Randwick News

The planning, designing, and building of a centre like the Heffron Centre doesn’t happen overnight – it takes years of hard work by countless people. With two indoor courts for basketball, futsal and volleyball as well as a gymnastics centre and a dance program, there’s so much on offer for the whole community.

Having the Rabbitohs call our City home gives us great pride. The centre allows the whole Club to be under one roof, including their operational staff and community outreach arm, South Cares.

We’re excited to be officially opening this facility with a big party on Saturday 1 July. We hope you come along and enjoy the day. There will be entertainment (our City’s very own Kobie Dee will be the headline act) as well as fun activities, plenty of sports and food trucks all day. Come along!

Later this month, Beach Breaks is back on Sunday 23 July. This is a special event that shines a spotlight on the brilliant surfing culture at Maroubra Beach. Each year, we induct new recipients into the Surfing Walk of Fame. The Walk of Fame began in 2006 and honours those who have competed in world-class surfing events or who have strongly influenced the local surfing culture at Maroubra. It’s a one-of-a kind walk of fame – come and check it out. And finally, if you haven’t heard, we will be screening the Matilda’s World Cup Soccer matches live on a big screen at Heffron Park! We’ll be sharing all the details on our website – what to expect, how to get tickets, where it’ll be held – so stay tuned!

What’s On

SATURDAY 1 JULY

HEFFRON CENTRE

COMMUNITY CELEBRATION

11am – 3pm

Heffron Centre, Bunnerong Rd

Heffron Park, Maroubra

MONDAY 3 JULY

BLENDER BASICS

(AGES 12-18)

2pm – 4pm

Lionel Bowen Library

TUESDAY 11 JULY

SLOW FASHION AND TEXTILES GROUP

9.30am – 11.30am

Sustainable Classroom

Randwick Sustainability Hub

27 Munda Street Randwick

WEDNESDAY 12 JULY

FRED HOLLOWS RESERVE

BUSHCARE

9am – 12pm

At the end of Bligh Place

WEDNESDAY 12 JULY

SCHOOL HOLIDAY EVENT: TOY SLEEPOVER!

3.30pm – 5pm

Lionel Bowen Library

SUNDAY 23 JULY

BEACH BREAKS

11am – 4pm

Maroubra Beach

1300 722 542 randwick.nsw.gov.au

If you’e not familiar with this awe-inspiring gully, nestled in between the hustle and bustle of Alison Road and Clovelly Road in Coogee, well, you have really been missing out. This pleasant 20-30 minute walk features a footbridge that crosses a flowing freshwater creek and spans unique native vegetation along a deep gully. The footbridges and boardwalks in the two-hectare reserve are made from new recycled plastics.

Talk a Walk on the East Side

We are coming into one of my favourite times of the year, when the days get a little cooler and shorter and the crowds thin out a little on the coastal walk. For most of the year the Bondi to Coogee walk is outstandingly beautiful as thousands - at varying speeds - enjoy the views, fresh air and the opportunity to exercise. The coastal walk is wonderful in its egalitarianism and diversity; it is enjoyed by literally all walks of life - local mums with prams, young folk with their fitbits, retirees enjoying their well-earned dose of fresh air and people from all over the world experiencing our lovely area, saying g’day as they pass each other by.

While our coastal walk is amazing, and enjoying the sunrise on an early morning walk along the boardwalk past Waverley Cemetery never gets old, I want to share with you a number of other great walks around the Eastern Suburbs. These include a few hidden gems that you may not be aware of, right under our noses. At the top of my list is Fred Hollows Reserve.

As you transition between the canopy, mid-storey and gully floor you’ll get the chance to appreciate different perspectives on the vegetation, while viewing platforms and benches allow you to take in the beautiful surrounds. When walking through this reserve, formerly known as Glebe Gully, you almost forget that it’s hidden away in the middle of densely packed suburbia, and for a moment you can even get a sense of what the natural world would have been like around here pre-1788.

Exploring the Artillery Track in Malabar Headland National Park along Boora Point walking track is a another hidden gem. While the Malabar Headland National Park, accessed through the Byrne Reserve carpark, offers dramatic coastal views, the Artillery Track extends for almost 600 metres through one of the largest surviving areas of endangered Eastern Suburbs Banksia scrub, protected within the park. The trail features historic World War II gun emplacements built in the 1940s to defend Sydney. And here’s a fun fact... this command post was for a time served by members of the Australian Women’s Army Service.

