I am not yet brave enough to take traditional style portraits but I really like the idea of taking environmental portraits. That is, taking pictures of people doing their thing in their space. These two images are from the photo shoot I talked about a couple of weeks ago in Photo of the Week 18.
Taken with a Panasonic FZ1000 and edited in Lightroom. Natural light.
Somewhere between me being 45 and nearly 60, Wollongong’s nightlife has been through a metamorphosis. At one time, Wollongong had a reputation for being violent. Rolling brawls spilled out of places like the Glasshouse onto the streets and kept people like me at home. We didn’t feel comfortable sharing noisy venues with barely-clad chicky babes and young men whose sole goal was to get “maggoted”. My friends and I stayed at home and had civilised dinner parties, sometimes venturing out to the popular Little Prince* only to be disappointed because we couldn’t find a seat.
More recently and I’m reticent to use the word “suddenly” because I’m sure it has not been sudden, there has been a torrent of small bars setting up shop. These places have style, the music is quieter, the seats more comfortable and the lighting more subdued.
It’s not so much a case of Wollongong changing from an ugly caterpillar into a butterfly, because some those rowdier places are still open for business. Rather, new classier blood has moved into the neighbourhood offering more choice to a broader range of patrons. In fact, we’re spoiled for choice at the moment!
My friends and I are not looking for somewhere to “hook up” or meet a date. We want a place where we can feel comfortable alone or with a group of friends for a chat. We enjoy good food and are fussy in our choice of drinks. We want background music that stays in the background and excellent amenities in terms of toilets, glassware and seating.
So which small bars are a good match for Old Chooks?
In the interests of research, I decided to hit the streets and review the boutique and small bar scene, systematically and scientifically. Armed with an online survey, I enlisted the help of some dedicated Old Chooks (Diane and Karen) to critically evaluate what was on offer.
So far, we have checked out six small bars over two nights in Febraury and March 2019. We will bravely venture out again to check out more bars in the coming months. Tough work but someone has to do it!
I must say we approached our task with enthusiasm, and frankly, I think we got a little overexcited. It was funny how having a purpose changed the dynamics of a night out, transforming it from a simple social get-together to a serious mission. It also meant we were more observant than we would have been otherwise. The methodology is simple. We each pick a bar, then work out the most efficient walking route between them. Once at the bar, we carefully check the food and drinks menu and the toilets. These are the deal breakers in our view! We try to engage the bar staff in conversation without giving our game away. We order a drink each and some food to share and then after an hour or so move onto the next bar.
Three bars, three drinks, three snacks.
In that hour, we are busy on our phones filling in the survey and discussing the lighting, the ambience, the crowd and the facilities. The survey is comprehensive, and each question is given a score. The scores are then added up to provide an overall rating. There are a few inherent biases in the method. The first bar on the list is reviewed early in the night, and it may not have yet reached its peak ambience. Another factor is that the third bar is considered after 2 drinks. Hopefully, we are not such cheap drunks that our focus is too frayed!
121 Keira Street, Wollongong
Juniper was our first review, and we started there at about 7:30 PM. There were plenty of available tables. The crowd was made up of three male/female couples and a group of eight 30-40-year-old females. Four men walked in, looked around and walked out. Perhaps it was a bit girly for their taste? The concrete walls were sponged with pastel tones, and there was no other decoration. The wooden tables were garnished with small candles and a bit of greenery in a recycled jar. The concrete floor and walls created a noisy vibe, and the music was too loud for easy conversation. There was a definite need for some soft surfaces to act as noise dampeners. The bar itself had a charming backlit display which was very interesting.
Juniper, as the name suggests, is a gin bar. There was an extensive selection of gin but little else besides. The printed menu was very informative and gave good descriptions of the gin varietals. They offered gin-based cocktails as well as straight nips and various tonic mixers. The drinks ranged in price from $11 – $19. The food menu was minimal (a choice a three) and there was no vegetarian option. We chose the drinks plate: a platter of cheese and meats with very crunchy toasted bread ~ $25. The two wait staff were friendly.
BEST: Excellent subdued lighting. The bar was nicely lit and looked very pretty.
WORST: Noise levels and food choices.
