Randwick Water Stories

This 2025 History Week Exhibit explores a collection of interesting water stories from Randwick City's coastlines. 

The Gweagal Spears are stories of water, of Gamay and of Dharawal people’s unbroken connection to Coastal Sydney.

The traditional of Shell Art of La Perouse continues today through Aunty Maxine and other women, practicing and preserving knowledge passed down through generations. Aunty Esme Timbery’s shellwork is a nationally recognised example of this tradition. 

Coogee has long been a place of leisure. By the late 19th century, it became a seaside resort, with the Aquarium and Coogee Pier attracting visitors from all over Sydney. European-inspired architecture, like dolphin lampposts, reflected migrant heritage. Yarra Bay Pleasure Grounds and La Perouse were also popular destinations. Coogee Beach and Maroubra Beach have been ceremonial meeting grounds for tens of thousands of years, celebrated today through the Koojay Corroboree. 

Mina Wylie, 1912 Olympic silver medalist at Stockholm, trained at Wylie’s Baths, built by her father Henry Wylie. Her achievements are commemorated with a Blue Plaque.

The village of Malabar was named after the MV Malabar shipwreck in 1931. The sea, both alluring and dangerous, shaped Randwick’s water story. 

Surf lifesaving clubs emerged as our protectors in the coastal waters, saving lives for over a century.

In 1969, The Wrapped Coast project by Christo and Jeanne-Claude transformed Little Bay into a landmark of contemporary art, launching the first Kaldor Public Art Project. 

Postcards from the late 19th and early 20th centuries promoted coastal leisure activities and destinations, now serving as historical records of our time spent by the seaside.

The Cable Station at La Perouse maintained the first submarine cable linking NSW and New Zealand in 1876. Now the La Perouse Museum, it preserves instruments and stories from this era, reflecting technological transformation and our evolving relationship with the ocean.