park Parade, Beach Road and Lower Coast Road. Stanwell Park would look like a small version of Wattamolla but with a double inlet. If a coastal geographer drilled some boreholes in the park we would get a feel for what the past could tell us, and what the future may hold as sea level rises and beaches either disappear or move inland.

Information Session Life on the Beach Join us for an introduction to Nippers for children. This is a fun awareness and safety session for everyone.

Multiple colonies of Galeolaria (white patches) exposed by erosion. Below: extent of sand loss along the beach in February 2022. Photos: Duncan Leadbitter

Please Register

DETAILS Sunday 10 December 10am-1pm Free lunch Scarborough Wombarra Surf Life Saving Club

admin@mcci.org.au 02 4229 7566

Funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.

December 59

Photo: Nick McLaren

Scarborough wins Boardriders Battle By Scarborough Boardriders’ Ian Pepper

Saturday, 18th November, Kiama – Crazy day at the southern qualifiers for the Australian Boardriders Battle with our little team taking the win against the odds and Nic Squiza picking up best surfer of the event with an 8 in the final and 9 in requal 1. We did it the hard way after finishing 3rd in our 1st heat but then got on a roll with four consecutive wins to show our depth of experience and stamina. Thanks to Surfing NSW and all the sponsors for a great day and congrats to Maroubra United 2nd, Cronulla Sharks Boardriders 3rd and Elouera

Boardriders 4th. Commiserations to Sandon Point who were on fire during the semi final but came unstuck in the last 15 minutes to finish 3rd, just missing out on qualifying for the national final. Earlier in the month, on 5th November, it was your classic windswept onshore day with muddy brown water from the previous night’s big rain event – but that didn’t deter the crew lining up for the last pointscore for 2023 at Coalcliff. Where did the year go? Mannix continued his dominance in the Open A Grade finding the rights that held up and smoothly slicing and dicing a few right through to the sand. Fin lashed out with a few slammy hacks while Billy was ever searching for the wave that could deliver a bit more, but not quite finding it. In the open women’s final Jasmine lined up a big lip hitting jam early in the heat that had her in front at 10 minutes, but warrior Shyla fought back with her ever-reliable backhand carve to take the win once again. Future dates for your diaries: • 25 November – 2023 Presentation Night at Beaches Hotel • 30 January – Annual General Meeting at Beaches Hotel (all welcome) • 4 February – Pointscore #1 for 2024 • 9-10 March – Australian Boardriders Battle National Finals at Burleigh Heads, QLD

Swim teacher thanked By Genevieve Swart

Heathcote MP Maryanne Stuart presented Peter Rafferty with a certificate to acknowledge his help in the betterment of the community.

60 sport & leisure

Thirroul’s Peter Rafferty – a former Scarborough Wombarra lifesaver who runs free swim lessons for refugees and asylum seekers – has been congratulated on his “stalwart and sustained support” for those who need it most. “He equips those who have come to this beautiful country from all over the world, with the tools necessary to enjoy our oceans,” Heathcote MP Maryanne Stuart wrote in a Community Recognition Statement to NSW Parliament. A retired engineer, Peter has been teaching people to swim at Woonona’s ocean pool since 2021. The free lessons started when Peter was volunteering as a SCARF driving instructor but saw a more pressing need. “Quite a lot of the people I’ve met are from the Congo and other African countries that don’t have access to the ocean. So there’s a quite obvious need to teach them to swim,” he told the Flame at the time. Lessons paused over winter but are now back on. Peter is an AustSwim qualified teacher. To ask about lessons, call or text him on 0424 199 299.

