Carols in MacCabe Park
Thursday 12 December
7 - 8.30pm Wollongong CBD
Enjoy carols, roving entertainment, festive face painting, a visit from Santa and more! Proudly presented by Wollongong
City Council
Stella Natalis
See the Illawarra Choral Society perform in cathedral
The Illawarra Choral Society will present Stella Natalis by Karl Jenkins on Saturday, November 23rd at 2pm, St Francis Xavier Cathedral.
Join the society for this wonderful dynamic piece, a work in 12 movements celebrating different aspects of the Christmas season. Conveying the Christmas message of peace, goodwill, compassion and a
new beginning, Stella natalis (‘star of birth’) draws on a varied palette of inspiration, including the Old Testament, Zulu text and reference to Hindu gods.
A concert that will inspire and thrill you. Tickets are $45/$40 concession and $15 for children. Book via Humanitix
Open Day at Lapidary Club
Don’t miss the annual Christmas Market
The Illawarra Lapidary Club will be holding its Open Day and Christmas Market on Sunday, 24th November from 9am – 2pm at The Clubhouse, 51 Meadow St, Tarrawanna
Admission: Absolutely FREE.
Stalls will be selling gemstones, Fossils, rough, minerals, handcrafted jewellery, books and more! There’ll also be homemade cakes and goodies, a sausage sizzle and drinks.
Founded in 1962, the club promotes development of knowledge and skills in the craft of Lapidary; collecting gemstones, mineral specimens, their identification, cutting or presenting as display items or as finished jewellery. It’s a social organisation, with activities including fossicking and classes for cutting stones and making jewellery.
Wild About Shellharbour winners
By Lesley Roulston
2
The theme for this year’s Wild About Shellharbour Photography Competition was ‘Connecting with Country’ and Shellharbour residents submitted stunning images in a bid to win.
The competition, an initiative of Shellharbour City Council, has two categories – 18 Years and Over and Under 18 Years – with a first prize, runner-up and People’s Choice winner selected for each.
We spoke to some of the photographers about their incredible images.
18 Years and Over
1. 1st place: ‘A Time to Dream’ by Simon Theuma Simon has been snapping underwater and its
fascinating marine life for the past 24 years. He used to do a lot of land photography but when he started scuba diving, capturing images of the underwater world became his passion.
“It’s something special for me. I find it really satisfying to take these photos,” said Simon.
His winning image was taken at Bass Point using very specialised equipment. To set up the shot with the prawn on top of the starfish, the subject had to be enlarged.
2. Runner-up: ‘After the Rain’ by Doug Hewitt
A keen photographer for the past eight years, Doug was really interested in capturing the rainforest near his home at Tullimbar.
“We had explored the Cascade Walk in Macquarie Pass National Park before moving here and I have seen it many times since then, so I knew after the rain it was spectacular.”
Doug said he tried to get up there as often as he could to take photos. In addition to the rainforest, Doug enjoys capturing sunrises, the night sky, the Milky Way and beach photos.
3. People’s Choice: ‘Clover Hill Falls’ by Renee Mitchell
Renee Mitchell is looking to turn her passion for photography into a professional career.
She has been an avid photographer since picking up her first camera about six years ago, taking it whenever she ventured out, so “she could turn what she saw into something beautiful for both herself and others”.
Bushwalking has always been something Renee enjoys, and she submitted her image of Clover Hill Falls to the competition because she believed it was a great reflection of the beauty of the Shellharbour that could be showcased to locals and visitors.
Under 18 Years
4. 1st place: ‘Bushrangers Beauty’ by Summer Brooks
Summer remembers always being a keen photographer, as a young child asking her mum for her camera so she could take different shots. Once she was given her own camera as a birthday present a few years ago, it was full steam ahead.
Recently, Summer obtained her open water diver’s licence and a GoPro camera, so she was able to take her winning image of a Grey Nurse Shark at Bushrangers Bay.
She remembered that dive and taking that shot in detail: “The clarity was really good and there were sharks everywhere. It was beautiful. This shark was behind me, the light was coming back
through the water and it was a perfect shot. I nearly forgot to take it as I was so in awe of all the sharks.”