88 Kembla Street, Wollongong (behind the Creamies gelato shop)
I felt like a secret agent entering the Black Cockatoo with its hidden entry off an ice cream parlour. I wish you needed to give a secret handshake! Once inside the dark interior was reminiscent of an American bar. Booths lined the walls with a few standing tables as well as seats at the bar. It’s a small venue with a capacity for around 30. A large painted mural of a cockatoo and a few band posters were the only decorations. Still, it had a nice ambience tending to retro. Two 20-something men were serving. They were very casually dressed in long shorts and t-shirts. The food menu was again minimal and this time consisted of packet chips, sausage rolls and cheese and spinach pies. Don’t come here looking for a meal! The drinks menu was small and limited to canned beers, a few imported draft beers and a small selection of wine. Drink prices were reasonable, ranging from $6 up to $15.
When we arrived at 8:30, we were the only ones there for a few minutes, and the boys were happy to chat while not being obtrusive. With a very late licence, this would be the place for a late night meet-up, not an Old Chooks night out. There was one toilet which had no hand towels although it was tidy in other respects. The music was great, probably meant to be retro but it was all our era!
BEST: The secret agent feel and the music.
WORST: Food. Although, to be honest, if you were here late at night, a sausage roll might be perfect!
2/74 Kembla St, Wollongong
Births and Deaths has had a fair bit of cash thrown at it. The black walls frame the $6000 -worth of Italian tiles that back the bar. There is one long re-manufactured stone table in the middle of the room which would comfortably seat 30 and cafe style seating around outside of the room as well as a few stools at the bar. The bar was half full, with an interesting mix of people. B&D offered table service, a nice touch. We chatted at length to one of the owners, Jared. He explained his philosophy which focused on sustainability. He said they reused as much as possible. The straws were metal, the coasters, washable fabric. The kitchen ran on the concept of minimising waste with the beetroot and pumpkin scraps leftover from the tasting plates used to make syrup for drinks. According to Jared of Births and Deaths, my friends and I are part of the targeted demographic boutique bars in Wollongong are looking for. Cashed up and older. Young folk, you see “pre-drink” and are stingy about buying food. Old Chooks like us, on the other hand, go out early, buy more expensive drinks and order lots of food. He is also part owner of the Howling Wolf and works in partnership with Cavaeu (a hatted restaurant nearby). He was very accommodating and chatty and talked to us about his plans and the issues of getting a licence and permission to operate.
B&D is also a gin bar but has a broader selection of wine and beers than Juniper. The food was unique, and while not vegetarian, was mostly plant-based. We tried a pumpkin plate which included morsels of pumpkin cooked a few different ways as well as some cheese and tomato toasties.
BEST: The food and the staff.
WORST: The toilet while not unisex, was not very private and it was easy to “disturb” the privacy of other patrons.
69 Crown St, Wollongong
The Night Parrot was our first stop on the second research night. The technical hitches we had with the online survey (Diane’s phone going flat and Karen using the wrong form) had been solved, so we were ready to go! A fourth researcher, Tanya, joined us. There were five other groups of people and seating was not a problem. The other patrons were well dressed and included a few couples. The decor was dark and classy with one wall lined with highly varnished wood panels. The remaining walls and ceiling were painted black and gave the place a cave-like feel. The Night Parrot is a wine bar and features a walk-in wine cabinet which takes up one of the on-street windows. The busy kitchen was visible from the bar and added significantly to the atmosphere with steam wafting up from the stoves. There was seating at the bar as well as open tables and three padded “booths” which seated three comfortably with the fourth at the other side of the table. There was table service, and it took a little longer than expected to give our orders. I had decided to do Feb-Fast and was not drinking alcohol, and while the others were quickly served their wine, I had to ask a second time for my soda water. The volume of the music created a pleasant, unobtrusive feel and allowed for easy conversation. The lighting was on the dark side. This along with the dark walls, gave it a cozy atmosphere. The bar area was brightly lit. The one toilet cubicle was unisex. It was large and spacious with plenty of extra rolls of paper, gentle soap and a blower dryer. The decor was eclectic with a large suspended branch acting as a chandelier.