Thirroul surf club marks reno’s end By Caitlin Sloan

More space for nippers’ boards, safer storage and a Your local, experienced and educated new gym were all reasons to celebrate when For local, experienced and educated real Thirroul Surf Life Saving Club officially reopened real educated estate professional For local, experiencedestate and advice, callreal Ian today! their clubhouse after four years and almost $600,000 worth of renovations. estate advice, call Ian today! Ian Pepper On Sunday, November 19, Member for 0403 570 041 Ian Pepper Cunningham Alison Byrnes, Member for ian.pepper@raywhite.com Heathcote Maryanne Stuart, Minister for the 0403 570 041 raywhitehelensburgh.com.au Illawarra Ryan Park, Wollongong Lord Mayor ian.pepper@raywhite.com Gordon Bradbery, President of Surf Life Saving NSW Peter Agnew and President of Surf Life raywhitehelensburgh.com.au Saving Illawarra Peter Everett joined committee members to mark the end of the project. Thirroul Surf Life Saving Club president John Dryden said a growing number of nippers and a 30 per cent rise in patrolling members on last The only auction in Stanwell Park in year meant the club needed more storage space. 2023 was held at 40 Beach Road, selling “We’re really happy with the way it turned out,” successfully for $1,600,000 on 18th John said. “We were running out of room, basically. November. It prompted me to share some “Our gym was very old. We wanted to refurbish interesting Ray White statistics for that the gym and also the trailer storage area… now weekend’s auctions across the country. we’ve doubled the number of community members Around 66.5% of the auctions held were for using the gym and that in itself is a source of owner occupiers and 30% investors. 76% of income for us. the buyers were owner occupiers and 21% Once again, as they have several times over the past seven decades, club members stepped up to investors. Some 88% were from the local help. “We had a lot of members physically involved area and 10% were interstate, while only in the projects, knocking down walls and doing all 1.3% were from overseas. On average there sorts of cleaning up, painting, all sorts of activities was 3.5 registered bidders and 2.2 active associated with the project… so we would’ve had… bidders. Ray White also reported that at least 40 of our members involved at different auctions sold 10.4% on average more than times,” John said. “All the final painting, for the highest offer prior to auction and 2.1% example, that was all done by our members.” over reserves. These statistics show Grants funded most of the work and club the auction strategy is alive and well in members manned the bar and barbecue to help raise the remaining $142,000. the current market. Thirroul SLSC’s gym membership is open to the general public for an annual fee. Active members ianpepperraywhite and Life Members have free access to the gym, @peppersrealestate which is open 24 hours, seven days a week.

Auction figures

December 61

ime

Time

334 0031 0.36 0.46 0.50 0.41 0.50 0.46 0.610.30 0.500.26 1.07 0509 0444 1.14 0451 0411 1.310047 0459 0455 1.26 0515 0448 1.500028 0054 0000 954 0640 1.61 1.18 1.78 1.41 1.88 1.56 1.701.67 1.751.33 0.69 1031 1116 0.74 1031 1046 0.590709 1048 1131 0.73 1133 1124 0.540703 0719 0612 615 0.34 0.27 0.19 0.48 0.37 1809 0.31 1.54 1646 1.36 1645 1.53 1642 1.28 1726 1.30 1345 1153 WE WE FR 1832 TH 1738 SA 1822 TU0.63 WE0.49 TH0.53 FR0.34 FR 1315 SA SU 1337 TU 1211 214 1830 1.38 1.46 1.20 1.38 0.39 2334 0.47 2325 2337 0.291911 2311 0.48 2332 0.411920 1.25 1940 1.40 1812 1.65

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0.47 25 0104 0745 1.75 MO 1437 0.33 2025 1.19

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Port 2023 Kembla Tidal Chart

1741 1.37 1748 1739 1.26 1831 1.241423 0.39 1.561258WE0.56 1439SA0.28 1253TH0.38 SA SU FR 1.50 SU MO TH TH SA 1359FR0.45 WE 0.391.66 256 1911 1.31 1.49 1901 0.421.34 1915 2009 0.21 1.25 2350 1917 0.47 0.33 1951 1.38 2032 1906

TU 1523 0.29 2114 1.19

1229 0.61 1246 1345 1830 1.25 1.61 1349FR0.29 1530SU0.24 SA 0.42 SU MO MO 0.39 FR FR TH 1339TH0.49 SU 1440SA0.38 TU 1507 0.30 TIME M1932 M M 1.25 342 1948 1.23 0.31 0.471.28 2009 0.25 0.45 1828 1.38 1845 1.462031 1930TIME 1.212057 2123 1957 1.64 1.36m 2004 Time1.51 m 1958 TimeTIME Time m

WE 1606 0.28 TIME M 2158 1.18

1337 0.48 1315 0.53 1345 0.34 1437 0.331553 0.24 0.49 1738 0.27 1822 0.19 0.37MO 1418 1443 1521 1617MO0.24 MO TU SU TU WE SA SA FR0.43 SA0.22 SU0.33 FR 1832 SA FRTH 0.32 1.33 0.501.57 0.491.23 0.29 1.24 1920 2053 1.25 1911 1.38 1940 2035 1.402114 2025 2102 1.192145 1.652024 23371.51 1.20 2057 2046 2212