5. Runner-up and People’s Choice Award: ‘Beautiful Sky’ and ‘Cute little Moon’ by Leyla Ahishali Leyla was only six when she entered the competition, after hearing her mum Deniz speaking to her older siblings about it.
“I would like to enter,” she told her mum, so when they were next out walking by the lake near the playground at Mount Warrigal, Deniz handed her phone to Leyla who snapped away at the beautiful surroundings. The resulting images were gorgeous and perfectly highlighted the beauty of Shellharbour. 4
A workshop with Ailsa Piper
By Amanda De George
“The truth is, everyone does have a book in them. That’s not the issue. It’s getting it onto the page.”
– Ailsa Piper
With each step around the room there’s a squelching exhale from her shoes as our coach insists, “Keep writing. Keep writing. Keep writing.” The sterile room is filled with people I won’t say much to; artists, a teacher, writers of various ilk, a filmmaker, a journalist, a self-styled ‘sticky beak’ and me.
It is day one of the South Coast Writer’s Centre’s fabulous True Story festival; it’s workshop day.
For a writer, I don’t much act like one. My inner critic won’t let me put much to paper and this is my first actual writers’ workshop. I feel out of my depth. But guided by memoirist Ailsa Piper – who tells us, “The truth is, everyone does have a book in them. That’s not the issue. It’s getting it onto the page” – my writing life starts to come into focus.
Ailsa has been described as a ‘super observer’. Her latest book, For Life: A memoir of living and dying – and flying, is filled with moments brought to life through her detailed observations of the natural world. The workshop promises to ‘expand your writerly observational skills’ and we soon learn what this means. “Make yourself porous to the world,” Ailsa says. “Think of yourself as a bowerbird.”
SHOP
Ailsa tells us how she will pull up a chair in a cafe, notebook at the ready to capture bits of conversation, ferreting them away for later. As a curious person (it’s impolite to say ‘nosey’), I relish this idea, although I’m not quite as keen to mess up a notebook. That thought is soon put to bed also: “Don’t be afraid to
blaspheme the page,” she says, encouragingly.
The class is told that creative process involves movement. Think about it –musicians move their bodies; whether they are playing drums or a violin. Same with painters. There’s flourishes of the wrist and arm, bending and craning. Writers though, we sit at a desk, only our fingers moving across the keyboard.
And so Ailsa has us skip and crawl around the room, use only pen and paper and feel the cramping and see the smudges on the page and, for short periods, write with our non-dominant hands. “Walking and movement frees the brain to dream,” she explains.
We look closely at objects familiar and those foraged that morning especially for us. And we write. And write. And write.
The three hours fly past and my notebook is filled with pages of almost undecipherable work. When did I forget how to physically write? Ailsa implores us not to go back and read the pages straight away but rather leave them for a few days. Only then are we to let the ‘curator’ (not the critic) in. The curator comes in after the work is done, after the work is what it wants to be.
I leave brimming with ideas and potential and her beautiful book, which puts into practice all that we have learned. As a perfectionist scared of failing, one statement resonates: “We’re always told there’s a right and a wrong way to do things. But there’s not. There’s only your way.” I take that and tuck it away, ready for when I need it.
Ailsa Piper’s memoir For Life is out now
Ailsa with Jackie Bailey at True Story festival 2024. Photos: Ironbark Photography
Bold museum plan unveiled
By Jeremy Lasek
“This is an ambitious project.” –Franca Facci
“Once established, the MPI will have the capacity to attract visiting exhibitions and attract blockbuster events”
– Franca Facci
Wherein Wollongong and the Illawarra can we visit to learn the story of this place? The history of the First Nations people who lived here for tens of thousands of years, our colonial past, the stories of our migrants, industry and trade unions, our rich sporting. cultural and creative history. The answer, in brief, is nowhere.
