Wollongong, NSW Australia

The further north I headed, the more I realised how much closer I was getting to Sydney and its urban expanse. Only 50mi (80km) south of Sydney, I arrived in Wollongong, the state’s third-largest city and Australia’s tenth-largest. Nestled between the rugged Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, Wollongong was first occupied by the Dharawal people. The name "Wollongong" is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning "sound of the sea" or "ground near water”. 

George Bass, an explorer and surgeon, and Matthew Flinders, a navigator and cartographer, both with the British Royal Navy, were the first people to explore the southeastern coast of Australia, more specifically, their 1796 expedition navigating and charting parts of the coastline around present-day Wollongong. Their insight into the Illawarra region helped with its development and opened up the area for eventual colonisation. 

Coal mining and steel industry accelerated the city’s development in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Throughout the 1900s, the city's economy continued to evolve in the healthcare, tourism and education sectors. Most notable was the establishment of the University of Wollongong in 1951, which grew into a well-regarded educational and research institution in information technology, engineering and environmental sciences. 

One of the major community highlights in Wollongong is the annual Illawarra Folk Festival held at the Bulli Showground each January. Launched in 1985 as an opportunity to celebrate folk music and dance, the festival has grown to a four-day extravaganza, attracting thousands of attendees to join in the community spirit, attend workshops, and interact with artists while enjoying an international lineup of a wide range of folk music genres. Close to 100 artists put on a show, be it singing, poetry readings, yarn spinning (‘yarn’ is Aussie slang for telling tales), indigenous performances and even circus gigs. 

A little southwest of Wollongong in the suburb of Berkeley is Fo Guang Sha Nan Tien Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in the Southern Hemisphere. Set amidst a sprawling landscape, the temple complex features the Nan Tien Institute, an accredited educational centre focused on Buddhist studies, meditation and retreat lodgings, a beautiful 8-storey pagoda with curved eaves, and a pond densely filled with blooming lotuses. The centrepiece of Nan Tien Temple is its magnificent main shrine hall, adorned with intricate traditional Chinese architectural elements, ornate decorations, and thousands of small Buddhist statues on the walls.

As I usually enjoy finishing my day’s journey near the ocean, I wandered to Wollongong Head, from where I could explore a few more landmarks, including two lighthouses, the only ones on Australia’s east coast to be so close to each other, the heritage-listed harbour precinct, and three 68-pounder guns, now defunct, from the former military Flagstaff Hill Fort.