TH 1645 0.29 2239 1.18

437 0140 0.46 0.37 0033 1.16 0.39 1.090.38 0120 1.23 0.46 1.080.18 0625 0121 1.46 1.21 0014 0100 0.44 0011Local 0.290150 0019 0.440143 0130 0215 0231 0.52 Time December 2023 18 3 18 3 24 24 12 27 12 12 27 106 0749 1.6591.34 0548 0.6091.60 0626 0.70 0643 0.56 1.75 27 0912 1.81 0606 0.67 0634 1.32 0633 1.560815 0658 1.690820 1248 0.58 0.60 0744 1.59 0846 1.82 EMBER 745 0.36 1225 1.72 1257 1.53 1310 1.73 1245 1.58 DECEMBER

514 0210 0.53 1.100.44 0136 1.14 1.27 0.46 0047 0.41 0054 0.300221 0104 0220 0.470224 0.26 0028 0.46 04110.34 0.50 0159 04480.40 0.50 0214 0455 0211 0.19 0254 0314 0.53 428 190.61 19 13 428 101.41 25 101.68 251.84 160820 11.04 160849 13 13 0648 0.64 0657 0.74 148 1.63 0720 0.74 0748 0.59 1.83 28 0952 1.79 0703 1.56 0709 1.41 0719 1.67 0745 1.750902 1.33 1046 1.78 1124 1.88 1131 1.70 0827 1.69 0929 1323 1.66 1335 1.49 837 0.39 1345 1.45 1408 1.62

035 0238 1.15 0245 1.15 1.120.50 1.32 0.47 0119 0.39 0135 0.330254 0104 0.46 0148 0320 0.490309 0.20 04560.33 0.55 0305 0032 00230.42 1.23 0311 0250 0.24 0333 0354 0.55 529 201.11 529 20 14 111.49 26 111.74 261.82 21.04 170850 170925 14 14 558 0.59 0802 0.77 0759 0.66 0825 0.76 0900 0.60 1.88 29 1030 1.76 0743 1.51 0803 1.76 0741 1.66 0830 1.790947 1.46 1133 1.76 0538 0.66 0544 0.53 0910 1.77 1010 236 1.60 1435 1.41 1429 1.60 1440 1.37 1512 1.50

1359 0.45 1439 1423 0.39 1523 0.38 1832 0.29 1.620.28 1215 1.82 1456 1535 1703TU0.26 1603 SU SU MO TU WE WE 0.29 SA0.39 SU0.20 MO0.29 SA 1213 SAFR TUSU TH 1641 0.19 939 2059 0.42 1.49 0.52 0.32 0.501.18 0.33 1.24 1951 2155 1.38 2032 1.342158 2009 1.25 2114 2155 1.192236 1.66 1917 0.422137 19151.29 0.21 2142 2136 1.47 2300

FR 1723 0.31 2318 1.17

138 0305 1.09 0351 1.21 1.180.56 1.41 0.48 0.18 0150 0.39 0143 0.46 0215 0.380330 0231 0419 0.520357 0121 00330.34 1.16 0413 01200.46 1.23 0407 0414 0434 0.57 0329 0.32 630 211.09 630 21 15 121.55 121.78 27 271.77 31.07 180921 181003 15 15 653 0.66 0917 0.78 0915 0.65 0937 0.76 1016 0.59 1.90 30 1108 1.71 0815 1.60 0820 1.75 1.59 0846 1.82 0912 1.811034 0626 0.70 0548 0.60 0643 0.56 1051 0952 1.80 335 1.56 1542 1.37 1538 1.56 1541 1.32 1618 1.39

1440 0.38 1507 0.30 0.29 1530 0.24 1606 1257 1.53WE 1225 1.72 1310 1.73 1748WE0.31 1535 1626 0.21 1649 MO MO TU WE TH TH 0.28 SU0.36 TU0.27 SU MO MO SUSA FR 1730 0.18 051 2135 0.43 0.50 0.30 0.491.14 0.37 1.23 2031 1.36 2057 1.25 1.64 2123 1.282245 2158 2245 1.182329 2004 0.472233 19321.44 0.31 2248 20091.24 0.25 2228 2345 2226 1.36