A small group of people who are behind hugely ambitious plans to champion a world-class museum for the Illawarra aren’t so much concerned about why this museum doesn’t already exist, as how we can put one in place, and in our lifetimes. There are, in fact, two proposals to put right this significant historical and cultural oversight.
Franca at the vacant site that could be the home for the facility
Museum of People and Industry
Today, the Illawarra Flame explores the first exciting and visionary proposal to establish an Illawarra Museum of People and Industry (MPI). It’s a ‘think big’ proposal based on the best of technology, as it should be in this City of Innovation. The proponents confidently believe the project has the potential to transform our city and the region, in the same way MONA has revolutionised Tasmania.
Franca Facci, chairperson of the Migration Heritage Project and convenor of the MPI working group, is one of the driving forces and believes an opportunity exists to create a magnificent new arts and heritage precinct, with the preferred site being on surplus reclaimed
industrial land at Port Kembla. Franca has her eye on the fact that 2028 – that’s just four years away – will mark a century since the establishment of the steel industry in the Illawarra. As well as telling the story of our people, Franca says the Museum of People and Industry will be “a place that will highlight the heritage of our industrial landscape”.
This is once in a lifetime
The museum proposal isn’t once in a generation in its ambition. It is once in a lifetime. “It will begin with the stories of our First Australians and through ongoing engagement, research, documentation and exhibition, it will showcase our rich migrant history, highlighting how successive waves of migration have impacted on and shaped our region,” Franca said.
“These stories will be underpinned and interlaced with the stories of the industrial giants who were the catalyst for the dramatic and transformational changes our region has witnessed for over 100 years.
“There is nothing else like this in Australia, and that’s what makes it so exciting. Once established, the MPI will have the capacity to attract visiting exhibitions and attract blockbuster events which will draw significant visitor numbers and increase spending in hospitality, accommodation and local promotional merchandise.”
A huge boost for local tourism
Franca said the Illawarra Museum of People and Industry would provide the biggest boost for tourism in the region ever, as a project that the majority of interstate and international visitors would regard as a ‘must see’ when coming to the region. It is also expected to be popular with locals hosting guests or simply wanting to find out more about where they live. The museum would be a definite stop for cruise ships visitors and school groups.
Franca says the museum concept is being built on five pillars: our Indigenous history, the migration story, capturing
our region’s social fabric, our industries’ valuable contribution to the nation, and our spectacular natural history.
“The museum will fill the significant gap that currently exists in the researching, recording and securing of our stories,” Franca said.
While the Illawarra has small ‘part-time’ museums in places like Helensburgh, Bulli, Wollongong, Port Kembla, Shellharbour and Kiama, there isn’t a place where the ‘whole story of the Illawarra’ comes together.
“This museum won’t replace any of the smaller museums. On the contrary, it would aim to support and sustain the research of those places and bring some of their displays into the larger museum as part of permanent or temporary exhibitions.”
Franca and her team are under no illusion how bold their plans are, and would require significant investment.
“This is an ambitious project which cannot be funded by a single government agency or business operation,” she said.
“This project is by necessity, a collaborative enterprise that pursues a shared vision. Many sources of funding will be required, supported by a robust plan and business case with short, medium and long-term goals.”
While the initial pitch to Wollongong City Council didn’t generate the enthusiasm Franca and her team had hoped for, they believe a change of leadership and new blood on the Council might prove more positive.
Franca said visionary thinking was needed to give the MPI project a chance, and while it is still in embryonic stages, its proponents will seek the backing of local, state and federal governments, as well as private sector and philanthropic support.
Community backing will also be crucial, and because the museum will be telling the stories of the people who have built, and continue to build this city, she feels it will have public support.
“Everyone I speak to about it is extremely positive, including a number of academics at the University of Wollongong and UTS.”
Learn to write plays, scripts and escape to Bundanon
By Elizabeth Heffernan of the South Coast Writers Centre
“This residency offered the solitude a writer craves, and the courage an emerging writer needs.”
– Brooke Boland
Inspired by last weekend’s True Story festival? Here are some opportunities ahead at the South Coast Writers Centre.
