Sign in with Facebook"Wollongong - definitely the best of both worlds!" Top 5 Page for this destination Wollongong by lindyz
Wollongong Travel Guide: 193 reviews and 574 photos
I would say the main attraction to Wollongong is its coastline, beaches and harbours. Not only are they very picturesque, but range from great surfing beaches to many flat protected beaches.
The 2 main beaches in central Wollongong are probably North Beach and South Beach. The harbour and fishing wharf and Flagstaff Hill are in between both these beaches. Even though these are the 2 main beaches and probably the most popular, my ex husband would say that Port Kembla Beach beats them all hands down! "Port's the Best" - thats his opinion. We live about 20 minutes drive from Port Kembla Beach, but he will happily drive there instead of going to the beaches that are closer and only 5 minutes away! Wollongong has 23 beaches, with 17 of them being patrolled. Patrolled beaches stretch from Stanwell Park in the North to Windang in the South. All 17 beaches are patrolled from the start of NSW School holidays in September until the end of the April School holidays.
Strangely, I dont really like going to the beach (hate the sand!!) even though I do love to live near it (if that makes any sense!?)
I have lived in Wollongong for the last 28 years, since I married Frank in 1985. I grew up in a small country town in Victoria, so I was actually quite excited to move up here, to the beach and so close to Sydney. I always say that getting married to Frank was my ticket out of Horsham!
We lived in a suburb about 10 minutes north of Wollongong. It was a lovely place to live and bring up a family, a relatively quiet street with the bush only 2 streets away from us. We had a lovely view of the escarpment from our balcony, of Brokers Nose and Mount Keira. Frank and I separated last year and sold our house. A lot of people asked me if I was sad to leave the house, where we had brought up our 3 kids, but to me it was just a house, bricks and mortar, with lots of good memories, but also some not so good. Home is always where your heart is, not necessarily a street address. I now live one suburb away in a lovely 3 bedroom unit ive bought and Im quite happy here. I also have a wonderful new partner in my life and Leigh makes me very happy.
Wollongong quite often gets a bad rap because of the Steelworks ie. Port Kembla Springhill Steelworks. This place is HUGE and is our areas biggest employer. So ... if the Steelworks wasnt here, then Wollongong just wouldnt be Wollongong - or "The Gong" as it is commonly known as! Yes, the Steelworks is a bit of an ugly place to look at, but I believe it is an essential part of what makes Wollongong unique.
Wollongongs climate is perfect, with a mild, sunny coastal winter with temperatures averaging about 17 degrees. Summer months are an average of 27 degress, always with a cool summer breeze from the ocean. Highest rainful is usually between February and June.
The Illawarra region is situated about one hours drive from outer Sydney and between the escarpment and the ocean, so we really do have the best of everything here. If you love the beach, or bushwalking or the big smoke, you have it all within a stones throw. There are some beautiful National Parks, including Royal National Park, lookouts and bushwalks along the escarpment. My boys have quite often gone for a bushwalk from our place right up to the top of Brokers Nose and back down again - usually covered in mud and leaches!
Wollongong is also only about 2 hours drive from Canberra and about 3 hours drive from the Snowy Mountains, so there is definitely something for everyones tastes only a short distance from "The Gong"!
- Pros:Beach, Bush and Big Smoke - all not too far away
- Cons:Nothing bad about living here at all!
- In a nutshell:A great place to call "home"
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Comments (17)
I wouldn't have guessed there was so much to do in the 'Gong! I will have another look when I have a bit more time. Alison
Thanks for the insight into your life in Wollongong!
Love your photos and the Padlocks on Sea Cliff Bridge is a neat tradition. Could be catchy.
Sadly Local Council has now removed the padlocks :( said it was an OH&S issue and also rusting the bridge railings.
Looks like I'm going to have to head south out of Sydney one of these days - tho' I think I'll opt for the SS Retreat rather than be a Pilgrim! leyle
very beautiful place... I don't know when the dream comes true to visit it. Cheers
It looks like you are in the middle of all the best for the region. Nice place to live and enjoy. I have a friend in Sydney may visit someday to see what we can. Thank you for the tips
Lindy, the temple is beautiful. It reminds me of a temple I visited in Xian. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, that's a great jumping picture by your daughter - it puts me to shame!!! I love jumping in pictures, hehehe...but I would love to visit Fitzroy Falls and Solar Springs - sounds awesome!
Really nice page Lindy! We used to head 'down the coast' every summer when we were kids. Great memories!
Wow..thanks so much for your postcards from Wollongong. I am smiling ear to ear. Have posted 1 card this week and will show the rest at next week's update in my VT front page. Thanks so much. SL :)