A small selection of food was on offer. I had the dumplings which were tasty and good value at four pieces for $14. The wine selection was a mix of local and imported wines and over a wide price range. Both Diane and Tanya ($22) were pleased with their grenaches, one local ($14) one imported ($22).
BEST: The decor and the wine selection;
WORST: We thought that with the way the seating was arranged, it would be tough to feel comfortable as a solo visitor.
68 Crown St, Wollongong
Moominn is a quirky, warm, cozy place. It reminded me of someone’s Grandma’s lounge room. There is a mixture of seating from a few lounge chairs around a fireplace to kitchen tables with old lino chairs. Some seating at the bar is also available. There are all sorts of bits and pieces hanging from the ceiling. Baskets, flowers, light fittings, bottles, umbrellas etc. The walls are entirely covered with mismatched pictures which scream out OP SHOP find. A large blackboard shows the specials as well as a few witty quotes. They had flavoursome zero alcohol beer, and I would have had another if we were staying longer.
The others all had the same red wine and seemed satisfied with their choice. The drinks were served in very simple, practical glasses. The barkeeper was friendly and offered advice on what beer they had when I asked for no alcohol. The food was OK. I found it a bit oily although the others enjoyed the mix of deep fried mushrooms, cauliflower and cheese bites. A second plate with bread and meatballs was very garlicky. The two dishes were $50 in total. They were small servings, and this seemed expensive to me. The single well-lit toilet is out back through the kitchen. Quaint sayings are painted on the walls, and the jumbled, over-decorated theme continues here.
The music, while pleasant, was too loud. There was a good crowd of around 20 in attendance, We originally sat at the bar and swooped on a table when it was vacated. The partons were a very mixed group with a good spattering of older people. It would be easy to visit Mooninn as a solo traveller with the lounge chairs near the fire being cozy and private.
BEST: Quirky fun feel
WORST: Noise levels
2/88 Kembla St, Wollongong
The Throsby is one of the more established small bars in Wollongong and has been open for several years. I had been there before. The waitress seemed to be annoyed when we walked in, and her face showed it. It looked like we had crashed a private party. It was only 10:10 PM. The first thing she said was the kitchen has closed. Most of the tables were empty, and there were two other groups. A group of four young men at the table nearest the door and a group of six young people at the bar.
The decor is muted and sophisticated. You could describe it as Scandi with blond timber and fine lines. A petite arrangement of flowers/leaves was on each table. The light fittings were chic woven timber. Their glassware was elegant, and I had a tasty pink grapefruit-soda water mix. The music was bland but at a reasonable volume. The one toilet was a bit messy and smelly. It might have been OK at the beginning of the night but needed a clean at this time.
Karen and Tanya both commented that the wine was a bit acidic. We could not comment on the food as we did not see a menu. Although the vibe was quite pleasant, we did not interact with the wait staff at all beyond ordering our drinks. We did not score the Throsby well, and we perhaps were over critical because of our less than enthusiastic greeting.
BEST: decor and glassware:
WORST: Reception on arrival. If you’re not open for business, close the door!
The graph below shows our overall scores for the six bars visited to date. Births and Deaths has come out as a clear winner for many reasons. Jared was a star. Friendly, knowledgeable and willing to spend time chatting with us telling us about his philosophy. This made all the difference.
(not great photography sorry!)
As part of my jogging route I go through a small, light industrial area to get to the beach. I walk past a brothel – relatively discrete but unmistakably a brothel. Recently, as I was out for an early morning workout, a car pulled up just as I was passing the front gate of the said brothel. I began to steadfastly study the ground, in fear of making eye contact with the customer and embarrassing us both. After all what he did at this time of the day was his business. He seemed agitated and bewildered.
“Excuse me is this Swan Street?” he said with a very heavy non-local accent.
“Yes… it’s Swan Street” I replied quickly.
“I am looking for 108 Swan Street.”
We both turned to see the very large brass ‘108’ adorning the brothel gate.
“Well that’s it” I said pointing to the sign…. He looked very confused …
“But what is this place?”
“A brothel” I said awkwardly.
“A brothel? What is this?” (in very broken English and with a thick accent….)
I looked to the sky for inspiration…“A sex shop.”
