The highlight of the city itself is Wollongong Harbour , with its maritime feel enhanced by a fishing fleet in Belmore Basin, a fish market, a few seafood restaurants, and a picturesque nineteenth-century lighthouse on the breakwater. On either side are Wollongong's central surf beaches : choose North Beach for the best surf, the harbour beaches for more gentle swimming. There's not really much to see in the city centre , which has been swallowed up by a giant shopping mall on Crown Street, but if you want to kill a few hours, visit the City Gallery , on the corner of Kembla and Burelli streets (Tues-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat & Sun noon-4pm; free), a regional art centre showing changing exhibitions plus a permanent collection with an emphasis on contemporary Aboriginal and colonial Illawarra artists. Wollongong is also home to the vast Nan Tien Buddhist Temple , the largest in Australia, on Berkeley Road, Berkeley, south of the centre and reached from Wollongong by train. The temple offers monthly two-day meditation retreats (tel 02/4272 0600 for details).

If you're driving from Sydney , the quickest route to take is the Princes Highway past Heathcote and the Royal National Park, avoiding the coast. However, a more scenic coastal and bush route involves driving through the Royal National Park, emerging above the cliffs at Otford . A few kilometres on is the impressive clifftop lookout on Bald Hill above Stanwell Park - you'll see not only the vista but also the breathtaking sight of hang-gliders taking off and soaring down. You can join in with the Sydney Hang Gliding Centre (tel 02/4294 4294, www.hanggliding.com.au ), which offers tandem flights with an instructor for around $180 during the week, $195 weekends (available daily depending on the weather); the centre also runs courses. At Coalcliff the Imperial Hotel is a must for an en-route drink, as it sits right on the cliff's edge. By the time you get to Austinmer you're at the base of the stunning cliffs and into some heavy surf territory; another drinking hole here is the legendary Headlands Hotel , which also offers budget accommodation. There's impressive cliff scenery as you pass through Scarborough , Wombarra and Thirroul , tiny seaside villages with a station, lovely local beaches and not much else; Thirroul is the spot where the English novelist D.H. Lawrence wrote Kangaroo during his short Australian interlude. The appropriately named Sublime Point , on the Bulli Pass at the Illawarra Escarpment, is a place to stop for fantastic views. If you have your own transport you can explore the escarpment using the walking tracks on Mount Kembla and Mount Keira, about 10km from Wollongong.