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S

ince local surfers dubbed the 30-kilometre

stretch between Wollongong and Stanwell

Park the Coal Coast a decade ago, the

name has stuck. It refers to the cluster

of settlements – Coalcliff, Wombarra,

Coledale, Austinmer – sandwiched between

the ocean and the towering Illawarra escarpment, each

with its own beach and pool hewn from rock shelves

by the region’s original miners. Keen for a place to

bathe after a dusty day underground, they blasted the

sandstone with dynamite pinched from the mines and

concealed in their trousers. Or so the story goes.

Originally the region was labelled, blandly, the

Leisure Coast by tourism authorities keen to market

its charms as it transformed from heavy industry hub to

holiday and sea-change playground within twohours’

drive of Sydney. As a rebranding exercise, at least the

Coal Coast has the advantage of historical accuracy.

For two centuries, longwall coal mining, followed by

steelmaking, dominated life in Wollongong and its

northern exburbs. Several mines have closed in the past

decade, however, and the number of manufacturing jobs

in the region has dropped by more than a third in the

past six years. Wild brawling between rival gangs at pubs

between Clifton and Scarborough made way long ago

for more peaceful activities: hang-gliding at Bald Hill

(above the beach where aviation pioneer Lawrence

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Sea Cliff Bridge,

Stanwell Park.

Clockwise from

left: Babyface

in Wollongong;

Bald Hill lookout,

Stanwell Tops;

Austinmer;

mushrooms

and grains with

cauliflower and

black garlic at

Babyface; pastries

fromBread,

Espresso &.

160 GOURMET TRAVELLER