Wollongong By Night
A regional town on the eastern seaboard of the Australian continental island, Wollongong may not appeal to some, day or night. Under the night sky, however, the Wollongong city lights do form a layered but flat cornucopia of twinkling electrical lights beside the darkness of the Tasman Sea. When you are in the middle of it, you do not realise or see it, but when you approach the city from the mountain top highway coming from Sydney or inland, the view turns up like a delightful surprise, especially after the pitch blackness of the nearby Royal National Park.
Looking up into the London sky often offers a grey lead colour, but putting up your eyes over the Wollongong area night sky suggests so many possibilities for telescopes, constellation identification and viewing of the moon. To an ex-Sydney sider like me, the heavens after twilight are definitely different and clearer. From Mount Keira, one can make out specific landmarks, buildings and roads.
Essentially a suburban conglomeration, Wollongong can be said to have a one-strip nightlife, centring around food, student life and pockets of night clubbing. Those from further down the South Coast do drive up to the city for a weekend night out, but those in Wollongong are drawn up north to the variety available in the Big Smoke of Sydney. The surf coast and the outdoor lifestyle are not fully utilized for its potential.
Krish, Daniel and I took a night ride after a Japanese dinner. We first came to a pitch-dark point overlooking the harbour, lit only by an imposing lighthouse on a weeknight. We then skirted the Wollongong golf course by the sea before heading out to Port Kembla. Mired in complex contraptions of steel and white belching smoke, the whole complex of Bluescope suggested to me of Gotham City after dark. There were hilly mounds of coal and waste discernible even in the darkness. Yes, there are shady goings-on at Port Kembla at night besides the production of steel.
Warrawong in the evenings look like the statistics it produces - high youth unemployment and deserted streets leading to a Westfield shopping centre. We drove up the road to the Nan Tien Temple even if we knew it had already closed - and just got the last outlined lights of its buildings before they were switched off at ten pm. The guard was friendly but firm in reminding us about opening and closing hours.
Looking up into the London sky often offers a grey lead colour, but putting up your eyes over the Wollongong area night sky suggests so many possibilities for telescopes, constellation identification and viewing of the moon. To an ex-Sydney sider like me, the heavens after twilight are definitely different and clearer. From Mount Keira, one can make out specific landmarks, buildings and roads.
Essentially a suburban conglomeration, Wollongong can be said to have a one-strip nightlife, centring around food, student life and pockets of night clubbing. Those from further down the South Coast do drive up to the city for a weekend night out, but those in Wollongong are drawn up north to the variety available in the Big Smoke of Sydney. The surf coast and the outdoor lifestyle are not fully utilized for its potential.
Krish, Daniel and I took a night ride after a Japanese dinner. We first came to a pitch-dark point overlooking the harbour, lit only by an imposing lighthouse on a weeknight. We then skirted the Wollongong golf course by the sea before heading out to Port Kembla. Mired in complex contraptions of steel and white belching smoke, the whole complex of Bluescope suggested to me of Gotham City after dark. There were hilly mounds of coal and waste discernible even in the darkness. Yes, there are shady goings-on at Port Kembla at night besides the production of steel.
Warrawong in the evenings look like the statistics it produces - high youth unemployment and deserted streets leading to a Westfield shopping centre. We drove up the road to the Nan Tien Temple even if we knew it had already closed - and just got the last outlined lights of its buildings before they were switched off at ten pm. The guard was friendly but firm in reminding us about opening and closing hours.
Comments