Latest news with #CharlesKingsfordSmith
Scoop
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Don McGlashan Announces First-Ever Solo Live Album Take It To The BridgeRecorded On 2023 Tour With Anita Clark
Press Release – The Label Celebrated New Zealand songwriter Don McGlashan will release his first-ever solo live album, Take It to the Bridge, this August – a powerful document of a 23-date nationwide tour with special guest Anita Clark (Motte), which captures one of Aotearoa's most treasured musical voices in peak form. Recorded across a series of beloved venues, Take It to the Bridge arrives on 22 August 2025 on limited edition 8-track black 12' LP and 13-track CD, as well as digitally. More than just a souvenir of the tour, Take It to the Bridge offers up McGlashan's songs in their rawest and most intimate form – proof of the enduring connection between this performer and his audience. The album highlights McGlashan's peerless storytelling and songwriting, drawn from a rich catalogue that includes his iconic solo work, songs from The Mutton Birds, The Front Lawn, and beyond. As RNZ's Jesse Mulligan describes, 'His live performances are moving, ghostly, transcendent' – and this recording is a powerful distillation of the live experience. Joining him on stage and recording is Anita Clark (Motte), whose violin, vocals and presence elevate each performance with quiet intensity. This is McGlashan's first release since 2022's Bright November Morning, which debuted at #1 on the Official NZ Album Charts. Work is already underway on his next studio album, scheduled for release in 2026. In the lead-up to Take It to the Bridge 's release, McGlashan returns to the stage in August for three special shows. The first, a sold-out solo show in Nelson, followed by a headline appearance with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra – a rare opportunity to hear songs from across his catalogue reimagined in a sweeping symphonic setting. Don McGlashan – Take It to the Bridge Out August 22nd TRACKLISTINGS 12' Vinyl Side A: 'Harbour Bridge' – Loons, Lyttelton 28.09.23 'Charles Kingsford Smith' – Globe Theatre, Palmerston North 22.09.23 'Miracle Sun' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 'White Valiant' – Loons, Lyttelton 28.09.23 Side B: 'Shackleton' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 'The Heater*' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 'A Thing Well Made' – Loons, Lyttelton 27.09.23 'Anchor Me' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 CD | Digital 'Harbour Bridge' – Loons, Lyttelton 28.09.23 'Don't Fight It, Marsha, It's Bigger Than Both Of Us' – Cannon Heath, Carterton 17.09.23 'Charles Kingsford Smith' – Globe Theatre, Palmerston North 22.09.23 'Miracle Sun' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 'Bathe In The River' – Cannon Heath, Carterton 17.09.23 'Nothing On The Windows' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 'White Valiant' – Loons, Lyttelton 28.09.23 'Go Back In' – Cannon Heath, Carterton 17.09.23 'Shackleton' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 'The Heater*' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 'Pulled Along By Love' – Loons, Lyttelton 28.09.23 'A Thing Well Made' – Loons, Lyttelton 27.09.23 'Anchor Me – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 Content Sourced from Original url
Scoop
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Don McGlashan Announces First-Ever Solo Live Album Take It To The BridgeRecorded On 2023 Tour With Anita Clark
Celebrated New Zealand songwriter Don McGlashan will release his first-ever solo live album, Take It to the Bridge, this August – a powerful document of a 23-date nationwide tour with special guest Anita Clark (Motte), which captures one of Aotearoa's most treasured musical voices in peak form. Recorded across a series of beloved venues, Take It to the Bridge arrives on 22 August 2025 on limited edition 8-track black 12' LP and 13-track CD, as well as digitally. More than just a souvenir of the tour, Take It to the Bridge offers up McGlashan's songs in their rawest and most intimate form – proof of the enduring connection between this performer and his audience. The album highlights McGlashan's peerless storytelling and songwriting, drawn from a rich catalogue that includes his iconic solo work, songs from The Mutton Birds, The Front Lawn, and beyond. As RNZ's Jesse Mulligan describes, 'His live performances are moving, ghostly, transcendent' – and this recording is a powerful distillation of the live experience. Joining him on stage and recording is Anita Clark (Motte), whose violin, vocals and presence elevate each performance with quiet intensity. This is McGlashan's first release since 2022's Bright November Morning, which debuted at #1 on the Official NZ Album Charts. Work is already underway on his next studio album, scheduled for release