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Apr 1, 2021
Local people: long-time Fairy Meadow resident Max Tenhane
Born in the Netherlands, 92-year-old Max Tenhane headed to Australia 70 years ago by himself. When the former army officer shifted from Sydney to Fairy Meadow 10 years later, he knew he’d found his home. What do you remember of Fairy Meadow in the early days? I came to Fairy Meadow in 1961. There were no flats, no sealed roads and not too many cars on the road. In those days, you had milk runs, bread runs and dry-cleaning runs. Even the doctors in those days did a lot of home calls. Women mostly stayed at home and 24,000 people were employed at the Steelworks. People had their own gardens to grow their own vegetables. They made their own wine and salamis, especially the old people. I had a business in Fairy Meadow, opposite The Fraternity Club. It’s the long building where the Regional Appliance and Electrical Services is now. We had garden supplies, because everybody had gardens, so we used to sell a lot of fertilisers and seedlings. We had produce and even fishing tackle and fishing lines. It was a very large building. I had that business for 15 years. Later on I had a partner, and we eventually had a self-service grocery store. That was before Woolworths and Coles. We knew that in America they had self-service stores, so we had the first self-service store in Fairy Meadow. It was called the Big Star Store. Woolworths and Coles came to Fairy Meadow much later. I used to go to The Fraternity Club for lunch sometimes. There was just a cottage on the land there at that time. Then someone started to organise a club and that was the foundation of The Fraternity Club. Now it's a big club. Why did you decide to live in Fairy Meadow? I used to live in Sydney before. At that time, I was studying at TAFE a lot - accountancy and business management. I always wanted a business for myself. In those days, a lot of the people that came from countries like Italy and Greece didn’t have much of an education, but they could run a little business. So they’d open a little business. They all knew how to work long hours. Most Australians take things for granted. But the newcomers, they can see the opportunities this country has to offer. They didn’t mind working 12 or 13 hours. They’d have a little fish shop or a grocery store. And it also gave employment to their children. You came out to Australia by yourself. Was there a community or group you were able to become part of? If you came here, you were a people person and you spoke English reasonably well, you soon made some friends. Some of the people were really helpful, because I was quite young when I came here. I made some very good friends. They took me under their wing. I was part of the social life. There were dances every Saturday - the old time dances. And they would arrange a girl for me to dance with. I’d been in the war and one of my friends was a prisoner of war, so we became very good friends. Later on, he gave me his flat in Elizabeth Bay (Sydney). What about the social life in Fairy Meadow in the early days? What was that like? I didn’t have much time for a social life then. When I came to Fairy Meadow, I was married. I was married in 1954. I had the business, so I didn’t have much time for a social life. I did swimming and surfing. I did golf for many years. I’m a foundation member of the Illawarra Ramblers - that’s a big bushwalking club. I’m a life member and I used to lead a lot of walks. I did a lot of volunteer work. I worked at the airport at the information desk. I was the team leader there. Since I retired, I’ve always been busy. What changes have you seen in Fairy Meadow in your years living here? Oh yes. One lady started off on a vacant block here in Fairy Meadow with a few tables selling some apples and stuff. That was the start of the fruit market in a very small way. They grew. They got a nursery as well. Now the Leisure Coast Fruit and Deli is the biggest retail business in Fairy Meadow. They’ve got 150 staff. A lot are casuals. It’s a colossal business. It’s well run and has got plenty of staff. In those days there were about 10 real estate agents in Wollongong and now you’ve got 50. It’s a very competitive industry now. Construction was on a much slower pace. Now you’ve got a lot of high rises. There used to be a timber yard in front of the office here (points in front of One Agency JD Property Agents offices). What type of houses were there in Fairy Meadow? There were no high rises and no flats. Well, hardly any. There were weatherboard (houses), but there were a lot of Fibro (fibrous cement sheet) houses too. They were the cheapest, you see. In those days, you didn’t know Fibro could be a problem in years to come. In my street, there was a new estate in 1961. There were some houses there, but not many. But now there's only about three families left in the street - our family and two others - that moved there 60 years ago. For the first 40 years, there was no movement in the street. But then people move house, people die and some downsize. Now we have a lot of new people in the street. There was a lot stronger bonds between people in the street in those days. You’d play together in the