The Illawarra Flame

02/09/2024

Australia's greatest ever Olympian, Wollongong's Emma McKeon has now received another accolade: the new North Wollongong Beach promenade has been named in her honour

Olympic legend Emma McKeon has been honored by her hometown with the naming of the new promenade at North Wollongong Beach, celebrating her remarkable achievements. Emma returned home to Illawarra after a successful Paris Olympic Games and was...

02/09/2024

Shell Cove businesswoman Amanda La Monica recently took out seven accolades at the International Beauty Shortlist 2024 with her makeup brand LaGlam Minerals

Shell Cove businesswoman Amanda La Monica recently took out seven accolades at the International Beauty Shortlist 2024 with her makeup brand ‘LaGlam Minerals’. The brand has won numerous awards over the 15 years since entering the highly...

01/09/2024

This weekend is set to be a treat for film buffs. Tyneesha Williams chat to Screen Illawarra chair Nick Bolton about the group’s role in BBC murder-mystery ‘Return to Paradise’ and the Creative Wollongong Short Film Festival at Kanahooka on Saturday https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/arts--culture/look-out-for-locals-in-bbcs-murder-mystery-return-to-paradise

31/08/2024

Our September edition is out today! On the cover are the young gardeners at Coledale Public School and their amazing permaculture patch. Keep an eye out for our mail drops, head to Helensburgh Post Office, Thirroul and Austinmer newsagencies, Visit Wollongong centre at Bulli Tops, Wollongong Art Gallery and all Wollongong City Libraries or simply pop over to our website for the digital edition https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/digital-editions

30/08/2024

'Green v Green' – UOW: University of Wollongong, Australia's Associate Professor Michelle Voyer shares insights into the new face of environmental debate. Plus, find details of Good for the Gong's Climate Champions event on Saturday in Thirroul.

We love the ocean in the Illawarra. Its rhythm is woven into everything from early surfs to evening dog walks. On wild days, we gather on headlands to watch breakers roll in; on sunny ones, we bliss out overlooking a calm blue expanse. These shared...

29/08/2024

Kiama-based business Creative Kooks has repurposed 173 broken and discarded surfboards, with help from the Illawarra community. Owner Mathew King tells Tyneesha Williams why he started saving surfboards from landfill

Kiama-based business Creative Kooks has repurposed 173 broken and discarded surfboards, with help from the Illawarra community. Owner Mathew King is aiming to save 300 surfboards from landfill. “I started Creative Kooks because I wanted to give...

29/08/2024

The Kiama Shellharbour Camera Club turns 60 this year. Lesley Roulston chats to club president Linda Fury about the rewards of joining this social club

The Kiama/Shellharbour Camera Club turns 60 this year. A milestone that has been reached, says club president Linda Fury, simply because of the passion its members have for all things photography. The group is very casual and easy-going with...

28/08/2024

Melissa Barnard of the Scarborough Art Show introduces us to Janelle White, a local artist specialising in detailed anatomical art interwoven with elements of Australian nature. Janelle creates pieces as a therapeutic activity and hopes her art can act as a healing medium for emotional and psychological well-being

Janelle White is a local artist specialising in detailed anatomical art interwoven with elements of Australian nature, flora, and fauna. Using this unique blend, she creates pieces as a therapeutic activity, these are aimed at helping others, and herself, cope with complex PTSD (C-PTSD) and other ch...

28/08/2024

Emma Rooksby of Growing Illawarra Natives introduces us to Anchor Vine, an unobtrusive rainforest plant with the sweetest cheerful pinkish-red new growth

I often find myself saying that the lack of pink or red flowers among the flora of the Illawarra escarpment and coastal plain is more than made up for by the wealth of these colours among the foliage. And I have a little 'mental list' of species...

27/08/2024

Spring is in the air and wildflowers know it. Backyard Zoology heads to Dharawal National Park to find the bush has already exploded with colour

After what felt like a seriously cold winter, we’re finally feeling the first flush of warmth and I am totally here for it (remind me of this when I start complaining about the heat in a few weeks!) There’s been a lot of argy bargy in the...

27/08/2024

Ty Christopher, Director of the Energy Futures Network at the UOW: University of Wollongong, Australia, discusses ways to combat energy poverty and boost the economy, all while reducing the world’s carbon footprint. Read the latest instalment of our 'Energy Explained' series

Ty Christopher, Director of the Energy Futures Network at the University of Wollongong, discusses ways to combat energy poverty and boost the economy, all while reducing the world’s carbon footprint. Electrifying everything – at the moment, it...

27/08/2024

More than 40 mountain biking enthusiasts spent Sunday on the escarpment clearing up junk, rubbish and litter, writes Craig Morris, vice president of the Wollongong Mountain Bike Club

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26/08/2024

“We wanted to make a work where, although it's about prisons, it's actually about the prison of the mind.” Tyneesha Williams speaks to 'Jurrungu Ngan-ga' co-artistic director Rachael Swain about Australia’s deep-seated fear of cultural difference. The dance show opens at Illawarra Performing Arts Centre - IPAC this Thursday https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/arts--culture/last-chance-to-see-dance-show-jurrungu-ngan-ga

Merrigong Theatre Co

Theatre and dance production Jurrungu Ngan-ga [Straight Talk] is set to perform at Illawarra Performing Arts Centre (IPAC) from Thursday August 29th. Co-artistic director Rachael Swain says the show is an enlightening representation of Australia’s...