1.14 254 1.07 0.19 0.40 0254 0.44 1.31 0.46 1.26 0314 0515 0.53 1.50 0214 1.100451 0136 0221 1.14 0509 0220 0224 1.27 0459 0406 0.41 0.74 804 0.69 1.69 1.68 0929 1.84 0.59 1.83 0.73 0952 1133 1.79 0.54 0720 0.741031 0648 0849 0.64 1031 0748 0902 0.59 1048 1034 1.80 1646 1.36 445SU1.54 0.22 0.33 1617 0.24 0.24 1.28 0.29 1.30 1345 1.451645 1323 1.66 1408 1.62 1717 TU TU WE TH 1642 FR 1726 MO 1521 TU0.25 WE 1553 TH 1645 MO TU1.53 0.47 203 0.39 1.57 1.33 2212 1.23 0.29 1.24 0.48 2239 2332 1.18 0.41 2053 0.492325 2035 2114 0.32 2334 2102 2145 0.29 2311 2315 1.25

19 13 731 428 22 19 13 7

28 22

SA 1800 0.35 2358 1.16

0.60 31 0515 1145 1.65 SU 1836 0.39

414 1.12 0.24 0.50 1.43 0.55 1.60 0.42 1.22 0.47 1.36 0354 0607 0245 0254 1.15 0555 03110333 1.120545 0320 0309 1.32 0544 f Australia 2022, Bureau of0.76 Meteorology 928 0.67 0.68 1142 1.77 1.82 0.51 1.76 0.47 1.74 1.88 0.66 1030 1244 0759 0925 0.66 1135 08251010 0900 0947 0.60 1153 602 0.20 0.26 0.31 1.24 0.29 0.19 1.26 1429 1.60 14401703 1.371748 1512 1.50 WE 1741 TH FR 1739 SA 1831 WE FR 1723 TU 1603 TH 1641 MO1.56 TU1.37 WE1.50 t1.47 Astronomical Tide 307 0.33 1.24 0.47 2318 1.17 2137 2158 0.32 1.29 21422300 0.501.18 2155 2236 0.33 2350

20 14 8

ALES

529 23 20 14 8

2023

29 23

me (UTC +10:00) or daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effect 0.29 0.56Local 0.57 0.44 0.32 0.46 0.44 0357 0.48 1.46 0434 0019 0351 0330 1.21 0014 04070414 1.180011 0419Time 1.41 0625 s519 1.21 New Moon First Quarter Full Moon 0.58 045 0.60 0633 1051 1.77 1.56 1108 0658 1.71 1.69 1.80 1.78 1.32 1.90 0915 1003 0.65 0634 0937 0.76 1016 1034 0.59 1248 NOVEMBER 712TU1.61 1246 0.31 0.35 0.39 0.21 0.27 0.18 1.25 1538 1.56 1541 1.32DECEMBER 1618 1.39 SA 1830 TH 1229 FR SU 1345 TH 1748 SA 1800 WE 1649 FR 1730 WE0.61 TH0.42

21 15 9

630 24 21 15 9

30 24

Last Quarter

1.14 2358 1930 1.16 1.21 1.36 1.24 0.30 1828 22282345 0.491845 2245 2329 0.37 1.23 Time m 1.38 m 2233 2245 Time m 1.46 Time m 000 0.41 0.60 0.47 0451 0411 1.31 0047 0459 0455 1.260054 0515 0448 1.50 0028 0.50 0.41 0.610.30 0.50 0.46 0515 0104 0.500.26 612 1.80 1.65 1.75 1031 1046 0.59 0709 1048 1131 0.730719 1133 1124 0.54 0703 1.88 1.56 1145 0745 1.78 1.41 1.701.67 1.751.33 153 0.25 0.39 0.33 1645 1.53 1642 1.281345 1726 1.30 0.19 0.48 0.27 0.37 0.31 FR 1315 SA SU 1337 MO 1437 SU 1836 WE0.49 TH0.53 FR0.34 FR 1832 TH 1738 SA 1822 2025 1.19 812 1.65 1.25 2325 2337 0.29 1911 2311 0.481940 1.40 2332 0.41 1920 1.25 1.20 1.38

22 16 10

7 125 22 16 10

31 25

047 0545 0456 1.43 0119 0544 0032 1.360135 0607 0023 1.60 0104 1.110.33 0.55 0.39 1.23 0.46 1.150.20

