bikes

Yesterday, after reading poetry to one hundred and seventy Year 8 boys at a Catholic College in Wollongong, I cycled the beach cycleway. And a very pleasant experience it was. Starting at City Beach, Wollongong, the mostly off-road path meanders beside the beaches of the northern suburbs. A stern southerly pushed me along as I admired the rolling waves; the battery of imposing tankers anchored out to sea waiting to be unloaded; the seagulls arguing over hot chips thrown by a giggling child and the designer chic houses near Thirroul. Whoa! What happened to the discreet fibro seaside cottages inhabited by the miners from the nearby coal fields? These McMansions were testosterone-fuelled giants all angling for the prime beach vista. Although, I was much amused to see the biggest, most imposing houses were opposite the historic Sandon Point heritage area, a patch of grassland and sand with the Aboriginal Tent Embassy plonked among the low-growing scrub. Yep, you can spend all the money you...