in 2026. In the lead-up to Take It to the Bridge 's release, McGlashan returns to the stage in August for three special shows. The first, a sold-out solo show in Nelson, followed by a headline appearance with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra – a rare opportunity to hear songs from across his catalogue reimagined in a sweeping symphonic setting. Upcoming Shows: Thursday 14 August – Nelson, Nelson NCMA (SOLD OUT) Saturday 16th August – Christchurch, Douglas Lilburn Auditorium – with the CSO Don McGlashan - Take It to the Bridge Out August 22nd TRACKLISTINGS 12' Vinyl Side A: 'Harbour Bridge' – Loons, Lyttelton 28.09.23 'Charles Kingsford Smith' – Globe Theatre, Palmerston North 22.09.23 'Miracle Sun' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 'White Valiant' – Loons, Lyttelton 28.09.23 Side B: 'Shackleton' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 'The Heater*' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 'A Thing Well Made' – Loons, Lyttelton 27.09.23 'Anchor Me' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 CD | Digital 'Harbour Bridge' – Loons, Lyttelton 28.09.23 'Don't Fight It, Marsha, It's Bigger Than Both Of Us' – Cannon Heath, Carterton 17.09.23 'Charles Kingsford Smith' – Globe Theatre, Palmerston North 22.09.23 'Miracle Sun' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 'Bathe In The River' – Cannon Heath, Carterton 17.09.23 'Nothing On The Windows' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 'White Valiant' – Loons, Lyttelton 28.09.23 'Go Back In' – Cannon Heath, Carterton 17.09.23 'Shackleton' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 'The Heater*' – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23 'Pulled Along By Love' – Loons, Lyttelton 28.09.23 'A Thing Well Made' – Loons, Lyttelton 27.09.23 'Anchor Me – Q Theatre, Auckland 31.10.23
The Irish Sun
16-06-2025
- The Irish Sun
Urgent warning for swimmers heading to popular Dublin beach as temperatures soar to 25C
A MAJOR health warning has been sent to beachgoers and swimmers as temperatures soar to 25C this week. A popular beach in the capital is experiencing increased levels of bacteria in the water. Advertisement 3 An alert has been issued for Velvet Strand Credit: Getty 3 There's a swim restriction in place due to possible pollution Credit: Getty Located five minutes from Portmarnock Village by car, a short walk through a field will lead you to Velvet Strand The 8km beach stretches all the way to Baldoyle, meeting with Malahide Beach. Fingal County Council issued a swim restriction due to possible pollution at Velvet Strand, Portmarnock. They said: 'A Prior Warning Notice has been issued for Velvet Strand, Portmarnock. Advertisement READ MORE IN NEWS 'Bathers are advised of the possibility of an increase in the levels of bacteria in the bathing water over the coming days due to expected heavy rainfall.' The warning was issued over the weekend following heavy rainfall and is expected to remain in place until Wednesday. The council shared a list of precautions for beachgoers to reduce the risk of illness. If in contact with the water, avoid swallowing or splashing it. Advertisement Most read in Irish News Visitors are urged to wash their hands before handling For those who are pregnant or have a weakened immune system, they should completely avoid the sea water at Velvet Strand. The seaside spot is usually popular for outdoor sports including windsurfing, kitesurfing and volleyball. Advertisement The popular beach, awarded Blue Flag Status in 2022, has spectacular sand dunes. It boasts beautiful views of the nearby Howth Peninsula, Lambay Island and Ireland's Eye. And if you look up, you can watch planes getting ready to land at Dublin Airport. In fact, this beach is part of aviation history. Advertisement In 1930, the Southern Cross plane took off with Captain Charles Kingsford Smith and navigated by Dubliner Captain J.P. Saul. It was the first Atlantic crossing from east to west on the beach at Portmarnock. Beachgoers will spot a globe statue 'Eccentric Orbit' remembering this major milestone. The first solo flight across the Atlantic from east to west took off at the same spot two years later. Advertisement 3 The restriction lasts until Wednesday Credit: Facebook
The Advertiser
15-06-2025
- The Advertiser
Hidden Hunter: it's time to take a swing by the lake
