Beachside Bugle Dec 12

4 Tingira Cres

t: 4232 4990

littleblowholecafe@gmail.com www.littleblowholecafe.com Dec 2012/Jan 2013

Beachside Bugle Help commemorate our role in aviation history In January 1933, Gerroa’s Seven Mile Beach was chosen

by Charles Kingsford Smith as the best place to set off for the first commercial flight across the Tasman.

The airfield at Mascot was too short for the Southern Cross, heavily laden with fuel, mail and the first paying passenger, and the tightly packed sand of the long beach (which was used then for car racing) was judged ideal for the takeoff (as there was room to reland!).

At least 1000 people, many down from Sydney, came to watch the event, even though it happened in the early hours of the morning. Their car lights helped illuminate the beach runway.

The Gerringong & District Historical Society has put together an interesting program of events to mark the 80th anniversary. Get along and find out more, or just enjoy a great day at the beach (named as one of the 101 best beaches in Australia).

Southern Cross on 7 Mile Beach

Brought to you monthly by Cathy and her team at your local cafe

Festival highlights: 1946 film ‘Smithy’ and historic newsreel.

Fri 4 Jan, 7.30pm, Gerringong Town Hall Talks by guest speakers, Fri 11 Jan, 7.30pm, Gerringong Town Hall 1000 People on the Beach. Help re-enact the farewell crowd. Sat 12 Jan, 9am, access from Berry Beach Park.

Formal commemoration. Sat 12 Jan, 11.30am, Black Head Reserve, Stafford St, Gerroa (display at nearby markets)

Summer at the Café: Tapas returns Hopefully the weather will settle down to ‘normal’ (or at least predictable) soon, but we’ve had enough hot days to tell us Summer really is here. While for most of you the summer holidays bring the prospect of relaxation, we’ll be working away here most of the time to offer you a great place to meet up with friends away from the busyness of the main street.

Due to the great response we got last year, we will again be morphing into a Tapas Bar on Friday and Saturday evenings — offering delicious morsels of food from Spain and beyond (in the true spirit of multicultural Australia). A great way to relax after a hard day at the beach.

Details: Friday and Saturday evenings in January, from 6pm. Bookings recommended.

Kiama Show notches up 165 years of support for our farming community

The Kiama International Seaside Arts Festival, or KISS Arts for short, is on once again this year, in a new format designed to make it accessible to as many people as possible.

Rather than putting on shows in a big top, four acts will be performing at various venues around town over a three day period, including Hindmarsh Park, caravan parks, the Sebel and Jamberoo Pub. The big news is that you’ll be able to catch the performances of these internationally acclaimed street theatre talents for free!

(Although you are more than welcome to show your appreciation in a monetary form.)

The popular Kids’ Circus Workshops are being offered again, every day from the 2nd to the 15th of January.

Details: 4—5 January, at various locations and times around Kiama. Check the website for details: www.kissartsfestival.com.au

Since its opening, the Little Blowhole Café has done its little bit for the Kiama Show by providing prize money for a number of cookery and produce sections. This contribution fits in with our ethos of encouraging the use of local, seasonal produce and reinvigoration of the local farming industry.

We know the token monetary reward is nothing compared with having tangible proof that your cakes, fruit or vegetables are the best in the district this year.

Kiama’s is one of the oldest agricultural shows in Australia, with a rich history of encouraging excellence. The Show Society is always looking for new members, so if you want to be involved with helping the Show continue to thrive then get in touch with them. There are lots of jobs!

One way to introduce yourself before the Show is to go along to the Show Ball, long a highlight of Kiama’s social calendar.

Details: 25 and 26 January, Kiama Pavilion and Showground. Tickets $15 adult, $5 concession and children under 16, family pass $35. Show Ball 11 January at the Leisure Centre. Tickets from Kiama Tourism.

Sunset Cinema on again at the Botanical Gardens Outdoor cinema returns to the Wollongong Botanic Gardens on Thursday 6 December.

‘The Sapphires’ is the first of 21 screening nights across 7 weeks. Other movies include the latest highly acclaimed James Bond, ‘Skyfall’ (Fri 11th Jan), ‘Madagascar 3’ (Sat 8th Dec) and Ruby Sparks (Thurs 20th Dec).

Gates open each night at 7pm. Patrons are encouraged to pack a picnic and gather family and friends together for this unique cinematic experience. No BYO alcohol is permitted into the venue with full bar facilities on-site.

While tickets are on sale at the gate from 7pm each night, patrons are encouraged to book online to avoid the queues and save money.

Details: Go to www.sunsetcinema.com.au/ wollongong for the full program and to buy tickets.

