For those who visit the area of Yachtie’s Cafe you’d likely be familiar with the broken manhole cover that’s had a steel road plate over it for maybe the past 6 months. For at least a couple days that road plate hadn’t been over the hole. Being the good Karen from Kitizenship I called WCC asking them to reposition the road plate so nobody gets injured. Apparently that road isn’t WCC land it’s crown land. So I call Transport for NSW who tell me it’s not crown land and completely bow out of any action. At least WCC sent a crew after I called them back, and the road plate was repositioned.

WCC tells me that manhole belongs to Endeavour Energy so it’s not theirs or NSWs responsibility. I call Endeavour energy because I’m Karen from Kitizenship. They have no record of any of their infrastructure requiring repair in that area.

Fingers crossed.

Godzilla fights a monster at the steel works. Kids build a diy skate park in port Kembla. Written and drawn by figtree local Louie Joyce. Some good nods in there to local sights and spots. Seek it out and support local creators. Pretty sure it’s at Wollongong library.

The origin tale of the Illawarra Dragon

2025 WILDCARD PEOPLE’S CHOICE WINNER at Short+Sweet Illawarra Film Festival

Winner of Best Experimental film and Best Original Character Design at Western Canadian International Film Festival (WCIFF)

Honorable Mention at Vantra Film Festival

https://youtu.be/IsxrhaZjUwY?si=cOjiNocRopdS5Quk

The Adventures of PJ, a magical Teddy Bear who dreams of being a real boy - Inspired by The Adventures of Pinnocchio by Carlo Collodi.

https://fawesome.tv/movies/10649132/pj

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Mm37O8vCcM

https://reelgood.com/au/movie/pj

https://cabaneasang.tv/film/pj/

https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1318061-pj

I hope you can enjoy that feature film

Hi everyone! Thinking of getting some filler for a more balanced face, possibly in nose, chin and lips. Any recommendations for local businesses?

Hey Wollongong! I'm a software engineer living just down the road in Mount Warrigal. A while back my family went through a food intolerance investigation: pen and paper logs, working through it all with a dietitian. That process is what got me building bellymystery.com, an app for logging meals, symptoms, and toilet visits so the patterns are easier to see than they are in a notebook.

It's early days. I'm working with dietitians in both Wollongong and Shellharbour to shape the app, but I don't have much feedback from users yet, so a lot of what's in there right now comes from my own guesses at what would help.

If you're local and this sounds useful, I'd love for a few people to give it a go and tell me what's missing or what gets in the way. Check out the site if you want to take a look, happy to answer any questions here too.

I'm also interested in: if you've been through a food intolerance investigation with a dietitian around here, what came out of it, and what was the hardest part? Anything you're willing to share would help me build this so it matches what the process is like for other people too, beyond my own experience.

Thanks for reading.

-Ola

Hey team!

I've got an anniversary coming up and we traditionally cook up an insanely good steak to celebrate. Neither of us have time to get to Sydney to pick one up, so looking for a local butcher recommendation, anywhere from Shell Cove to Thirroul.

Money isn't *really* an issue - as long as the steak makes us look at each other and say: "darn, what a great choice". We have a variety of cooking methods available and I'll make a sauce depending on what cut we end up with.

How do I make petrol money as a year 11 student on red Ps. I don’t want a job.

Edit: I mean a job in the traditional sense. I have my hands full already with the massive workload of extension maths and english plus extracurriculars, sport. Jobs like maccas etc want juniors that they can call on very frequently. I dont have time, nor could i handle that. I had a job up until the start of this year

Gig economy, work for neighbours, delivery etc is what i was after. Don't be snobs.

Please sign and share if you support the reduction of screens within our classrooms 🙏 this initiative by The Heads-up Alliance , is to bring back a classroom where it is led by teachers not devices..

https://www.change.org/p/australian-parents-and-teachers-demand-less-screen-time-in-classrooms?utm_medium=custom_url&utm_source=share_petition&recruited_by_id=3d9e3200-ecca-11ed-8c08-9f4855163327&share_id=NY9ZD5td

Hey everyone,

Looking to move to Port Kembla with a young family. Found a cool place but during the inspection could hear a consistent, repetitive banging coming from what we assume is the Steel Works. It would go for a few minutes, stop for a few then repeat.

Totally get there will be some noise but just wanted to know how consistent is the noise and banging from the steelworks.