SCWC Emerging & Established Writers Group Retreat
Monday 28 April – Sunday 4 May 2025
This week-long retreat at Bundanon Homestead will allow six emerging or established NSW South Coast writers to focus on developing or completing works. Brooke Boland, a 2024 Bundanon attendee, recently launched her book Gulp, Swallow: Essays on Change. She said about the retreat: “This residency offered the solitude a writer craves, and the courage an emerging writer needs.” Applications close 15 December.
SCWC & Merrigong Playwrights Program
February – November 2025
The 2025 SCWC/Merrigong Playwrights Program aims to create a space where writers are encouraged to develop their projects among a safe and supportive group of peers. The group will meet monthly on Saturdays either at Coledale Community Hall or at a performance in one of Merrigong’s venues. The group will be convened by Tom Peach, playwright, ex-president of Stanwell Park Arts Theatre and an alumnus of the
Merrigong Playwrights Program. Applications close 15 December.
SCWC Screenwriting Program
February – December 2025
The Screenwriting Group focuses on the craft of screenwriting for drama. As in 2024, industry veteran Graham Thorburn is looking to form a small group of mutually supportive writers with some experience in writing (though not necessarily either fiction or screenplays) interested in writing a first draft of their own feature length screenplay over the course of 2025. Workshops will be held fortnightly on Thursday nights from 6:30pm at Coledale. An Info Night will be held on Thursday, 5 December.
2025 SCWC Poetry Award
The SCWC 2025 Poetry Award invites poets to submit poems responding to the theme ‘shapeshifter’. Judged by esteemed poet Judith Beveridge. All winning entries will be published in the South Coast Writers Centre’s 2025 Anthology. The Award is run in association with the Wollongong Art Gallery exhibition Shape Shifters, a retrospective of Australian collage.Submissions open 7 December – 2 March. A Poetry Award workshop with 2024 winner Jen Saunders will be held on 11 January.
Rally to Reclaim the Night
By Tyneesha Williams
Organised by Women Illawarra and Relationships Australia, 2024’s Reclaim The Night rally on October 31 was a peaceful protest promoting women’s rights and safety.
Supporters gathered at Andrew Lysaght Park and enjoyed a performance by a local drumming group, before marching to Flagstaff Hill Lighthouse. The lighthouse was lit purple, once the colour of royalty, now a global symbol of peace, courage and commitment to ending domestic violence.
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Local speakers at the event shared stories and information about gender-based violence. Musicians Jess and Sofie performed original music and a candlelight memorial honoured the 73 women and 14 children who have lost their lives to gender-based violence this year in Australia.
Ahead of the march, women shared their thoughts with the Flame
Dee
“We’re here for Reclaim the Night 2024 – to bring awareness to gender-based violence and sexual assault against women. We’re here also to have a memorial for the 73 women and the 14 children who have been murdered due to gender-based violence in Australia to date this year.”
Sonya, Claudia, Louise and friend
“We are part of the committee and the Salvation Army supports this 100%.
We’ve got some people coming so we can support keeping women safe.”
Kate and her daughters
“My mum, their grandma, is in the drumming group with her friends. So we wanted to come and show our support.”
“2024’s Reclaim
The Night rally on October 31 was a peaceful protest promoting
women’s rights and safety”
– Tyneesha Williams
Grace
“As someone who works in the domestic and family violence space as a frontline worker,, I can say that we are becoming increasingly concerned for women’s safety. There’s been a really big increase in serious events, as well as homicides this year, and it’s something that needs to be taken very, very seriously by the community and Australia as a whole.”
Illawarra Star Strikers win grant
By Tyneesha Williams
“It’ll help subsidise their bowling balls, their shoes, new shirts and uniforms – there’s a lot involved.”
– team organiser
Kim Waters
The Illawarra Star Strikers, a local ten-pin bowling team for players with disabilities, has been awarded a $2500 grant from Carl’s Jr. Warrawong as part of the fast-food chain’s Community Club Cash Bonanza initiative.
“We never expected to win – we still can’t believe it!” says team organiser Kim Waters.