Further north, Cooper Park features an enjoyable, easy hiking 3.2 kilometre trail. Once you are in the middle of the park you’ll find yourself totally surrounded by native trees and shrubs - a world away from city life. In addition to the trail, Cooper Park has a variety of amenities including play- grounds, public toilets, picnic areas, playing fields and a kiosk. An enchanting parkland filled with ponds, secret grottoes, gazebos and sandstone staircases, the tranquillity of Cooper Park really is quite exquisite.

Even further north towards the harbour, we are very fortunate to have the Hermitage Coastal Walk not too far away, which essentially connects Nielsen Park to Rose Bay. This stunning walk, which takes about an hour, will lead you through remnant natural forest, offering stunning views of Sydney Harbour and its hidden beaches.

Down the other end of the Eastern Suburbs peninsula, tucked away between Sydney Airport and the South Eastern Suburbs, you can also find Sir Joseph Banks Park with its hidden picnic areas and stunning lakes with water features, only disturbed by the occasional Airbus A380 passing overhead.

Fortunately, here in the Eastern Suburbs we don’t even need to take the main established walking trails to enjoy a good walk. Many people love simply getting out in our local streets for a stroll, taking in the unique streetscapes, surviving heritage homes and terraces, as well as (some) beautifully designed modern buildings, through streets lined with stunning trees and canopies of green. Some of the best suburbs for a walk include Bronte, Queens Park, Clovelly, Randwick and throughout Centennial Park. A walk along the promenade at Coogee Beach is also hard to beat!

Great for physical and mental health, easy on our bodies and joints - even as we get a little older - and a great way to socialise or relax while we listen to our favourite tunes and podcasts, walking is free, fun and very beneficial. So, people of the east, let’s all rejoice in how easy it is - and how fortunate we are - to be able to get outside in the fresh air and participate in the easiest form of exercise.

Straylining Sydney Snapper

It’s winter, and the thought of venturing outdoors is further from your mind now than ever. In all likelihood, you probably haven’t been entertaining the idea of braving single digit temperatures, bitter winter westerlies and rough swells to chase fish recently, and who would blame you? The perception of most, including myself until just recently, is that winter fishing is tough, slow going and ultimately not worth the effort. However, I’ve come to learn that winter is a time that should bring excitement to the avid fisho and can easily produce some exceptional fishing with a bit of know-how.

At the top of most winter fishos’ target species list would have to be snapper, an aggressive and hard fighting quarry known to unapologetically snatch lures and slurp baits. Throw in the fact that most fish are a pan-sized nugget of sweet white flesh, and you’ve got a fish that will make getting out of bed on even the coldest of winter days worth the effort.

Catching this species on lures is an exciting and rewarding method, but if you are after a feed then you can’t go past the simplicity and effectiveness of straylining baits. This technique involves slowly wafting baits down through the water column before a hungry snapper runs off with it. Burley is your best friend in this scenario, and you will be rewarded for producing a consistent trail of oily fish baits - any old fish offcuts, deceased live baits, pilchards or anything oily and smelly will do the job. I usually focus my efforts on kelpy, reefy areas in around 10-20 metres using an anchor to hold my position. The presence of baitfish is a helpful ingredient but not essential as the burley inevitably brings the bait fish under the boat anyway. Allow plenty of time to set a burley trail before the peak bite times of early morning or late afternoon. An arvo session into dark is usually the best way to maximise the bite period and is my usual go-to. At least 30lb leader is essential if you want to maximise the number of fish landed, as snapper will pick up your bait and head toward the reef before you are even aware that you’re on, as opposed to fishing with lures where you can feel exactly when they bite. So you need some stopping power in your gear to be able to turn them away from the reef before they bust you off.

Unfortunately, burleying over reef comes with the inevitable disasvantage of attracting a host of undesirable fish in addition to the target species, which can prove frustrating at times, especially when pesky red rock cod and Sergeant Baker steal every bait. Using bigger baits is an effective way to weed out the bycatch and target only the snapper, who are able to scoff bigger baits more easily.

Recently while straylining, I hooked a small bronze whaler that had me fooled for a sizable king before snapping me off just under the boat. You really never know what you might catch!

A good time to fish for snapper in close is right after a big swell when the water is still slightly discolored. This is a time when there are a lot of nutrients in the water and the snapper seem to feed harder. Also, be sure to use a reef anchor if you choose to drop the pick, as a regular sand anchor will most likely get stuck and you’ll end up losing it.

Targeting snapper is definitely one of my favorite types of fishing, and taking a feed home to the family is a great added perk. So, if you can bear the thought of braving the cold this winter, then I can assure you that a good session on the snapper will be well worth it.