Austinmer
Up-market but not overly developed area with very popular beach
Austinmer is a very pleasant, semi-suburban, seaside township of some 2300 people. It is located 16 km north of Wollongong and just 2 km from the centre of Thirroul, which is the main shopping area among the most northerly suburbs of the Illawarra.

Austinmer is far and away the most popular beach north of Thirroul, particularly for Sydneysiders who migrate there on summer weekends and each day in the summer school holidays. Its popularity is probably due to its combination of features: a sandy 250-metre beach which is compactly situated between two rocky headlands, the presence of surf lifesavers, rock platforms full of pleasant rock pools, two ocean pools (one for toddlers) at the southern end, changing/shower rooms and toilets, a strip of comfortable green grass which is ideal for picnicking, barbecue facilities, tables and playground equipment, a large car park, a backdrop of 40-year-old Norfolk pines and a small strip of shops across the road, consisting of a newsagents and three food outlets, selling everything from hamburgers to more sophisticated fare, as well as decent coffee, gelatos and essentials.

Just up the road, in Moore St, is the Fireworks Cafe, with alternative food fare. Adjacent is a small art gallery, open Friday to Sunday. Within walking distance, at 2 Allen St, is the local bowling club which offers good quality food at The Salted Blackberry and weekend entertainment.

To the west Austinmer's residential area extends up the steep slopes of the Illawarra escarpment. Bushwalking tracks take the hardy walker up to the very top of the cliffs where viewers at Bulli Lookout and Sublime Point are rewarded with sublime views reducing the beachgoers to tiny ants. The vegetation in the area consists largely of mixed eucalyptus forest and subtropical rainforest.

HISTORY
If it hadn't been for a heavy surf Captain Cook would have made his first landing in NSW within the Illawarra, though he did note, in his log book, the attractive appearance of the shore and the presence of Aborigines - the Wodi Wodi around Wollongong and the Tharawal in the north - who had been in the area for at least 20 000 years.

The first Europeans to officially set foot in the vicinity and to meet the Aborigines of the Illawarra were explorers George Bass and Matthew Flinders and their servant William Martin in 1796, who were sailing south in the tiny boat Tom Thumb.

The following year the survivors of the wreck of the Sydney Cove passed through the area. The ship had developed a leak and beached on the Furneaux Islands in Bass Strait. Seventeen of the crew set out by boat for help but were wrecked at Point Hicks in Victoria and continued the journey by land. Only three survived the harrowing trip to Sydney, thereby becoming the first Europeans to make an overland trip in Australia of any duration.

At Governor Hunter's request, Bass made another eight-day trip to the Illawarra with two of the Cove's men, intended to search out two crewmen left behind in the area and to investigate the survivors' reports of coal. This Bass found at Coalcliff and elsewhere at the northern end of the Illawarra, though it would be fifty years before the seams of the Illawarra were exploited.

Settlement in the area initially occurred around Bulli, to the south. The first grant of land in the area now covered by Austinmer was made in 1821 to Cornelius O¹Brien. His property extended from Bulli north to Austinmer. Robert Westmacott met O'Brien, investigated his Illawarra properties and, in 1836, successfully applied for 300 acres of land at present-day Austinmer.

As was then usual, he was allotted convict labourers who cleared the land for the construction of a residence, which was completed in 1837 and known as Sidmouth, after his birthplace in Devon. This was the name by which the area became known. Westmacott, his wife and two sons settled in the house, which survived until the 1920s. He grazed horses at Austinmer until the 1840s when he sold up to James Hicks and moved to Parramatta.

Hicks lived on the land with his family and established a farm and an orchard, then later subdivided his property into 40-acre lots to encourage the creation of more farms and orchards. In this way, a small rural hamlet developed in the 1860s and this was known as North Bulli. A school first opened in 1867.