Kim has been working with the Star Strikers for 25 years, fundraising to help the team travel and compete in tournaments around the country.
“Fundraising is very hard in this day and age, because everyone is in the same boat at the moment,” Kim says.
“We can’t thank Carl’s Jr enough, because we fundraise virtually 52 weeks of the year. The prize is a fantastic boost, because it takes a bit of the pressure off.”
The team is preparing for a tournament in Perth in June 2025, and the grant will help to cover essential costs.
“The entry fees are quite expensive for these competitions,” Kim says.
“They’ll bowl from early in the morning till late at night. It’ll help subsidise their bowling balls, their shoes, new shirts and uniforms – there’s a lot involved.
“We try to organise social things as
well – it’s not just bowling. The tournaments are often interstate, so we always try to stay an extra day and organise something special, like a dinner for the team.”
Illawarra Star Strikers are a dedicated team, bowling for 48 weeks a year, and members offer each other support in all areas of life.
“They’re more like brothers and sisters than teammates,” Kim says.
“They’ve all been together for so long, and they’re all there for one another. We’ve travelled the country together. They help each other and they all know each other’s capabilities. It’s a great group to be part of.”
The Star Strikers will continue to fundraise for the betterment of their team, with regular pie drives, merchandise sales and major raffles. Coming up in March 2025, the team will hold their annual Illawarra Bowling Tournament.
“That brings about 150 bowlers and their families from all over. All of the different places we travel to, they have the chance to come visit us here in the Illawarra.” Kim says.
“We all just get in and give it a go. We try to think of new ideas and anything we can think of, we do.”
Swamp Lily spectacular
By Emma Rooksby of Growing Illawarra Natives
Swamp Lily flowers are extremely appealing. They grow in umbels (clusters at the end of the flower stem or scape) of between 10 and 40 separate flowers.
by Emma Rooksby and Carl Glaister
Withthe warm and now wet spring we’re having, many local plants are flowering and fruiting brilliantly. It’s an excellent time to observe local native plants and see what they’re up to.
One local plant that is doing particularly well is the Swamp Lily or Crinum pedunculatum. This robust, salt- and wind-tolerant lily is flowering all around right now, including at the beach at North Wollongong, at Seven Mile Beach, and many other places.
Its flowers are so spectacular, it’s worth a visit to check them out.
Pictured at left is a nice row of planted Swamp Lilies at Warrawong Shopping Centre. These plants flower regularly each year despite the tough urban setting. (Image by Emma Rooksby.)
Swamp Lily is common across Illawarra, growing in swamps and along stream beds, and in rocky situations along the coast. Its distribution indicates that it is robust and resilient, and that it can survive dry periods and exposure to salt-laden winds. There are scattered individuals just south of the Continental Pool at North Wollongong Beach.
This beautiful large plant really comes into its own when it flowers.
Flowers are borne in umbels containing between 10 and 40 individual flowers. Each flower has narrow creamy-white petals and at its centre the filaments (a component of the stamens, or male reproductive parts of the flower) are long (up to 6.5cm) and pink, purple or reddish, adding to their decorative nature. The fruit are appealing, being large, rounded and green often tinged with pinks, yellows and orange-reds.
One thing to note is that this is just one of about 100 species in the Crinum genus, and many exotic species are cultivated and/or sold as cut flowers. It is possible to confuse these species, particularly when they’re not in flower. I have seen situations where someone has planted a Crinum, believing it to be Swamp Lily, only to find, when it flowers, that it is another species. The Southern African Natal Lily (C. moorei) has naturalised in the Blue Mountains, for example, and Spider Lily (Crinum asiaticum) is sometimes cultivated in gardens. So if you’d like to grow the local native species, make sure you obtain your plants from a reputable nursery. Or just enjoy these lilies wherever they’ve decided to grow themselves.
Photos
Flautist Annabel Wouters wins award
By Lesley Roulston
Annabel’s award includes funding, mentoring and chamber music opportunities.
Photos: Peter Hislop
Sixteen-year-old flautist Annabel
Wouters has won the 2025 Eva Pascoe Award.