LAKE Macquarie is full of wonderful hidden places. The latest I've just stumbled across is the popular 'swing bridge' concealed in suburbia on Dora Creek, behind the Avondale Campus, at Cooranbong. But more about that later. My interest in such sites began several decades ago after searching for, and finding, some unusual concrete igloos from World War II in secluded bushland, high on a hill above Catherine Hill Bay. They were the remains of the once top-secret radar station 208, which acted as a shield, or early warning system, for the largest seaplane base in the southern hemisphere at Rathmines, south of Toronto The Catherine Hill Bay ridgeline site also once hid twin timber towers, reportedly standing about 45 metres, holding the actual radar installation. Beneath it, from memory, one of the two Nissen-style curved concrete huts, or igloos, housed a generator, while the other held the female radar operators from early 1943. The Bay radar station only came into existence after a Japanese enemy submarine shelled the sleeping city of Newcastle early one morning in June 1942. After the war, the timber towers were demolished and recycled into houses, while the solid concrete structures were simply stripped of anything valuable and abandoned. The last time I saw them, years ago, someone had managed to drive a small, presumably stolen car, up a steep, rough track high above the beach, drive it inside one structure, jam it sideways, then set it ablaze. Hiking up to the hilltop site had been memorable, as had the sight of the blackened interior with a car inside one igloo. Over the years, visits to other hidden Lake Macquarie sites have never been as memorable, but always interesting. For example, there was once the odd sight of a light aircraft, minus its wings, sandwiched into a Swansea coffee shop as a novelty. I had been recycled after it had crash-landed elsewhere. Or the Aboriginal legend on a plaque once at Reid's Mistake (Swansea Heads) telling the story of Malangbula. Two upright rocks here represented two women transformed into stone after an altercation with a native warrior. The silent sentinels were to forever guard the ocean entrance to Lake Macquarie to protect the lake from fierce sea monsters trying to enter. Going now towards the western side of the lake and passing Speers Point, we soon come to the Five Islands Road crossing Cockle Creek. Here, just to the north on the opposite shore, parallel to the northern railway line, is Racecourse Road. Only the road beside the creek now reminds us of the story once told around here. In 1927, intrepid aviators Charles Kingsford Smith (after whom Sydney's airport was named) and Charles Ulm made an emergency landing here on the then-existing racecourse after suffering engine trouble. The sight of their aircraft, temporarily left there, went down in lake folklore. Then further on, not far as the crow flies from the Fennell Bay bridge, lies a now-submerged petrified pine forest in the shallows, or at least what's left of it. Called Kurrur Kurran, it is reputed to be more than 250 million years old, but there are only petrified stumps left now on the silty lake floor. Much of the ancient, petrified wood was souvenired, pilfered, up to 60 years ago. Some of this prehistoric forest (once 500 trees) ended up as pieces of a household fence in nearby Blackalls Park. The water site is generally regarded as the biggest and best preserved in situ of the Permian period in NSW. On the edge of Toronto itself, we come to relics of the now lost Toronto-to-Fassifern 3 kilometre railway (now the Greenway Track) and the site of the once popular Stoney Creek Swimming Club started in the 1930s. Moving again, but west, going along Awaba Road before going south on Freemans Drive heading to Cooranbong. Here, opposite the Avondale College entrance, is another gem of a place - the Elephant Shop with its unusual wares. But a little before that, motorists might be diverted down a side street to the South Sea Island Museum with missionary artefacts, including drums and a full-size former islander war canoe. Back on the road, we come to my latest find. It's Cooranbong's suspension or historic 'swing bridge' (since 1934) off Freemans Drive. Today, the wobbly bridge is a local landmark, but maybe for many of us it's still a hidden place, until you get precise directions on how to find it. Weekender was alerted to the site recently by Valentine author and bushwalker Greg Powell, who pointed out the nearby, flat 2.4-kilometre Sandy Creek Walk loop on part of the Avondale Estate for those who want to immerse themselves in nature. The Cooranbong swing bridge is at the old Weet-Bix factory on Dora Creek. The bouncy walk over Dora Creek originally provided handy access for workers of the Sanitarium health food factory. Without the bridge, people had to either row or swim across the creek or face a long walk around. At the back of Avondale College, the bridge over Dora Creek can be a little hard to find initially. Access is via a cul-de-sac after leaving Freemans Drive at Victory Street, just before a bridge under the M1. The first swing bridge was designed and built in 1934 by Harry Tempest, a Sanitarium division manager. The bridge was said to be built to help teacher Oleta Leech, the wife of a Sanitarium scientist. Living south of the creek, she was terrified of deep water and local boats were often 'borrowed' by persons unknown. Initially, the college faculty said using the bridge was out of bounds for its indoor students. This rule was relaxed in 1965. A tall eucalypt on the college side of the waterway also became known as the 'Billy-can tree'. Customers of the college dairy would hang their milk cans (to be filled up later) on nails hammered into the tree trunk. The original swing bridge partially collapsed in the 1980s after surviving multiple floods. In 2006, it was feared the repaired bridge might be closed, but it has survived, a testimony to its workmanship, stout timbers and galvanised steel supports. But while walking over the old, swaying suspension bridge can add a touch of adventure to any journey, since 2023, a wider, stronger, more stable, flood-free concrete bridge opened alongside, providing a more stress-free crossing. LAKE Macquarie is full of wonderful hidden places. The latest I've just stumbled across is the popular 'swing bridge' concealed in suburbia on Dora Creek, behind the Avondale Campus, at Cooranbong. But more about that later. My interest in such sites began several decades ago after searching for, and finding, some unusual concrete igloos from World War II in secluded bushland, high on a hill above Catherine Hill Bay. They were the remains of the once top-secret radar station 208, which acted as a shield, or early warning system, for the largest seaplane base in the southern hemisphere at Rathmines, south of Toronto The Catherine Hill Bay ridgeline site also once hid twin timber towers, reportedly standing about 45 metres, holding the actual radar installation. Beneath it, from memory, one of the two Nissen-style curved concrete huts, or igloos, housed a generator, while the other held the female radar operators from early 1943. The Bay radar station only came into existence after a Japanese enemy submarine shelled the sleeping city of Newcastle early one morning in June 1942. After the war, the timber towers were demolished and recycled into houses, while the solid concrete structures were simply stripped of anything valuable and abandoned. The last time I saw them, years ago, someone had managed to drive a small, presumably stolen car, up a steep, rough track high above the beach, drive it inside one structure, jam it sideways, then set it ablaze. Hiking up to the hilltop site had been memorable, as had the sight of the blackened interior with a car inside one igloo. Over the years, visits to other hidden Lake Macquarie sites have never been as memorable, but always interesting. For example, there was once the odd sight of a light aircraft, minus its wings, sandwiched into a Swansea coffee shop as a novelty. I had been recycled after it had crash-landed elsewhere. Or the Aboriginal legend on a plaque once at Reid's Mistake (Swansea Heads) telling the story of Malangbula. Two upright rocks here represented two women transformed into stone after an altercation with a native warrior. The silent sentinels were to forever guard the ocean entrance to Lake Macquarie to protect the lake from fierce sea monsters trying to enter. Going now towards the western side of the lake and passing Speers Point, we soon come to the Five Islands Road crossing Cockle Creek. Here, just to the north on the opposite shore, parallel to the northern railway line, is Racecourse Road. Only the road beside the creek now reminds us of the story once told around here. In 1927, intrepid aviators Charles Kingsford Smith (after whom Sydney's airport was named) and Charles Ulm made an emergency landing here on the then-existing racecourse after suffering engine trouble. The sight of their aircraft, temporarily left there, went down in lake folklore. Then further on, not far as the crow flies from the Fennell Bay bridge, lies a now-submerged petrified pine forest in the shallows, or at least what's left of it. Called Kurrur Kurran, it is reputed to be more than 250 million years old, but there are only petrified stumps left now on the silty lake floor. Much of the ancient, petrified wood was souvenired, pilfered, up to 60 years ago. Some of this prehistoric forest (once 500 trees) ended up as pieces of a household fence in nearby Blackalls Park. The water site is generally regarded as the biggest and best preserved in situ of the Permian period in NSW. On the edge of Toronto itself, we come to relics of the now lost Toronto-to-Fassifern 3 kilometre railway (now the Greenway Track) and the site of the once popular Stoney Creek Swimming Club started in the 1930s. Moving again, but west, going along Awaba Road before going south on Freemans Drive heading to Cooranbong. Here, opposite the Avondale College entrance, is another gem of a place - the Elephant Shop with its unusual wares. But a little before that, motorists might be diverted down a side street to the South Sea Island Museum with missionary artefacts, including drums and a full-size former islander war canoe. Back on the road, we come to my latest find. It's Cooranbong's suspension or historic 'swing bridge' (since 1934) off Freemans Drive. Today, the wobbly bridge is a local landmark, but maybe for many of us it's still a hidden place, until you get precise directions on how to find it. Weekender was alerted to the site recently by Valentine author and bushwalker Greg Powell, who pointed out the nearby, flat 2.4-kilometre Sandy Creek Walk loop on part of the Avondale Estate for those who want to immerse themselves in nature. The Cooranbong swing bridge is at the old Weet-Bix factory on Dora Creek. The bouncy walk over Dora Creek originally provided handy access for workers of the Sanitarium health food factory. Without the bridge, people had to either row or swim across the creek or face a long walk around. At the back of Avondale College, the bridge over Dora Creek can be a little hard to find initially. Access is via a cul-de-sac after leaving Freemans Drive at Victory Street, just before a bridge under the M1. The first swing bridge was designed and built in 1934 by Harry Tempest, a Sanitarium division manager. The bridge was said to be built to help teacher Oleta Leech, the wife of a Sanitarium scientist. Living south of the creek, she was terrified of deep water and local boats were often 'borrowed' by persons unknown. Initially, the college faculty said using the bridge was out of bounds for its indoor students. This rule was relaxed in 1965. A tall eucalypt on the college side of the waterway also became known as the 'Billy-can tree'. Customers of the college dairy would hang their milk cans (to be filled up later) on nails hammered into the tree trunk. The original swing bridge partially collapsed in the 1980s after surviving multiple floods. In 2006, it was feared the repaired bridge might be closed, but it has survived, a testimony to its workmanship, stout timbers and galvanised steel supports. But while walking over the old, swaying suspension bridge can add a touch of adventure to any journey, since 2023, a wider, stronger, more stable, flood-free concrete bridge opened alongside, providing a more stress-free crossing. LAKE Macquarie is full of wonderful hidden places. The latest I've just stumbled across is the popular 'swing bridge' concealed in suburbia on Dora Creek, behind the Avondale Campus, at Cooranbong. But more about that later. My interest in such sites began several decades ago after searching for, and finding, some unusual concrete igloos from World War II in secluded bushland, high on a hill above Catherine Hill Bay. They were the remains of the once top-secret radar station 208, which acted as a shield, or early warning system, for the largest seaplane base in the southern hemisphere at Rathmines, south of Toronto The Catherine Hill Bay ridgeline site also once hid twin timber towers, reportedly standing about 45 metres, holding the actual radar installation. Beneath it, from memory, one of the two Nissen-style curved concrete huts, or igloos, housed a generator, while the other held the female radar operators from early 1943. The Bay radar station only came into existence after a Japanese enemy submarine shelled the sleeping city of Newcastle early one morning in June 1942. After the war, the timber towers were demolished and recycled into houses, while the solid concrete structures were simply stripped of anything valuable and abandoned. The last time I saw them, years ago, someone had managed to drive a small, presumably stolen car, up a steep, rough track high above the beach, drive it inside one structure, jam it sideways, then set it ablaze. Hiking up to the hilltop site had been memorable, as had the sight of the blackened interior with a car inside one igloo. Over the years, visits to other hidden Lake Macquarie sites have never been as memorable, but always interesting. For example, there was once the odd sight of a light aircraft, minus its wings, sandwiched into a Swansea coffee shop as a novelty. I had been recycled after it had crash-landed elsewhere. Or the Aboriginal legend on a plaque once at Reid's Mistake (Swansea Heads) telling the story of Malangbula. Two upright rocks here represented two women transformed into stone after an altercation with a native warrior. The silent sentinels were to forever guard the ocean entrance to Lake Macquarie to protect the lake from fierce sea monsters trying to enter. Going now towards the western side of the lake and passing Speers Point, we soon come to the Five Islands Road crossing Cockle Creek. Here, just to the north on the opposite shore, parallel to the northern railway line, is Racecourse Road. Only the road beside the creek now reminds us of the story once told around here. In 1927, intrepid aviators Charles Kingsford Smith (after whom Sydney's airport was named) and Charles Ulm made an emergency landing here on the then-existing racecourse after suffering engine trouble. The sight of their aircraft, temporarily left there, went down in lake folklore. Then further on, not far as the crow flies from the Fennell Bay bridge, lies a now-submerged petrified pine forest in the shallows, or at least what's left of it. Called Kurrur Kurran, it is reputed to be more than 250 million years old, but there are only petrified stumps left now on the silty lake floor. Much of the ancient, petrified wood was souvenired, pilfered, up to 60 years ago. Some of this prehistoric forest (once 500 trees) ended up as pieces of a household fence in nearby Blackalls Park. The water site is generally regarded as the biggest and best preserved in situ of the Permian period in NSW. On the edge of Toronto itself, we come to relics of the now lost Toronto-to-Fassifern 3 kilometre railway (now the Greenway Track) and the site of the once popular Stoney Creek Swimming Club started in the 1930s. Moving again, but west, going along Awaba Road before going south on Freemans Drive heading to Cooranbong. Here, opposite the Avondale College entrance, is another gem of a place - the Elephant Shop with its unusual wares. But a little before that, motorists might be diverted down a side street to the South Sea Island Museum with missionary artefacts, including drums and a full-size former islander war canoe. Back on the road, we come to my latest find. It's Cooranbong's suspension or historic 'swing bridge' (since 1934) off Freemans Drive. Today, the wobbly bridge is a local landmark, but maybe for many of us it's still a hidden place, until you get precise directions on how to find it. Weekender was alerted to the site recently by Valentine author and bushwalker Greg Powell, who pointed out the nearby, flat 2.4-kilometre Sandy Creek Walk loop on part of the Avondale Estate for those who want to immerse themselves in nature. The Cooranbong swing bridge is at the old Weet-Bix factory on Dora Creek. The bouncy walk over Dora Creek originally provided handy access for workers of the Sanitarium health food factory. Without the bridge, people had to either row or swim across the creek or face a long walk around. At the back of Avondale College, the bridge over Dora Creek can be a little hard to find initially. Access is via a cul-de-sac after leaving Freemans Drive at Victory Street, just before a bridge under the M1. The first swing bridge was designed and built in 1934 by Harry Tempest, a Sanitarium division manager. The bridge was said to be built to help teacher Oleta Leech, the wife of a Sanitarium scientist. Living south of the creek, she was terrified of deep water and local boats were often 'borrowed' by persons unknown. Initially, the college faculty said using the bridge was out of bounds for its indoor students. This rule was relaxed in 1965. A tall eucalypt on the college side of the waterway also became known as the 'Billy-can tree'. Customers of the college dairy would hang their milk cans (to be filled up later) on nails hammered into the tree trunk. The original swing bridge partially collapsed in the 1980s after surviving multiple floods. In 2006, it was feared the repaired bridge might be closed, but it has survived, a testimony to its workmanship, stout timbers and galvanised steel supports. But while walking over the old, swaying suspension bridge can add a touch of adventure to any journey, since 2023, a wider, stronger, more stable, flood-free concrete bridge opened alongside, providing a more stress-free crossing. LAKE Macquarie is full of wonderful hidden places. The latest I've just stumbled across is the popular 'swing bridge' concealed in suburbia on Dora Creek, behind the Avondale Campus, at Cooranbong. But more about that later. My interest in such sites began several decades ago after searching for, and finding, some unusual concrete igloos from World War II in secluded bushland, high on a hill above Catherine Hill Bay. They were the remains of the once top-secret radar station 208, which acted as a shield, or early warning system, for the largest seaplane base in the southern hemisphere at Rathmines, south of Toronto The Catherine Hill Bay ridgeline site also once hid twin timber towers, reportedly standing about 45 metres, holding the actual radar installation. Beneath it, from memory, one of the two Nissen-style curved concrete huts, or igloos, housed a generator, while the other held the female radar operators from early 1943. The Bay radar station only came into existence after a Japanese enemy submarine shelled the sleeping city of Newcastle early one morning in June 1942. After the war, the timber towers were demolished and recycled into houses, while the solid concrete structures were simply stripped of anything valuable and abandoned. The last time I saw them, years ago, someone had managed to drive a small, presumably stolen car, up