26/08/2024

Steel City Strings has designed a program with local choirs that melds strings and voices to move, inspire and provoke. The ‘Choral Riffs’ concert will feature a Sally Whitwell commission about local seasons in a changing climate, with a call to actionhttps://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/arts--culture/choral-riffs-for-climate

26/08/2024

Every September, along with wildflowers, sunshine and spring babies, come shark nets. The collateral damage to ocean creatures is enormous. Ahead of the nets going back in at local beaches, we spoke to Teaniel Mifsud, a UOW: University of Wollongong, Australia PhD candidate exploring human-shark encounters via digital mapping. Photos: Heath Edwards Due South

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25/08/2024

"I find that when we wrap ourselves in nature, I am calmer, I enjoy our time more and so do my kids," writes Andy Lawrence in today's parenting column. Read more about where and why to co-parent with Mother Nature in the Illawarra

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25/08/2024

Inspire Music Aust's annual Music 4 Medicine fundraiser returns to Wollongong Town Hall on September 7. This year, the concert aims to support the Royal Flying Doctors and will open with a performance by the Wollongong Conservatorium of Music Flute Ensemble https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/arts--culture/music-4-medicine-concert-to-raise-funds-for-royal-flying-doctors

24/08/2024

New on the market, Grevillea 'Emerald and Ruby' has dark green fern-like foliage and with contrasting bright red flowers which appear as clusters on the ends of branches. See it at The Illawarra Grevillea Park Botanic Garden during the Spring Open Days https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/science--nature/see-new-grevillea-emerald-and-ruby-at-spring-open-days

23/08/2024

Well-known local personality and small business owner Steve Melchior has been forced to shut down his guided bike tour company, Just Cruisin' Motorcycle Tours, due to high government fees, he says. https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/local-business/fees-force-trike-tours-to-close

23/08/2024

Delicious things are brewing in Darkes Forest! Head over to the Glenbernie Orchard page for the lowdown on the annual Apple Pie Festival this weekend
https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/events/apple-pie-festival

23/08/2024

The Weekend magazine is out now – subscribe via our website to get your free digital edition delivered every Friday
https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/the-weekend-edition-is-out-now-9

22/08/2024

“The mixed 10s and under took to the water first (many with parents and great enthusiasm) for a showcase of the future with a super impressive display of style, ability and stoke. Sometimes two or even three surfers jumped on the same wave, but hey, it didn’t matter as the aim of the game was simply having fun.” – Read more about the Scarborough Boardriders in Ian Pepper’s report for our August print edition https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/sport/two-weekends-of-winners

22/08/2024

The popular Scarborough Art Show will return to Scarborough Public School on the weekend of October 11-13, 2024. To celebrate, we'll be showcasing an artist a week – first up, meet Kate Broadfoot

By Melissa Barnard, part of the 2024 Scarborough Art Show team Kate and Peter Broadfoot have been Bulli residents for over 50 years, raising four children and working as teachers at Bulli High school before establishing Bonn Accord Arts and Crafts...

22/08/2024

Albion Park Little Athletics has been in the spotlight recently as it is where 2024 Olympic Games silver medallist Jessica Hull honed her running skills. Treasurer Katie Dent says the publicity is welcome as it reiterates the value of regional clubs and the level of talent they can produce

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21/08/2024

It’s a bee! It’s a wasp! No, it’s a hoverfly! Dr Andy Lawrence explains

It’s a bee! It’s a wasp! No, it’s a hoverfly! The days are beginning to feel warmer, the light stretching a little longer and there is a faint buzz heard as the sun shines on the winter blooming jonquils and snowbells. The buzzing belongs to...

21/08/2024

When the surf’s up at Sandon Point, Rick Warr vicariously feels the thrill as today’s young surfers take it on. Here he remembers a lifetime of lessons in the sea
https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/sport/the-point-big-surf-is-a-proving-ground

Photos: Anna Warr

21/08/2024

Native Daphne is in flower around the region, a little early as September is considered to be its peak flowering month, but get out there and enjoy it, writes Emma Rooksby of Illawarra Natives

One of the sweetest-scented plants of the entire Illawarra region is also one of the most common, and most overlooked, species. Native Daphne, or Pittosporum undulatum, is a small to medium-sized tree, with a dark brown and often twisted trunk...

20/08/2024

Award-winning author of Dirt Town, Hayley Scrivenor, will launch her eagerly anticipated second novel, Girl Falling, tonight, August 21, at Ryan’s Hotel in Thirroul
https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/arts--culture/hayley-scrivenor-to-launch-new-novel-girl-falling
Collins Booksellers Thirroul

Wollongong-based author Hayley Scrivenor is set to launch her eagerly anticipated second novel, Girl Falling, on August 21st at Ryan’s Hotel in Thirroul. Following the success of her debut novel and bestseller Dirt Town, Hayley delves into complex...

20/08/2024

What can you do with old brake drums, left-over reinforcing bar, some PVC pipe and an unwanted hair dryer? (Oh, and some coke or coal comes in useful too.)
https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/clubs--community/forging-ahead-at-helensburgh-shed

20/08/2024

During your strolls in the sands of the Illawarra’s beaches, have you ever come across a small butterfly shell? Two chitinous wings flaring, the colours and striations giving the illusion of a moth fallen in flight to rest at the water's edge. Dr Andy Lawrence explains what these winged shells actually are...

During your strolls in the sands of the Illawarra’s beaches, have you ever come across a small butterfly shell? Two chitinous wings flaring, the colours and striations giving the illusion of a moth fallen in flight to rest at the water's edge. The...