Run by the Highlands Music Collective, the award aims to nurture young talent and is for classical musicians, aged 14 to 24, who are connected to the Southern Highlands and surrounds. It was established in 2023 by Dr Timothy Pascoe in memory of his wife Eva; today the Pascoe Awards are given in memory of Timothy and Eva.
Annabel receives a $3000 Eva Pascoe Award, as well as mentoring and chamber music opportunities with the Highlands Music Collective, while finalists each receive a $200 Timothy Pascoe Encouragement Award. Recipients this year were Oscar Dunn-Luck, 18; Fin Torpy, 19; Hana Lee, 18; Robert Nelson, 14; and Charlie Blake, 18.
Annabel’s award includes funding, mentoring and chamber music opportunities. Photo: Peter Hislop
The Highlands Music Collective was founded in 2019 by Myee Clohessy, a professional violinist who is now the collective’s artistic director.
The chamber music ensemble was formed during Myee’s nine-year stint as
Driven: 2025 Abarth 500e
By Marcus Craft
artistic director of the Bowral Autumn Festival and 12-year stint performing with the Acacia Quartet at festivals throughout Australia. Myee realised there was a demand for chamber music in her hometown in the Southern Highlands, so she gathered a committee and they turned HMCollective into a not-for-profit incorporated association dedicated to bringing concerts to the local community.
Performances feature the music of many Australian composers and the composers themselves often attend. Myee says it’s vital to provide a platform for Australian composers, as well as some lesser-known and forgotten composers (often women).
Can an EV replicate the hot-hatch thrills of the original ICE (internal combustion engine) version on which it’s based?
We drove the 2025 Abarth 500e Turismo to see if it’s as much fun as it’s hyped up to be – and to see if it can serve as a family car.
The 2025 Abarth 500e Turismo has a manufacturer suggested retail price of $58,900. Our test vehicle has Poison Blue premium paint ($990), pushing its price to $59,890 (excluding on-road costs).
By its very nature, this is a highly manoeuvrable vehicle around town; a 9.4m turning circle means you can turn it on a five cent piece – well, not quite, but pretty close.
Click to read the full review
ITeC to host new free Business Connections Club
By Genevieve Swart
“Business networking is one of the most powerful tools for promoting and growing your business.”
– Virginia Wren
Networking events are making a comeback as local business people show they value the chance to connect with others.
On Thursday, November 14, the revival of the Northern Illawarra Chamber of Commerce (NICC) had a promising start, with Wollongong Lord Mayor Tania Brown and about 50 people from local businesses and government services attending a meeting at Coledale RSL.
Among the group was ITeC’s Virginia Wren, who will be drawing on two decades of experience to launch a free quarterly event at the academy’s HQ in Coniston next month.
The first Business Connections Club night will be held from 5.30-7.30pm on December 11. Thanks to Virginia for taking the time to tell us more.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I have had the pleasure of working as a Business Development Manager with Illawarra ITeC for the past 21 years and really enjoy working closely with new and existing businesses… I founded the Wollongong Small Business Club (WSBC) and facilitated their networking meetings for 18 years until it was disbanded due to COVID.
We recently merged with IRT to form ITeC Academy and this has been
energising for staff and students. We still provide accredited training in Business, Hospitality, Construction and Entertainment Industry (Music and Screen & Media) as well as short sharp workshops, but due to the merger we also provide accredited training in Aged and Disability Care too.
What is your new project?
With our renewed energy, we have set out to offer a bi-monthly Business Connections club meetings which are free business networking events.
The first event will take place on Wednesday, 11th December with meetings taking place in February, April, June and August 2025.
Why is it needed?
Business networking is one of the most powerful tools for promoting and growing your business. It helps strengthen your reputation, create partnerships, and form mentorships with other local businesses.
Networking also allows you to learn from others, expand your business connections, and gain both business and personal confidence. For businesses, it’s essential to continually promote their products or services, and the Business Connections Club offers a fantastic, free platform to do just that.
Virginia (left) with Lord Mayor Tania Brown in Coledale
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