“A SEX shop??” A dawn of recognition came over his face.
“Yes” I said over my shoulder as I tried to walk away… He held up his phone to show me the screen
“My friend send me here – he told me it is mechanics…I come to get my car fixed”
“Well mate, you won’t be getting your car fixed here! I think your friend might have been having a bit if a joke!”
He turned dejectedly on his heel and walked back to his car.
Was this a ruse on his part to obfuscate the fact he was just about to be seen walking into a brothel? Or had some smart-Alec of a “friend” given him a wrong address on purpose?
Funny either way!
Being a tourist in your own town has its advantages. It’s quick, inexpensive and you don’t need much planning. I took myself off to the Wollongong Botanic Gardens on a glorious spring day in search of colourful flowers and interesting textures. I was not disappointed!
It seems like ages since I have been out for the express purpose of taking photos. The Gardens are one of my favourite places for a close-to-home photo safari.
The Gardens are across the road from the University of Wollongong, but it’s best to park in Murphy’s Avenue, Gwynneville. (click here for a map of the area) Because it is right near the Uni, parking can be a bit tricky during Semester time. There is a small designated parking area in the gardens itself. (Enter on Murphy’s Road)
The Gardens are free and a fabulous place for a picnic. There are limited BBQ Facilities near the entrance. An “all-abilities” children’s’ playground with a big sandpit, climbing web and maze will keep kids occupied for ages. The design ensures that is accessible for everyone including those with limited mobility.
In summer, you can take along your family, bean bags, cushions and a picnic dinner and catch a movie on a big outdoor screen as the sun sets and the birds twitter in the trees. Not all movies are suitable for kids but many are, so best to check the program here Sunset Cinema first.
The highlights for me are the Dryland Gardens (good all year) and the rose garden (you need to pick the season). In spring, of course, you will find the garden in full bloom. Since most trees in Australia are evergreen and our Autumn’s are not very cold, there is not much leaf colour as you would find in colder climes.
If you wanted to make a full day of it take a packed lunch, include a walk around the Uni which has pleasant grounds and have a peek at Glennifer Brae, the stately home of the Wollongong Conservatorium of Music, both within an easy stroll from the Garden itself..
There are guided tours run by the Friends of the Botanic Gardens and there are various gardening workshops advertised on the website.
These photos were taken on September 30th and while its officially been spring for a whole month the weather was only just starting to warm up.
I have edited some as black and white to emphasise the textures; especially in the cactus.
These photos were all taken with my Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 and edited in Lightroom. Some frames where further edited using Nik software or Jixipix.
I hope you enjoy them!
Well the force was certainly with me on May the forth when my blog was featured as the Editor’s Pick on the Discover Page of WordPress’s own website. As a result I got 409 views on the first day and 175 likes. After four days on the “top of the pop” charts; I had 120 new people following my blog. I would really like to give my thanks to Krista and the team at WordPress for selecting my blog for special mention. I think it may have been the photo that caught their attention.
For those new followers I know not all of you will stick around, because quite frankly, not all of my posts are as good as the one that was featured. That post came after a very moving and emotionally disturbing visit to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York.
There are a couple of other blog posts that I am really proud of and I have put links to them here. You might like to go and have a look at them and perhaps you will agree with me that they are some of my better ones.
The changing soundtrack of my life
Confessions of a solo female traveller Part 1.
According to the interwebs, a successful blog has a strong theme. Well I am afraid I am going to lose out there. My blog theme is very ‘fluid’. There are some major underlying currents but it’s basically whatever catches my attention at the time. It’s a blog about travel but more about the getting there. It’s about relationships and in particular surviving divorce. It’s about well being and living simply. Sometimes, it’s just about my hometown because Wollongong, Australia is a great place to live and I’d love people to visit and see that for themselves.
So far my post No Day Shall Erase You From The Memory Of Time has had 545 views and 309 likes. Wow! I am overwhelmed. I was happy with 10 views and still will be after this!
I’d like to thank those people who have recently joined my blog and also those of you that have been with me from the beginning. I hope that you will stick around and follow this woman’s journey to a more meaningful life.
(That featured image in the header is the Seacliff Bridge in Wollongong – now you gotta see that!)