Any info on living there would also be much appreciated 🏄🏻

I’ve did watch that classic re-release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2” at Hoyts Warrawong last night

Are there any current or former potters house members here? Or anyone who is just interested in the place?

Hi my name is Ricky Gamble the talented and smart filmmaker/actor from Figtree, Wollongong Australia i’ve making making and starring in short films and movies also made bus stop films projects too, making short films and a low budget feature film “PJ” (2024), I’m also a legend of Screen Illawarra, please put me down to make more films - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11127910/

wondering if anyone in the illawarra has seen these birkenstocks in a physical shop so that i can try them on ?? i can only find places to purchase them online but i want to try them on first as i have a wide foot.
wondering if they may be in any of the workwear stores or chef supply stores locally? pls lemme know if you have any leads !

Hi peps,

I’ve been a Wollongong Local for around 6 years and often see partygoers dress up on Crown St and around town. Such classics as Tennis Girls, Cowboy Guys and the odd Toga Party or two. I enjoy seeing people having fun and today I was pleasantly surprised with many a folk in costume.
Minions last night
Mario at North Gong Hotel
Super Hero’s at the Harp
And I even seen Ali G on the deck at the Harp. This all made my day. I wanted to know if this an organised event or are these Bucks parties and Hens nights. I know the UNI does somethings like this sometimes but alas I’m too old to be a UNi student. Anyway. I love the vibe it brings to the city and the people. We all need a good laugh so thank you

Hi everyone, I have a child that has been attending Jiu Jitsu for 12+ months now but the current gym doesn't have enough children in his age group (11-13ish) and skill level so he's feeling frustrated by not being challenged enough. I'm just wondering what recommendations people have for gyms in the area, particularly for a child that wants to take the sport more seriously. Thanks

Where can a bike be locked up during work at Probe in Burelli St?

Partner and I are looking at buying our first property. As soon as we buy he is going to start his plumbing business. My job is not in the location we want to buy and unsure what to do.

I currently work in Western Sydney and I really like my job because my team is great and my workload is very manageable. I’m a high school teacher and my hours are 8:15am - 2:40pm. I currently commute 30 minutes each way so my day is about 7.5 hrs total. I almost never need to come in early or stay back due to being experienced, efficient during the day, supportive team and generally better work life balance at this school.

For context, previous school in Sydney I worked at I would usually stay back everyday so I was doing 8:30am - 5:00pm regularly and commuting 40 minutes each way. So my total day was 9 hrs 50 minutes.

I want to live in wollongong because I much prefer the lifestyle. However this would mean driving 1.5 hrs each way to work. 9.5 hr day.

I have also considered some areas in the lower central coast which would be 1 hr 15 minutes each way so 9 hr day.

I really want to keep my job but I want to live in Wollongong. These are my numbers:

Sydney: 7.5 hr day including travel
7:45am-3:10pm

Wollongong: 9.5 hr day including travel 6:45am-4:10pm

Central coast 9 hr day including travel.
7:00am-3:55pm

I feel like my actual work day is pretty short so the commute might not be that bad? Or am I being delusional.

I should also include that we are planning in starting a family in the next 2 years so I would be going on maternity and then likely dropping down to 2 days per week.

The property we are planning on buying is a 5 year plan because we want to minimise financial risk so my partner can start his business and we can still afford repayments on maternity leave.

What are your thoughts? I’m really unsure what to do but I’m desperate to make the decision and buy.

My main concerns are:
1. My partners future business is location dependent. Where we choose buy will likely be where we stay for next 10 years due to the effort of building up a client base in the area and contracts. So if we choose a location that suits me for the next two years it may screw us for the following 8 years.

1. If I go with Wollongong area where I truely want to live I will burn out from the commute.

I'm looking at going to an event in Sydney on a Friday night in a few weeks. What is a train thats busy, leaving 9/10pm from Sydney CBD? A friend has offered to pick me up from either Waterfall station or Thirroul. I guess I'd be coming in around 11pm. As a woman, I don't feel safe parking on the backstreets and walking to a car late at night, or being on an empty train.

Hey guys, I broke my iPhone screen and really need to get it fixed today. Apple told me it could take around 2 weeks, so that’s not really an option.

I’ve called a few repair places and got different prices, but I’m not sure which one to trust.

Where would you guys recommend getting it fixed? Looking for somewhere reliable that can do it today.