noelm Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 For anyone who knows the area, the council and state government are spending $15m to rebuild the Seawall/rock wall along Warilla beach, not too sure how much work the government can do with $15m but we will see. The wall was built years ago after all the sand was removed and sold, and in turn, left lots of houses pretty exposed to storms. The plan is to slope the wall and place large (approx 6 tonne) boulders one at a time so they kind of interlock in an almost flat surface. The work is underway as I type and they have an excavator moving the existing rocks and creating the slope, ready for the new big rocks.I will take some photos as they go, just in case anyone's interested. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 Today's work, you can see the part where the existing rocks have been removed and the wall sloped back, ready for the big rocks, sorry, it's a pretty bad photo from a distance with an iPad. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 I hope you get a better deal than the people on the Central Coast did. The residents at Nth Entrance paid for their own. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 Yeah this is some kind of government "grant" and local council funding. The existing wall is kind of OK, but, it's shabby in places, and big rocks have fallen onto the beach. The plan is to make it safer and allow better access to the beach. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 The residents on the Coast were having sand erosion etc. They buillt a sandsone wall. Must have cost $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Cheers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 Many years ago, there was Sandhills in front of those houses, sometime in the '60s (I think about then) the sand was taken away and sold, including the giant ones at Port Kembla that we used to sand sled down. As the years went by, the ocean just reclaimed more and more because there was no Sandhills for replenishment. The gossip is, the sand went to Hawaii, but that's just an urban myth, it was just a cheap, accessible source of sand for commercial gain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 OH, just a note, the wall will be Basalt (Blue Metal) because there is a few quarries close by. Not too sure how big a 6 tonne Blue Metal Rock is, but, my guess is probably about 1.5m diameter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsswordfisherman Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 I will go around and have a look there. We are at Windang atm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 (edited) Call in for a drink! edit......did you get any crabs? Edited November 28, 2022 by noelm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 1 hour ago, mrsswordfisherman said: I will go around and have a look there. We are at Windang atm You will need to park and walk along the cycleway or come in from the Barrack Point side, that's the end they have started at (southern end) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 22 hours ago, noelm said: Many years ago, there was Sandhills in front of those houses, sometime in the '60s (I think about then) the sand was taken away and sold, including the giant ones at Port Kembla that we used to sand sled down. As the years went by, the ocean just reclaimed more and more because there was no Sandhills for replenishment. The gossip is, the sand went to Hawaii, but that's just an urban myth, it was just a cheap, accessible source of sand for commercial gain. Most likely the sand ended up in the Cleary Bros, concrete batching plant. They were always putting proposals forward to Shoalhaven Council to “beautify” areas as long as they could keep the sand. They sand mined dunes at Culburra in the late 1960’s and overall it was an environmental disaster. The follow on effect and sand that disappeared from beaches had to be seen to be believed and after ceasing the mining took 30 plus years for Mother Nature to restore itself. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted November 29, 2022 Author Share Posted November 29, 2022 Yeah, I can't remember who took the sand, it's probably in council records somewhere! The Port Kembla and Windang Sandhills where huge, millions of cubic metres, they just carted it away non stop for ages. Then all sorts of funny stuff started happening to Lake Illawarra entrance and Little Lake (in the picture I posted) so millions were spent of Rock walls and breakwaters to stop erosion, all to no avail. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted November 29, 2022 Author Share Posted November 29, 2022 Seems 3 million tons of sand was removed from Port Kembla just to use as fill! Who knows how much was taken in total, I found an old picture of sand sledding. The hills were really big, especially when you had to go back up after sledding down...... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted November 29, 2022 Author Share Posted November 29, 2022 I wonder if I know anyone there? Might even be me........we used to surf and sled for hours. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted November 30, 2022 Author Share Posted November 30, 2022 Just did some research (not that anyone will probably be interested) but, it seems 48,000 ton of sand was shipped to Hawaii but not to make a "beach" as the urban myth suggests, it was used in some kind of resort over there to create a private area, no idea how much it was sold for, that information seems to be "lost". Work today consists of digging a giant hole (don't know why) but, as they dig, it just keeps staying the same depth as water and sand slurry just continues to fill the hole, as anyone who has dug a hole on a beach with kids can attest. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 Interesting that they shipped the sand all the way to Hawaii. @noelmare you old enough to remember the guys on skid boards being towed being towed behind old cars in the shallows near the lake entrance around the mid 1960’s? Whenever we were traveling to Sydney, my folks would always stop for fish and chips at Windang, then drive out there to watch them while we ate our lunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted November 30, 2022 Author Share Posted November 30, 2022 Yep, it was also common to be towed along the beach on a metal sled, the sled would get too hot to sit on, and got worn through after a few "runs" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted November 30, 2022 Author Share Posted November 30, 2022 Two excavators today, making the worlds biggest sand castle..... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 41 minutes ago, noelm said: Yep, it was also common to be towed along the beach on a metal sled, the sled would get too hot to sit on, and got worn through after a few "runs" The redneck method of stripping the paint off an old Holden bonnet haha. We used to scrounge FJ bonnets from the tip and make boats out of them. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted November 30, 2022 Author Share Posted November 30, 2022 More machinery today, they are working on the north end as well now, got a "long reach" excavator, a couple of small dozer type things, and the two excavators at the south end (near me) big school of fish in a gutter near them, going for a cast, but I think they might be Mullet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted December 1, 2022 Author Share Posted December 1, 2022 Got a damn big hole there now. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted December 2, 2022 Author Share Posted December 2, 2022 Didn't realise it when the photo was taken, but that White House, just to the left of that row of Pine trees is my place, if you expand it a bit, you can see my boat out the front! They have started filling the big hole with rocks a foot in diameter, then bigger rocks on top of those, I guess ready to place the big rocks, one at a time up the slope, I will take a photo later today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 Must be contractors hey? You’d never see council working on a Saturday LOL. Nice location you’re living in too. I lived in something similar on Jarvis Bay until a couple of years ago when we were forced to move due to being surrounded by holiday rentals and loud noise 27/7. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted December 3, 2022 Author Share Posted December 3, 2022 Yeah the work was tendered out. It is a great spot to live, that's the entrance to Little lake, pretty good for Flathead drifting live poddies along with the outgoing tide, and decent Bream fishing straight across the road and along the Headland, plus an added bonus of Lobsters diving around the rocks. I have two street access, so the tinny lives out the back, under cover, with my crab cooker, bait freezer and so on all there, so after washing the boat, I can put it away and relax in the shade while the crabs cook, mind you, I could never afford to buy there these days, I have lived here all my life, houses are just over the top in price, everyone says I am rich, maybe if I sold the house and moved out into the "burbs" I would be, but as it stands, I am just a regular guy, who worked all my life and was lucky enough to buy the family home years and years ago, not knowing how prices would go! If I was smart and could go back, I would buy every house in the street........but, it's all relative to the times, I paid market price for the house at the time, which was ridiculously cheap now, but then, it was a struggle, just like everything. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fab1 Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 2 hours ago, Green Hornet said: Must be contractors hey? You’d never see council working on a Saturday LOL. Nice location you’re living in too. I lived in something similar on Jarvis Bay until a couple of years ago when we were forced to move due to being surrounded by holiday rentals and loud noise 27/7. The workers in my council area don’t work from Sun-Sat.Any other dsy of the week they are out there breaking their backs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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