A Wollongong Weekend.....

When I was a small child we visited my father’s uncle and aunt several times. Uncle Harry and Aunty Else lived in Wollongong, some 82 kms south of Sydney, and back in those days, it was a very long trip indeed taken along old winding roads. Harry was my Grandfather's brother and as a seven year old I remember thinking that my grandfather would have looked just like him if he were alive. My childhood memories of Aunty Elsie was that of an elderly buxom woman with straight gray hair and wrinkles. Uncle Harry also seemed old and drove a tip truck out from Port Kembla each day. I remember him once saying that it was a waste of resources educating females as they ceased work once they were married anyway; how times have changed since then. Harry and Elsie lived in an old weatherboard house that had not seen a coat of paint for several decades; their children grown up and moved away. Families occupied most of the neighboring areas; the populous all working in services that were in one way or another, related to the Steel Works or the grain industry.

Some years later I visited Port Kembla Steel Works with our school class of year 6 and remember thinking that it was a very dirty place, soot everywhere and more air pollution than I had ever witnessed in my life. Port Kembla was, and still is, primarily an industrial port that handles bulk goods and commodities such as iron ore, grain and coal hence, the sooty look of a bygone era.

Several weekends ago J and I took a drive to Wollongong and decided to make a weekend of it. Nowadays, it is a beautiful city, if fact one could say that it is clean, green and environmentally conscious when you drive around and witness the many facilities and parks available. Many locals commute between Wollongong and Sydney on a daily basis to work and I read in the mall that Wollongong is now the 9th largest city in Australia. It is hard to believe that many of the dairy farms are now fully occupied residential suburbs, and that the once dirty waterways are spotlessly clean and used as surfing beaches that are overlooked by hotels.

The locals warmly refer to Wollongong as "The Gong" and as we entered the township I could see out to the water ways ccupied by many of the ships carrying steel from the steel works to overseas destinations. Even though they travel a fair way out from the coast the busy shipping lanes are an awesome sight.

Around the outskirts of Wollongong the Illawarra Escarpment sits and there are three particularly beautiful lookouts that we visited; Mount Keira, Murray and Kembla. If you ever have the time or are in the area, they are well worth the visit. The foothills and forrests give the outter Wollongong areas a sort of "gently rolling" character about it and the views look out over the Pacific Ocean.

In contrast to the mining and steel works is a prinstine coastline. The beaches are picturesque, clean and very inviting. I didn’t think to take our fishing lines along and I am sure that some fishing from these beautiful beaches would have been very relaxing. I did remember to take my camera and so I have quite a few photographs of the area now. J and I were surprised at how much the Steel Works have been cleaned up and a great deal of emphasis has been placed on blending it into the natural environment as much as possible. In the evening we shared a lovely dinner and stayed in town.

On Sunday morning we headed off to the Nan Tien Temple at Berkerley. The temple is tranquil with beautiful gardens and an atmosphere, which encourages peace and a stress free environment. I loved roaming around.

Surrounding the outer eaves of the temples are the loveliest red

lanterns Apparently the name “Nan Tien” means paradise of the south and a small piece of paradise it is indeed.

In one of the many vast halls was a concert arranged for visiting Buddhist Monks and I stood and watched some of the performances which included everything from red dragons to young people dancing hip hop lol. I browzed through the small art gallery which was a good experience and very worth while.

According to Buddhist teachings Buddhism was to be spread through out the western world via culture and beautifying the world through art. I must say that the art here really was supurb and depicted so much of the history of the east.

Before we knew it it was time to move on. The Nan Tien Temple was such a quiet, peaceful environment there that one can not help but come away more relaxed for the visit. Anyway. after a lunch of John Dory and chips I snapped a few photos of some local pelicans who were trying so hard to poke their heads in through the wondow of a car lol. The evening loomed ahead and so we headed home to Jervis Bay. I had a wonderful weekend thanks to J, it is always great to have a relaxing weekend with family and friends but a relaxing weekend for just the two of us is even better.