a steep, rough track high above the beach, drive it inside one structure, jam it sideways, then set it ablaze. Hiking up to the hilltop site had been memorable, as had the sight of the blackened interior with a car inside one igloo. Over the years, visits to other hidden Lake Macquarie sites have never been as memorable, but always interesting. For example, there was once the odd sight of a light aircraft, minus its wings, sandwiched into a Swansea coffee shop as a novelty. I had been recycled after it had crash-landed elsewhere. Or the Aboriginal legend on a plaque once at Reid's Mistake (Swansea Heads) telling the story of Malangbula. Two upright rocks here represented two women transformed into stone after an altercation with a native warrior. The silent sentinels were to forever guard the ocean entrance to Lake Macquarie to protect the lake from fierce sea monsters trying to enter. Going now towards the western side of the lake and passing Speers Point, we soon come to the Five Islands Road crossing Cockle Creek. Here, just to the north on the opposite shore, parallel to the northern railway line, is Racecourse Road. Only the road beside the creek now reminds us of the story once told around here. In 1927, intrepid aviators Charles Kingsford Smith (after whom Sydney's airport was named) and Charles Ulm made an emergency landing here on the then-existing racecourse after suffering engine trouble. The sight of their aircraft, temporarily left there, went down in lake folklore. Then further on, not far as the crow flies from the Fennell Bay bridge, lies a now-submerged petrified pine forest in the shallows, or at least what's left of it. Called Kurrur Kurran, it is reputed to be more than 250 million years old, but there are only petrified stumps left now on the silty lake floor. Much of the ancient, petrified wood was souvenired, pilfered, up to 60 years ago. Some of this prehistoric forest (once 500 trees) ended up as pieces of a household fence in nearby Blackalls Park. The water site is generally regarded as the biggest and best preserved in situ of the Permian period in NSW. On the edge of Toronto itself, we come to relics of the now lost Toronto-to-Fassifern 3 kilometre railway (now the Greenway Track) and the site of the once popular Stoney Creek Swimming Club started in the 1930s. Moving again, but west, going along Awaba Road before going south on Freemans Drive heading to Cooranbong. Here, opposite the Avondale College entrance, is another gem of a place - the Elephant Shop with its unusual wares. But a little before that, motorists might be diverted down a side street to the South Sea Island Museum with missionary artefacts, including drums and a full-size former islander war canoe. Back on the road, we come to my latest find. It's Cooranbong's suspension or historic 'swing bridge' (since 1934) off Freemans Drive. Today, the wobbly bridge is a local landmark, but maybe for many of us it's still a hidden place, until you get precise directions on how to find it. Weekender was alerted to the site recently by Valentine author and bushwalker Greg Powell, who pointed out the nearby, flat 2.4-kilometre Sandy Creek Walk loop on part of the Avondale Estate for those who want to immerse themselves in nature. The Cooranbong swing bridge is at the old Weet-Bix factory on Dora Creek. The bouncy walk over Dora Creek originally provided handy access for workers of the Sanitarium health food factory. Without the bridge, people had to either row or swim across the creek or face a long walk around. At the back of Avondale College, the bridge over Dora Creek can be a little hard to find initially. Access is via a cul-de-sac after leaving Freemans Drive at Victory Street, just before a bridge under the M1. The first swing bridge was designed and built in 1934 by Harry Tempest, a Sanitarium division manager. The bridge was said to be built to help teacher Oleta Leech, the wife of a Sanitarium scientist. Living south of the creek, she was terrified of deep water and local boats were often 'borrowed' by persons unknown. Initially, the college faculty said using the bridge was out of bounds for its indoor students. This rule was relaxed in 1965. A tall eucalypt on the college side of the waterway also became known as the 'Billy-can tree'. Customers of the college dairy would hang their milk cans (to be filled up later) on nails hammered into the tree trunk. The original swing bridge partially collapsed in the 1980s after surviving multiple floods. In 2006, it was feared the repaired bridge might be closed, but it has survived, a testimony to its workmanship, stout timbers and galvanised steel supports. But while walking over the old, swaying suspension bridge can add a touch of adventure to any journey, since 2023, a wider, stronger, more stable, flood-free concrete bridge opened alongside, providing a more stress-free crossing.