CHRISTMAS ROUND-UP Order your cakes, puddings & hams now Despite the hot weather, we’re busy making cakes and puddings, so you can still place an order for these homemade beauties that taste just as they should.

Available in a variety of sizes, they are packed with fruit and flavour. This year I’ve gone mad, and marinated the pudding fruit in single malt whisky. Heresy to some, but I’m sure they will taste the better for it.

Details: Ham orders need to be in by Friday 14 December (deposit required) for delivery the following week. We’re making our cakes & puddings this week, so get in quick to secure one.

Open most hours We’ll be open most of the Christmas New Year period, closing on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day (just our luck the holidays fall on Tuesday this year - our usual day off anyway!).

In addition, we will be open until 9pm on Friday and Saturday nights in January for our Tapas Nights (see page 1).

Bookings are recommended for the Tapas Nights.

Get a ‘real’ Christmas tree Once more APEX is selling Christmas trees on the Park side of Terralong St on the morning of Saturday 8 December. They are great quality, and the money goes to good causes. The Red Cross is also holding its Christmas Street Stall that morning outside IMB.

Opportunity to shop local this Christmas The inaugural Made in Kiama Handmade Night Market will be held on the evenings of Tues 18 and Weds 19 December at the Christchurch Hall, at the eastern end of Terralong St. You can get a sneak preview at facebook.com/MadeInKiama The market is on from 6.30-9.30pm both nights.

Carols in the Park Bring your best singing voice down to Hindmarsh Park on Weds 12 December from 7.30pm. Carols performed by great local talent including the Kiama Mens Probus Choir, Penny Hartgerink and Danielle Delaite. This popular family event will move to the Pavilion if it rains.

New Year’s Eve Fireworks The tradition of fireworks down at the Harbour each New Year, at the family friendly time of 9pm, continues this year. It is a relaxed way to welcome in 2013 with family and friends.

A word of warning though - last year there was a real Sydney-like bottleneck with the traffic as people tried to leave Blowhole Point, so leave your car some blocks away and enjoy the walk down to the Harbour.

Momentum builds at on the local food front Good news: a number of interesting developments in the local food/farming front

Weekly local produce market Greenbox founder and dedicated local food champion Jess Taylor has fulfilled a long held ambition to become a farmer herself. She has developed a market garden at Foxground using natural farming methods and has planted hundreds of tomato plants (cherry, Roma & different heirloom varieties), beans, capsicums, zucchini, eggplants, all herbs, radicchio & endive which will be available over the summer. And then with boundless energy she operates a market stall.

Details: Buy her (and other fresh sourced) produce each Sat at the Jamberoo Produce Market, held outside the pub.8am - 12pm

Local solutions for your garden Andrew and Elizabeth Burnett of Burnett Trees have expanded their business laterally by opening a new landscaping/gardening hub for the area in the old Barney St quarry. All the old-fashioned solutions for feeding your garden are available including as many local manures as you could possibly want.

There is a market day on Saturday, with locally grown vegetables and heirloom tomatoes by Jamberoo Valley Farms, native plants and trees from Tongarra Native Nursery, exotic garden plants and flowering annuals and even free range eggs if you get in early.

Details: Open 7am to 4.30pm weekdays and 7am to 4pm on Saturdays

Living the Agrarian life There is something exciting happening in the hills around Jamberoo. The people at Jamberoo Valley Farm have embarked on a wide ranging project to bring their long held passions for growing beaut

-iful produce, breeding special animals, cooking long and slow, educating and providing hospitality for people. As well as the propagation work, they are planning to open the Farm to people for short breaks to experience being part of a working farm, running educational programs and raising rare breeds.

Details: Seedlings on sale Jamberoo Market and Burnetts. t 4236 1505 website coming

Time for tea in Gerringong We’re pleased to tell you that Foxground tea grower and Slowfood Saddleback mainstay Kirsten McHugh has launched the first stage of The Schoolhouse development in Gerringong, by opening her tea tasting room. She is in the final stages of commissioning her cheese workshop, where fresh cheeses will be made from local milk and then be available to taste and purchase.

Details: Victoria St, Gerringong (opposite Cronin’s Pub), Thurs to Sun 10am - 4pm

Noticeboard Salon on Tingira’s week off Roz from The Salon on Tingira would like to wish you all a great Christmas and New Year.

Like us, she will be open as usual over most the holidays so you can be assured you’ll continue to look your best. The only days she’ll be closed are the 25 - 27 December and for the week of New Year (as her mum is coming out from Scotland).

Salon on Tingira

ph 4232 3918

Please note: While we try to get everything right, we are only human and cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions.