Showing posts sorted by relevance for query wollongong. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query wollongong. Sort by date Show all posts

Thursday, 4 February 2010

Sunrise, Wollongong



No, I haven't abandoned you! Just been away at a work conference, with no time to post. We were in Wollongong, so I'lll bring a few shots from there for the next few days.

Here's sunrise over the ocean, with a rock swimming pool, originally Wollongong Men's Baths, also known as North Wollongong Rock Pool, Old Men's Baths, Wollongong Baths, gentlemen's baths, the gentleman's bathing place, Clarkes Hole. It dates originally from about 1877. Read more here.

Nathalie - no I didn't win more tickets to the OzOpen - paid my own way this year, and the pic was taken not from the Tv but on my iPhone!

Sunday, 7 February 2010

Wollongong Continental Baths


Three days ago, at the beginning of this Wollongong series, I showed sunrise over the rockpool at North Wollongong.

Immediately to the south are these free concrete pools - the "Contintental Baths" (or Central Baths). They were originally opened in 1926, and allowed for men, womwn and children to bathe together. They have been upgraded since. Read more here.

I enjoyed an early morning swim here.

Left: the rock pool is visible just to the north of the baths (the edge of which can be seen here).

Monday, 15 February 2010

Charmaine, Wollongong


North Wollongong Beach and kiosk cafe reflected in my friend Charmaine's sunglasses. Charm is one of the most photogenic people I know! (even in close-up!!!)

Saturday, 6 February 2010

Just after sunrise - Wollongong


Looking north-west, along the clifftop of North Wollongong, where ominous clouds greet the day, and the new day's sun cast s shadows.

Friday, 29 May 2009

Wollongong City Beach to Port Kembla (Skywatch Friday)

A windy day at Wollongong - looking south towards industrial Port Kembla from Endeavour Drive at Lions Park.

To see other skies around the world this Friday, click here.

Sunday, 17 May 2009

Welcome to Nan Tien Buddhist Temple

For the next few days we are going to be visiting the Nan Tien Buddhist temple, not far south of Sydney in Berkeley, a suburb of Wollongong. Wollongong is linked to Sydney by freeway and rail and is part of Sydney's commuter belt.

Nan Tien is the largest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere. Visitors are very welcome, and there are all sorts of delights in this beautiful place, which we will explore over the next week.

Saturday, 23 May 2009

Nan Tien temple: - mountains and sea


Above: At the top of the steps, with my back to the pagoda (shown yesterday), we look over Mount Kembla. Apparently the site for the temple was chosen because of its location between mountains and sea. Mount Kembla is said to have an auspicious resemblance to a recumbent lion.

Mt Kembla forms part of the Illawarra escarpment, itself part of the eastern part of Australia's Great Dividing Range. Here it comes extremely close to the sea. When Captain Cook saw it as he sailed along Australia's east coast in 1770, he noted it as 'a round hill', its top resembling a hat.

Kembla is an Aboriginal word meaning "wild game abundant" or "plenty of game". The Aborigines called the area "jum-bullah" or "Djembla" which means a wallaby. Mount Kembla has been described as a "sub-tropical belt of rainforest " which "housed a variety of game life which provided an abundant food supply". Meat is banned in the precincts of the temple; Buddhists are vegetarian.

Left: There is no escaping the fact that Wollongong is a major industrial city, most famous for its steel works in the suburb of Port Kembla. I took the photo looking towards the sea and Port Kembla from the first platform of the pagoda.

Friday, 22 May 2009

Nan Tien Temple: the Pagoda (Skywatch Friday)


On a recent visit to Nan Tien temple in the Wollongong suburb of Berkeley, the sun was shining and autumn colour was abundant.

Nan Tien means "Southern Heaven Temple". It is one of the branch temples of Fo Guang Shan, founded in 1967 in Taiwan. There are over 120 branches worldwide. To see more of the temple, look back over the past few days' blogs.

The temples's website tells us: "Pagoda has its origin from the Indian stupa, an ancient type of building used to store sutras and sacred relics of the Buddha. With the spread of Buddhism to China, Chinese architectural elements from gate towers and various wooden structures were gradually incorporated into pagoda design. The seven-tiered style of Nan Tien's Pagoda reflects a similar convention of the T'ang Dynasty (A.D. 618-906). Its tapering design reaching to the sky is synonymous with the idea of practicing Buddhism step-by-step which eventually led to supreme enlightenment.

Nan Tien's Pagoda is a resting place for the cremated ashes of devotees and their relatives; it can accommodate the remains of over 7,000 people. Inside the Pagoda is a wishing bell, visitors may make a wish and sound the bell."


To check out skies around the world, click here.

Monday, 22 September 2008

Stuck!







Container truck stuck under the railway bridge on Wollongong Rd, Arncliffe. 5pm Sunday 21 September.

Tuesday, 26 February 2008

Victorian cottages, Arncliffe


Wollongong Rd, Arncliffe. You can see some more grandiose examples of local Victorian architecture if you click here.

Sunday, 18 February 2007

Six weird things


Just south of Sydney, at Stanwell Tops (Bald Hill Lookout), looking down the northern Illawarra coast towards Wollongong. The beach and town in the foreground is Stanwell Park. I took Mum for a drive along here today.
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Taking up the challenge from Nathalie to list six weird things about myself...

1. My iPOD contains mostly Barbra Streisand songs (I've loved Babs since I saw Funny Girl as a youngster - aged about 10?)

2. My iPOD contains tunes by Akon, Eminem, Snoop Doggy Dogg , 2Pac, P Diddy ...all of whom I play and like, and 50Cent, who I don't like. That's cos my son and I share the iTUNES section on the computer, so I uploaded his stuff too, and once I listened to it, I came to like a lot of it.
I like Green Day better, though, cos thy remind me of the Ramones - and that was MY era!

3. I live in famous-for-its-beaches Sydney, not far from the sea, but I much, much prefer swimming in pools (as I may just have mentioned once or twice!) I put it down to parents who hated the beach, and growing up in Melbourne....

4. I don't own a dress, and haven't since a maternity dress I had in 1993. I gave it away. I have a couple of skirts I rarely wear, and one good 'going out' outfit (lacy skirt/sequinned top). I call it my 'ballgown'.

5. Many people think it's weird that when I travel I prefer art galleries and museums, the theatre and reading to going out to pubs and clubs. I like to hit the pavements early (often before the shops are open - Paris is marvellous at that time, for example), walk and walk, then relax in my room reading at night.

6. And, I love travelling on my own, moving at my own pace, going wherever I please whenever I please (well at least for a while before I miss my own family).

Saturday, 23 September 2006

The Hungry Mile

B ig controversy about the naming of this part of Sydney Harbour. It is part of the end of Sydney harbour as a working port - the last remaining port facilities are being moved south to Port Botany and Port Kembla (near Wollongong).

This area, currently referred to as "East Darling Harbour" is to be redeveloped. Here's all the "concept' guff.

A competition has been announced to rename the area. There is quite a campaign lobbying for one name already ruled out: The Hungry Mile. This is the wharves and port area where men during the Great Depression walked searching for work as wharf labourers (wharfies in Australian parlance) on a day hire basis. Sometimes they were lucky, many times not. Conditions those 'lucky ' enough to work under were atrocious.

You can read more about the Hungry Mile Name Campaign here.

The current Labor government has ruled out this name - maybe it is too embarassing a legacy in these days when their largest political donors are property developers, who tend to prefer much more anodyne and "naicer" names than something which recalls hard times and political struggle?

Postscript 27/9/06: The government has announced that Hickson Road, along which the men walked will be renamed The Hungry Mile, and that there will be history markers. Story here.