What's On

We live in a place other people dream of holidaying at. Use the school holidays to tick off the local "must do" list. Have you had a close encounter with koalas at Symbio? Enjoyed an apple cider tasting at Glenbernie Orchard? Visited our local art galleries? Ventured into Helensburgh's historic Glow Worm train tunnel? Walked the Coast Track? Read the Spring 2016 issue of our new South Coaster tourist guide to find out about all these. And more! Pick up a mag at Articles Fine Art Gallery, the Palms Cafe, Coal Coast Emporium, Symbio, Glenbernie and other attractions.

Helensburgh's Darren Coggan, the star of Peace Train, the Cat Stevens Story, is celebrating 20 years in the Australian music industry with "the 'Bidgee to the Big Smoke", an entertaining journey through his diverse career in country music, musical theatre and television. The show is at IPAC, Wollongong tonight at 8pm. Buy tickets here.

This Sunday! Shop for artisan creations, vintage fashion, books, food and loads more. The Coledale Markets are on every fourth Sunday of the month at Coledale Public School on Lawrence Hargrave Drive. 9am-3pm.

Sun, surf and safety for the kids! The 2016/17 season of Weet-Bix SurfGroms – a learn-to-surf program for 5-12-year-old children, which also teaches them surf and ocean-awareness skills – kicks off on the South Coast on September 26. Go to www.surfgroms.com, enter your postcode in the Program Finder, and your nearest SurfGroms program – along with contact details for the surf school involved – will be displayed.

Crazy cubes, scavenger hunts and more at the libraries! From Helensburgh to Warrawong and Unaderra, there’ll be no shortage of fun at Wollongong City Libraries these school holidays: there’ll be Roald Dahl Crazy Character Cubes, Fantastic Mr Fox Scavenger hunt, creating Comic Gong posters and Lego building, movies, trivia nights and craft making. Classes are for children, aged from five to 18.

Take your little pirates down to Wollongong Botanic Garden Children from three to 12 years of age can enlist in Garden Pirate activities. Go on a Pirate Treasure Hunt, do some Plunderers Crafts and watch the Captain Compost Garden Show. Botanic Garden activities are held each day from 10am to 1pm from September 26 to 30.

Beaton Park Leisure Centre, in Gwynneville, will offer special gym, cardio group exercise class prices for students, aged from 10 to 18 prices. Lakeside Leisure Centre, in Kanahooka, will provide FitKids activities for six to 12 years. Tennis and squash courts can also be hired for $2 per half-hour. The inflatable pool will operate at Beaton Park on September 28 and October 5.

This exciting new collaboration unites Illawarra community circus schools and professional artists in one fun show. Expect much laughter, trapeze tricks, ‘glow in the dark’ hula hoops, chair balancing and an acrobatic story of two lovers. Highlights will include performances by Corie Hurry, fresh from a stint with Moscow Circus and MC Tamara Campbell, performing as Kiki Bitovabitsch, a woman with an amazing ability to fit through a tennis racquet. At Circus Monoxide, 3/3 Princes Highway, Fairy Meadow. $12-$25 at the door or TryBooking.com/MLHB.

Hear talks by Ber Carroll, whose stories follow the lives of Irish-Australian women; long-time Illawarra resident Dianne Blacklock, whose contemporary novels include The Secret Ingredient; and Liane Moriarty, internationally best-selling author of six novels, including Truly Madly Guilty. At Thirroul Library, from 5-6pm. Bookings essential.

Book your tickets now to a massive concert to help injured local rugby league player Kurt Drysdale and his family. The concert – including such fantastic acts as Hoodoo Gurus, Jon Stevens, Bryce Cohen and more – will be held at Sharks Leagues club on October 14. Tickets are on sale now at Sharks Leagues club.

The annual nationwide event aims to encourage reuse, unite communities, create awareness around the issues of illegal dumping, provide a platform for fundraising and inspire creativity. Wollongong City Council is backing it. Pictured (courtesy WCC) is Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery OAM at a recent launch. Registration is free and open to all households, local businesses, schools and community groups at garagesaletrail.com.au.

Helensburgh Tigers Rugby League club is inviting women to participate in a Women’s 9s rugby league comp, aimed at encouraging and recruiting new players in the Illawarra competition. There will be two age groups – 15-16-17 years ($30) and 18 and over ($50). Games will be played at Ziems Park, Corrimal, starting on Friday, October 28, then four Friday nights in November. For more details, contact John Piper on 0404 406 411 or john_piper1@live.com.

Helensburgh's Switched On Mechanical is a designated drop-off point in this year's The Nappy Collective. With the support of the community, Switched On Mechanical will collect hundreds of leftover new nappies, which will then be redistributed to organisations supporting women in crisis and families in need.