By the 1880s, North Bulli was known for producing salt and blackberries for the Sydney market. Coal was added to the local produce when the North Illawarra Coal Company established a mine at Austinmer in 1886. A 260-metre jetty was built for shipping the coal by 1887, just north of Austinmer Headland at Fishermans Beach.

On June 7, 1887, the vessel ³Waratah² was loading coal from the jetty when a wind blew up and the anchor began to drag. The mooring rope snapped and the ship drifted onto reef rocks which tore a hole in its side, 300 metres north of the jetty. The fittings and engine were salvaged but the hull was there for many years. The boiler proved too heavy to salvage, remaining there until 1967 when it was cut up. The jetty was abandoned in the late 1890s. It later partially collapsed then was destroyed by fire in 1915. The coal mine eventually closed in 1895, when local supplies were exhausted.

Roads were of poor quality in the area but the railway line from Clifton to Wollongong was completed in 1887, with the line through to Sydney enabled by the following year when the escarpment tunnels were completed.

Local newspapers adopted the name Austinmere in 1887, allegedly after Henry Austin, one of the three directors on the board of the Illawarra Mining Company. Others claim that this spelling evolved from a slightly earlier form, 'Austermere,' although this would seem to call into question the allusion to Mr Austin. At any rate, the new railway platform, built in 1887, bore the name Austinmer and this was officially adopted as the place name in 1895.

In the early 20th century, Austinmer, became a health and holiday resort after a substantial local land sale occurred, permitting some diversification of economic interests. The telephone and telegraph arrived in 1909 and the local lifesaving club was formed that same year.

Things to see:  

Things to See
Austinmer Beach
The central attraction for visitors to Austinmer is the beach. It is far and away the most popular beach north of Thirroul, particularly for Sydneysiders who migrate there on summer weekends and each day in the summer school holidays. Its popularity is probably due partly to its combination of features: a sandy 250-metre beach which is compactly situated between two rocky headlands, the presence of surf lifesavers, rock platforms full of pleasant rock pools, two ocean pools (one for toddlers) at the southern end, changing/shower rooms and toilets, a strip of comfortable green grass which is ideal for picnicking, barbecue facilities, tables and playground equipment, a large car park, a backdrop of 40-year-old Norfolk pines and a small strip of shops across the road, consisting of a newsagents and three food outlets, selling everything from hamburgers to more sophisticated fare, as well as decent coffee, gelatos and essentials. Just up the road, in Moore St, is a cafe with alternative food fare and a small art gallery.

The beach is patrolled by lifeguards from September to April. It is strongly advised to swim between the flags when the lifeguards are on duty as strong permanent rips exist at the far ends of the beach.

The headlands at either end of the strand offer very pleasant views, particularly the more elevated and narrow northern headland, which looks out over another fine beach to the north.

Glastonbury Gardens
Opposite the northern headland, adjacent the main road, is a very large and lovely public park known as Glastonbury Gardens, established in 1965. It was previously a colliery dam and is now a site for local community events. Scattered around the park, and built into the ground, are some well-made and charming water bowls for dogs made out of mosaics of coloured tiles. Each one has a name for a specific dog that was the original beneficiary. They are mostly located at the western end, near Wigram Road.

Austinmer Boat Harbour and Tennis Courts
900 metres north of the Austinmer shops, along Lawrence Hargrave Drive, are a tennis court and a service station opposite Austinmer Boat Harbour, which has another small, pleasant beach, and an access point for boats.

Bushwalking
Bushwalking tracks take the hardy walker through pleasant semi-tropical rainforest up to the very top of the Illawarra escarpment, leading to both Bulli Lookout and Sublime Point Lookout. There they are rewarded with sublime views. It is not necessary, of course, to go all the way, if energy is insufficient. To access the tracks drive up Hill St, to the very top, then turn left into Foothills Road. At its end you will see the start of a gravel pathway. This leads to a very beautiful and rather remote cricket oval, complete with pitch. At the far end of the oval, the tracks continue up the escarpment.