Thirroul - local area information

Thirroul is a suburb in the Wollongong Local Government Area. The following information on our local area is provided by Wollongong City Library. Please select a topic from the following list.

Location

Thirroul, known as Robbinsville until 1895, is situated on the Illawarra South Coast between Austinmer and Bulli approximately 13 kilometres north of Wollongong. To the east is the Pacific Ocean and to the west, the Illawarra escarpment. It is a popular suburb being so close to beaches and only a one hour & twenty minute trip to Sydney by electric train, and even less by road.

In 1923, D H Lawrence who lived in Thirroul for six months while writing his book "Kangaroo", gives this description: "…The town trailed down from the foot of the mountain towards the railway, a huddle of grey and red painted iron roofs. Then over the rail line towards the sea, it began again in a spasmodic fashion….There were wide unmade roads running straight as to go nowhere, with little bungalow homes…..Then quite near the inland, rose a great black wall of mountain or cliff….." [Gray, Lenore History of Thirroul. 1994]

While the landscape itself has not changed, the "little huddle of grey and red painted roofs" and the "wide unmade roads" certainly have. However, it still retains a pleasant "village" atmosphere.

Local attractions

Beach – patrolled in summer

Olympic pool – pump-in salt water

Cycleway to Wollongong & further south to Shellharbour

Camping ground – Bulli Beach

Walking Tracks – Illawarra Escarpment

Hang Gliding at Stanwell Tops

Annual Thirroul Seaside & Arts Festival

Tourism Wollongong

– Telephone: 02-4227 5545 or 1800 240 737

Members of Parliament

Federal: Cunningham

State: Keira

Council Representatives: Ward 1

Education

Local schools

Thirroul Public School
Roxburgh Ave
Thirroul NSW 2515

Telephone: (61 2) 4267 1469

St Michael’s School
Lower Main Road
Thirroul NSW 2515

Telephone: (61 2) 4267 2560

Bulli High School
Ursula Road
Bulli NSW 2516

Telephone: (61 2) 4284 8266

Environment

Thirroul lies between the Pacific Ocean and a section of the Illawarra escarpment known as Lady Fuller Park. It is adjacent to Bulli Pass Scenic Reserve. Cabbage Tree palms were once plentiful in the area. These trees were highly prized by both aboriginal and white settlers. They have diminished with development although some still grow along the escarpment and the sides of Bulli Pass.

Early settlement began on the hilly area of the village as the lower beachside area was swampy and susceptible to flooding when high tides combined with a period of heavy rain. [Gray, Lenore. History of Thirroul. 1994]

The flora in the area belongs to the subtropical/warm temperate rainforest group, termed Mixed Notophyll Vine – Fern Forest, and occurs on the level sections of the escarpment where the soils have developed an accumulation of moisture and nutrients. On the upper slopes of the escarpment, Coachwood Rainforest is found.

The underlying geology is generally the Illawarra Coal Measures or sometimes the Narrabeen Group.

Types of trees include, Red Cedar, Moreton Bay Fig, Brown Beech, Cabbage Palm. Shrubs are Brittlewood, Orange Thorn, Native Olive and Hairy Pittosporum. Groundcovers of Giant Maidenhair and Climbing Fishbone Fern grow beneath vines such as Anchor, Giant Pepper, Common Milk and the Monkey-rope.

The escarpment area is rich in its variety of birdlife. Regularly recorded birds in the northern suburbs of Wollongong in summer include the Australian King Parrot, Crimson Rosella, and the Brown Gerygone, perhaps the most common small brown bird in the Illawarra rainforest. The Channel-billed Cuckoo and Pied Currawong are most often found in or near fig trees which provide their favourite food. Honeyeaters and Satin Bowerbirds commonly visit gardens adjacent to the escarpment. The Green Catbird is not as common but still well distributed throughout the district.

[Mills, Kevin & Jakeman, Jacqueline. Rainforests of the Illawarra district.]

More information

Wollongong City Library
Local Studies Section
Burelli Street
WOLLONGONG NSW 2500

Telephone (02) 4227 7418

Community Information Directory - search for local organisations and groups

Weblinks - Illawarra links

Illawarra Index - An index to references to the Illawarra area from newspapers and other publications 1788 to the present (select Illawarra Index from the left menu bar)

Place Names of the Wollongong Region - meanings of many local place names

Illawarra Images - historical photographs

Tourism Wollongong - links to places of interest

Things to see and do - some interesting ideas