There’s plenty to see and do in my home town. People come here for holidays! You can easily fill up a weekend with active fun and fab food with very little effort. This post is about some free things you can do to keep active while spending time in Wollongong. I am not going to say much about accommodation or cafes etc. I will keep that for a separate post. This is certainly not an exhaustive guide but gives you a bit of an idea of things to do.
There are two 50 m pools side by side. They are filled with the sea water but not tidal and the bright blue pool shell makes them look like a regular chlorine pool. Entry is free! This blog post gives some more information about the pool. http://oceanpoolsnsw.net.au/continental-baths-wollongong-nsw-2529/ . The Wollongong Council website also has information about opening times. http://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/facilities/beachespools/Pages/pools.aspx#gref
If you are in the CBD, you can easily walk to City Beach or North Beach. The Bathing Pavilion at North Beach has been renovated and has good change rooms and showers and there are some cafes there too.
You can walk along the Blue Mile and around the lighthouses to get from one beach to the other. City Beach and North Beach are patrolled (by life guards) in season and you should swim between the flags. Belmore Basin is a small sandy beach on Wollongong Harbour. This is a great place for little kids and swimmers who don’t like waves. If you are a surfer have a look at this site for a few suggestions. http://www.backpackaround.com/things-to-do/destinations/new-south-wales/wollongong/wollongong-surfing.html
http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/walking-tracks/sublime-point-walking-track
In the future it will be possible to walk/ride from Stanwell Park in the north right down to Lake Illawarra. http://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/services/majorprojects/Pages/grandpacificwalk.asp Some sections are completed but it is not yet possible unless you ride on the road. You can walk/ride across the iconic Seacliff Bridge which features in lots of car ads. The bridge is on Lawrence Hargrave Drive.
6. Wollongong Botanic Gardens. For those who prefer a more gentle walk the WBG are a real treat. Both Native and exotic plants are on display with picnic areas and secret trails. http://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/botanicgarden/Pages/default.aspx. They also host a Sunset Cinema in summer (which is not free). You could also duck across the road and have a wander through the University of Wollongong’s grounds.
The following ideas, while not active may also be of interest to round out your weekend!
http://www.svtsydney.org/contactus.html
NOT FREE!
[1] This is for the full track – there are several paces to start so you can cut it down to 6 km one way if you wish.
One of my work colleagues, Zac, is a hunter. In July 2017, I interviewed Zac to write a story I wanted to enter into a non-fiction writing competition. I wrote 3000 words and added in some photos of him butchering one of his kills. Not as gruesome as it sounds. It was just the hind leg that had been hanging up for a while in a big fridge. No blood. No guts.
The thesis of my story was that while most people are OK with fishing, not as many people are OK with hunting and hunters. I explored the fear of guns, the access to guns by non-hunters for crime or self-harm, animal welfare and our complicated relationship with killing animals for food. I contrasted factory-style meat production with the concept of ethical hunting.
Zac told me that he gets very polarised responses when he tells people about his hobby. He has been threatened when seeking permission from property owners to enter their land to hunt. On the other hand, some landowners are very keen to get rid of the Rusa deer that graze on their land.
Rusa Deer have become a big problem in the Illawarra region, as well as elsewhere in Australia. They are causing havoc in the Royal National Park, north of Wollongong and have been linked to several fatal car accidents along the Southern Freeway when they wander onto the verge.
There is some dispute between hunters, environmentalists and the local council about whether their numbers are increasing or whether they have just been pushed into a smaller range due to the residential development of the hinterland areas. Either way, their presence has become more obvious.
Deer are only part of the problem of introduced species in Australia. The coming of Europeans brought with them foxes, deer, rabbits, horses, water buffalo, mice, rats, cats, dogs, pigs, camels, goats, cane toads, carp, weeds of all sorts, honey bees, wasps etc etc etc.
These introduced species have had a disastrous impact on Australian ecosystems, already fragile due to the relatively harsh climate in parts and the long-isolated nature of our island home. Our little herbivorous animals were no match for the superior hunting skills of cats and foxes. Plants are trampled and watercourses sullied. In the absence of predators for the ferals, native species extinction has been an inevitable consequence.
