Tag Archives: wading pool

Albury Swimming Centre – Albury, NSW 2640

Posted by: Simon Duffin on: 01/12/2016

Wikipedia reckons Albury was named after a village in Kent, but there is only an Albury near Guildford in Surrey! My experience in the pool Albury Swim Centre had a lucky escape in October 2016, just a month earlier than my own visit to the place. It sits right by the Murray River on the NSW/Victoria border and floodwaters crept perilously close to the centre when the river burst its banks a few weeks ago (see the link to the video looking over the area and see the pool sitting just above Read more [...]

Bilgola Rock Pool – Bilgola, NSW 2107

Posted by: Simon Duffin on: 27/03/2016

Named after an Aboriginal term meaning 'swirling waters'. My experience in the pool For one of the swimmers who contacted me since I began this tour of NSW ocean pools, Bilgola Rock Pool is the best. So I was keen to see what made her make this claim. The pool was a lot busier for a weekday morning than any other I have been in, so Bilgola certainly has a sizeable fan base, and most of those I chatted with made the same claim: it's got to be the best rock pool in Sydney, they all said. It Read more [...]

Dee Why Rock Pool – Dee Why, NSW 2099

Posted by: Simon Duffin on: 26/11/2015

When swimming in public first became legal, this area was all owned by the Salvation Army… My experience in the pool My first ever experience of an Australian beach was at Dee Why, back in 1967 – I was promptly sent flying by an incoming wave as I paddled along the water’s edge, expecting things to be like the North Sea back home in Yorkshire. This was the nearest beach to our home for that year but I only have that first memory still engraved in my brain all these years on… I Read more [...]

Werri Beach Rock Pool – Gerringong

Posted by: Simon Duffin on: 27/06/2015

Werri Beach Rock Pool At high tide you’ll have to get your feet wet to access this pool over an exposed flat rock surface. My experience in the rock pool My first experience in Werri Beach pool was not my best: it must have been some time after high tide, the water was almost too warm and there were lots of small bits (probably of seaweed, but I was getting great handfuls of the stuff at every stroke I swam). It’s also quite a shallow pool, and not as long as many – couldn’t Read more [...]

Bruce Steer Pool - Bermagui, NSW 2546
On 26/12/2017
Bruce Steer was a local personality at the heart of Bermagui's community in the post-war years. My experience in the pool Bruce Steer Pool in Bermagui doesn't get as much publicity as the Blue Pool over the headland, but actually on the right day this is a fantastic spot for a protected swim. The first time I came to Bermagui (to swim in... Continue Reading
Berry Village Pool - Berry, NSW 2535
On 22/12/2017
Berry was named after the first family of white settlers in the area. My experience in the pool Berry Village Pool is one of those charming little 20m pools most villages in Australia seem to have. Yes, if you're a Pom, you heard that right: a village pool. Back in the UK, I can think of only one area where a set... Continue Reading
Epping Aquatic Centre - Epping, NSW 2121
On 19/12/2017
Epping was named after the east London/Essex town of the same name. My experience in the pool Epping Aquatic Centre sits surrounded by bush in this leafy northern suburb of Sydney. It's a wonderful place to swim, with those tall gum trees towering over on all sides, and the bush inhabitants squawking or cooing as you plough up and down your laps. I... Continue Reading
Blacktown Aquatic Centre - Blacktown, NSW 2148
On 11/12/2017
Blacktown's name has its origins in the Stolen Generation as there was a 'Native Institution' here in the 19th century. My experience in the pool Blacktown Aquatic Centre has one of those outdoor swimming pools that look so tempting when you speed past in the train. When I spotted it over the tracks, it looked pristine, with sky blue tiles looking magnificent... Continue Reading
Ballina Wading Pool - Shelly Beach, NSW 2478
On 06/12/2017
Ballina probably has both Irish and Aboriginal connections linguistically My experience in the pool Ballina Information Centre at first shook their heads when I asked about the whereabouts of the ocean pool in town. "Well, there's a local campaign to have a new ocean pool built in Ballina," they said, "but there isn't one yet".. When I pressed them and mentioned a... Continue Reading
Yamba Rock Pool - Yamba, NSW 2464
On 30/11/2017
Yamba is an Aboriginal word for either shellfish or headland. My experience in the pool Yamba Ocean Pool is the most northerly of the real ocean baths along the NSW coast. It may well also be the most recently built - constructed in the 1960s - though it may also be the more modern building methods and materials that made it more vulnerable... Continue Reading