0.49 26 0148 8 226 23 17 11 0830 1.79 1523 0.29 253 0.38 1748 1.50 1359 0.45 1739 1.261439 0.28 1831 1.24 1423 0.39

23 17 11

u659 of Meteorology 1.46 1142 1133 0.51 0743 1153 0538 0.660803 1244 0544 0.47 0741 0.661.76 1.76 1.51 0.53 1.66 0.59

1.62 1.67 SA 0.29 SU MO 1.82 TH FR 1832 FR SA 1213 SA SU 1215 1951 1.38 906 2350 1917 0.472032 0.421.34 1915 2009 0.21 1.25 0.391.66

ight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effect

2114 1.19

130 0.46 0231 0011 0033 0.29 0150 0625 0121 1.460215 0019 0120 0.44 0143 1.090.38 1.16 0.39 1.23Last 1.080.18 First Quarter Quarter Full Moon 744 0912 0633 0548 1.56 0815 1248 0626 0.580846 0658 0643 1.69 0820 0.701.82 0.60 1.60 0.56 1.75 0.671.59 349 1246 0.42 1830 1.251530 1345 0.39 1257 1.53 1.72 1.73 0.30 WE 1606 1.58 SU 1440 TU 1507 FR0.29 SA0.38 SU0.24 SU MO SA 1225 MO 1310 957 2158 1845 1932 1.46 2031 1930 2009 1.21 2057 0.471.28 0.31 1.36 20042123 0.25 1.25 0.451.64

24 18 12

9 327 24 18 12

0.52 1.81 0.28 1.18

TIMES AND HEIGHTS OF HIGH AND LOW WATERS LAT 340 29’ LONG 1500 55’

211 0314 0.53 0054 0136 0.30 0221 0028 0214 0.460254 0104 0220 0.47 0224 1.14 0.40 1.100.44 1.27 0.46 1.040.19 827 1.79 0719 0648 1.67 0849 0703 0720 1.560929 0745 1.75 0902 0.64 1.68 0.741.84 0748 0.59 0.741.69 MOON PHASE SYMBOLS New Moon First1.83 Quarter 0952 Full Moon Last Quarter 443 0.24 1553 0.24 Datum 1645 0.29 1345 0.34 1337 0.481617 1437 0.33 1.66 1.45 1408 1.49 MO© 1521 TU WE SA0.22 SU0.33 MO SU 1323 MO 1345 TU Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 2022, Bureau1.62 of Meteorology. TH of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide. 046 1.33 2212 2239 1.18 1940 2035 1.40 2114 1920 1.25 2025 1.19or2145 0.32 2053 0.49 2102 0.29 1.24 0.501.57 Times are in local standard time1.23 (UTC +10:00) daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effect. The Bureau of

25 19 13 10 428 25 19 13

Meteorology gives no warranty of any kind whether express, implied, statutory or otherwise in respect to the availability,

250 0333 0.55 0.42 0309 accuracy, currency, completeness, quality or reliability the information0354 or that the information will be fit for any 0135 0245 0.33 0254 0104 0.46 0148 0.49 1.040.24 1.15 0311 1.120.50 0320 1.32of0.47 particular purpose or will not infringe any0900 third Intellectual rights. The Bureau’s liability for any loss, 910 1010 1.82 1.76 1.74 0947 1.88 Property1030 0803 0759 1.76 0925 0741 1.66 0830 1.79party 0.771.77 0.66 0825 0.76 0.60 damage, cost or expense resulting from use of, or reliance on, the information is entirely excluded. 535 1703 0.26 1723 0.31 1603 0.29 1641 0.19 1439 0.28 1423 0.39 1523 0.29 1.41 1429 1.60 1440 1.37 1512 1.50 WE FR TU TH SU0.20 MO TU MO TU WE 136 2318 1.17 2032 2137 1.34 2158 2009 2142 1.252300 2114 2155 1.19 2236 0.521.47 0.32 1.29 0.501.18 0.33 1.24