There have been attempts to control these pest species, rabbits in particular, through diseases such as Myxomatosis and Calicivirus with limited success. Baiting is another less than perfect control method. Biological controls and sterilisation programs are costly and unlikely to work for all species.
Killing pest animals and using them as food would seem a good solution to the problem especially for the likes of deer, goats, rabbits and pigs as they are already items on the menu. This option, however, is not likely to occur any time soon.
Many people link hunting to rabid gun owners shooting anything that moves. We think hunting is cruel and that the animal will suffer. From the conversation I had with Zac, I don’t think this is always the case. He described that ethical hunters will only take a shot if they are certain they will have a good clean kill. That is if they can be sure they will hit the major artery in the neck which will lead to a quick death.
Zac spends as much time behind the camera as the rifle and he posts videos to his own YouTube channel. As with most things, there are some hunters who break the rules and act like idiots and give all hunters a bad name.
Australians, in general, are confused about hunting. This confusion rests I think, in our sanitised vision of meat production. Very few of us have been to an abattoir and witnessed sheep or cattle being killed and prepared for sale. We are happy to buy our meat in plastic trays but not happy with those who have the desire to harvest their own. If we eat meat We must be prepared to admit that an animal has died. Surely, killing an animal who has lived its life in freedom in the wild is better than killing one trapped in a shed? Where are the ethics in that? Our objection should then not be against hunters but against the industrialisation of meat production which turns animals into widgets.
On the other hand, would there be a market for these animals? In New South Wales it is illegal for hunters to sell the animals they kill for human consumption. They can give it away or consume it themselves but not sell it. I can understand some of the reasoning behind this in terms of public health and safety. Hunters may be able to kill the beasts but are they able to butcher, store and distribute meat safely and without risk of microbial contamination? Perhaps not, but a regulated and managed program of “harvesting” of wild caught game using licensed and trained hunters who deliver their carcasses to a central processing plant could work. It sounds a bit like commercial fishing, doesn’t it? No-one owns the fish. They are “wild”. They just get caught and brought to the fish markets. As consumers, we are even prepared to pay extra for ‘wild-caught’ fish.
The catch for feral mammals, however, is that if the industry became successful it would be self-limiting over time because beasts would be killed at a greater rate than they could breed. This would be the ultimate goal, to eradicate them from our fragile bushland and limit further native species extinction.
I am not sure where I stand. I don’t think I could kill a deer, but I have eaten venison and I do eat other meat. I have gone fishing then killed and eaten my catches. I am not sure what the difference is. Perhaps I am just fish-ist.
I live in the regional city of Wollongong which is around 90 km south of Sydney. These days, not much divides the sprawling southern suburbs of Sydney and the northern suburbs of Wollongong. Once home to Aunty Jack[1] a 1970’s TV comedy, the cultural landscape is now much more diverse[2].
A recent addition has been the Wonder Walls Festival which is held in the last weekend of November. Our council invites[3] local and international artists to brighten up the walls around the city’s CBD.
After three consecutive years you can really notice the difference and the vibrant atmosphere this project is bringing to town.
Some of the works are very small scale and others are truly majestic. I hope it’s a tradition that is set to stay.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Aunty_Jack_Show
[2] See my other recent post https://wordpress.com/post/oldchookenterprises.com/1625
[3] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-23/wolllongong-wonderwalls-street-art-festival-2016/8049488
According to Wikipedia, the font of all knowledge, there are 350 lighthouses and lightvessels dotted around the 25,760 km of the Australian coastline. I have been to only a few. One of my bucket list items is to photograph them all. They make lovely photographic subjects, a reminder of man’s battle against the elements set in a majestic ocean landscape.
All the lighthouses in Australia are now automatic. The romantic idea of the lonely lighthouse keeper vanished completely when the Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse on the southern coast of Tasmania was automated in 1996.
My home town has two, known to locals as the Little Lighthouse and the Big Lighthouse, because, well because, one is big and the other one is little.
This photo essay includes some of the lighthouses I have been to. I know I have visited more in my life time, but I have not always taken photos.
I estimate I have more than 300 to visit! I had better get cracking if I am going to tick off that bucket list item!