26 20 14 11 529 26 20 14

329 0.46 0143 0.460414 0215 0351 0.38 0231 0419 0.52 0357 1.070.32 1.21 0407 1.180.56 1.41 0.48 620330 sport & leisure 952 0820 0937 1.751051 0846 0915 1.82 1003 0912 1016 1.81 1034 0.781.80 0.65 1.78 0.761.77 0.59 1.90 626 1507 0.301748 1530 0.24 1606 0.28 1.37 1.56 1.32 1.39 0.18 TH WE 1649 FR 1730 TU0.27 MO0.21 WE0.31 TU 1538 WE 1541 TH 1618 226 2057 2228 1.252345 2123 2233 1.28 2245 2158 2245 1.18 2329 0.501.36 0.30 1.24 0.491.14 0.37 1.23

0.57 30 0434 1108 1.71

27 21 15 12 630 27 21 15

406 0254 0451 0.44 1.31 1.140.41

0224 0459 0.46 1.26 0314 0515 0.53 1.50

SA 1800 0.35 2358 1.16 0515 0.60

Golf

news

Our final golfing event for 2023 is on December 10th on the fairways and greens at Hurstville followed by, on Sunday December 17th, the HSSGC gala event to relive those almost birdies Tradies Social Golf and eagles MC’d by the well-travelled Tony. Barry Thompson reports Please make your presence and partners ICAC is closed on Saturdays. I found this to be true known as early as possible by contacting Tony after several desperate calls to rescind the on 0418 863 100. devastating news that the mighty downtowners had Updates to members via text and email. fallen. Sunday morning, I awoke to the realisation Please continue to support our prize sponsors that the opposition had outplayed us and that even Christian’s Premium Meats and Helensburgh Golf Shane Wilson’s classy Struggle Town tee shirt had Range and join us to enjoy a game of golf, the great not lifted us to victory. Well done, Up Towners, see outdoors and good company. you next year. Indy signing off … Our AGM saw the outgoing committee A scratch golfer? One who hit the ball, and re-elected in its entirety except for the handicapper. scratches his/her head wondering where on Earth Paul Morahan stood down from the position and it went. we thank him for his work over the last few years. Paul’s replacement, Mick Carroll, is a true gentleman in every sense of the word. He is a paragon of virtue and a pillar of society. That should earn me a few brownies. During my role as Returning Officer, This older, majestic I accidentally welcomed the new committee as the girl would love to class of 1984. live her twilight Do not think that this slip indicates senility. years in a home of I recently re-read the book of that title and it must her own – without have stuck in my mind. Either that or I must have another dog – been pining for the last year I played decent golf. where she can go So, another year has rolled over and once again for short walks, get President Terry and his committee members have lots of pats and excelled themselves. It has been pleasing to see cuddles and be several new younger players join our ranks. kept warm and dry. It is too close to Christmas for any snide digs so I She deserves it. will just wish one and all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year For more details, email See you back at Boomerang for a 7am Tee Off on ccarpetrehoming@tpg.com.au Saturday, 20th January 1984 – sorry, 2024! Country Companion Animal Rescue

ANNIE NEEDS A HOME!

Helensburgh Sunday Social Golf Club Robert ‘Indy’ Jones reports

November 12th, a day out on the fairways of Campbelltown. On a warm sunny morning we kicked off on the 10th tee, giving the B-Grade longest drivers an instant challenge. Stableford scoring reached a well-earned 40 points by Frank Morgan leaving a gap to Peter Gardner on 33, closely followed by Frank Zuccala with 32 points, the rest of us in the 20s. Josh Smith’s instant success after securing his handicap is now looking to have it increased, possibly dragged back by playing partners including my good self, the young afflicted Ben and witnessing a snooker shot, in off the red marker but alas in the water, on the fourteenth. On course Peter G. and Frank M. cleaned up 60% of the prizes, leaving little to be had by the rest, whilst Ben Clarke continued on his 2nd card with the driving exhibition.

Helensburgh Car Services

4294 2930 Tune & Service • E Safety Checks All Makes & Models LPG Rego Checks • Blue Slips Licence no. MVRL 17877

Child Restraints Fitted John Hine (Proprietor) 187 Parkes St Helensburgh 2508 December 63

What a year it has been...

Mattias Samuelsson | 0466 627 226

TOTAL SALES VALUE

NUMBER OF SALES

$48,157,500 (#1 Local Agent)

30 (#1 Local Agent)

MOST SUBURB RECORDS

6 (#1 Local Agent)

Call today for a free consultation Statistics as at 21/11/2023 within the 2508 & 2515 areas