streets, you’d walk to school together and you’d go to each other’s homes. In the park on Australia Day, we had a bit of a fire and a gathering. We walked around people’s houses to say hello. I had a lot to do with new migrants, because I was president of the neighbour council. Everybody called me Mr Max. You see, a hostel was opened in Fairy Meadow in the early days for British people mainly. Then they closed it. Then when new migrants came 35 years ago, we opened it up again. At that time, I was president for the whole South Coast for the neighbour council. I had a whole team of people helping me. I helped people through their problems. The hostel is now part of the university - it’s student accommodation. In those days, it was used for the migrants. Why did you stay in Fairy Meadow? Once we got here, we preferred Wollongong to Sydney. We made lots of friends here. I’ve been involved in many organisations. I became part of the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Association. I was on Council for quite a few years through the library committee. Because I was an army officer and served in many countries, I’m also an active member of the RSL. I go every month for meetings and functions. I’m involved in WEA - a University for Seniors and I go every week in Wollongong. You can give lectures yourself. It’s been going for many years. I’m a life and foundation member of the Illawarra Ramblers, which has about 300 members. I’ve led hundreds of walks over the years. It’s through walking you make a lot of good friends. It’s also the atmosphere. If you sit in the bush on a tree trunk, after a while people open up and you get to know people. They talk about their problems. And you’re taking people to places they’ve never been or can’t get to on their own. I’ve done a lot of walks - the Royal National Park, East Coast, South Coast, interstate, and overseas. There's now a lot more places of entertainment and more money around. When I came here, the basic wage was 8 pounds for the basic rate or $60 a week. But then again, houses were much cheaper. You could buy a block of land for 100 pound. It’s more than just Fairy Meadow, but Balgownie and Mount Ousley. It’s set between the mountains and the sea, so it’s a nice place to live. It's a healthy environment. You’ve got everything here and you’re close to Wollongong. I was 32 when I came to Wollongong. We had children who grew up here. I now know a lot of people. If I walk through Fairy Meadow, I always come across people I know. As you get older and you need doctors and hospitals or dentists, everything is nice and close. There are a lot of advantages to living in Fairy Meadow. If you’re looking to relocate to Fairy Meadow, buy in the area or have a well loved Fairy Meadow home you’re looking to sell, call Joanne on 0426 264 771. Considering how you can Right Size your Home and perhaps move into Aged Care? Register for this short course and learn how to best right size your home when moving into aged care.
Mar 13, 2021
Fairy Meadow Easter egg trail
After the success of our Fairy Meadow Easter Egg Hunt over the past few years, we’re sharing the Easter fun again this season, albeit a little different. This year we are coming to you. Be out on your front lawn to receive your FREE Easter Eggs as the EASTER BUNNY makes its way through the Fairy Meadow area. Starting at 10am till about 11am on Sunday 4th April 2021, with the help of our friend the EASTER BUNNY, we will be giving out FREE Easter Eggs. Refer to the map to see what streets he will be travelling through and sharing chocolate Easter Eggs. If we are not heading down your streets, we encourage you to make yourself safely available somewhere on our route to share in the fun. We know how great it is living in Fairy Meadow, and this year we wanted to spread that message and happiness throughout the community. Can’t read the map? Here are the streets in order: Balgownie Road, Fairy Meadow Alexander Street, Fairy Meadow Breda Street, Fairy Meadow Brian Street, Fairy Meadow Balfour Street, Fairy Meadow Lawson Street, Fairy Meadow Tobruk Avenue, Fairy Meadow Balmoral Street, Fairy Meadow Hopewood Crescent, Fairy Meadow Fairy Avenue, Fairy Meadow Cabbage Tree Lane, Fairy Meadow Dymock Street, Fairy Meadow Storey Street, Fairy Meadow Dixon Street, Fairy Meadow Holder Street, Fairy Meadow Donald Street, Fairy Meadow We look forward to having you join us in this Easter event. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us on 4285 7400 or 0426 264 771.
Mar 4, 2021
Local people: Val Dale from Zweefers Cakes, Fairy Meadow
Zweefers Cakes co-owner Val Dale took a love of baking with her mother from a young age and turned it into an opportunity to buy a business doing what she loved. In 2017, she moved from a career in HR to purchasing the Fairy Meadow business, which started with two women 25 years earlier. Throughout that time, it’s continued the high standard of produce, good reputation and unique selection of cakes that has made it a much-loved and well-known location in the Illawarra. Here’s Val’s story... When did you buy Zweefers and why did you decide to take it over? I bought it almost four years ago, in 2017. It's a family business with myself, Dennis and Kelly Dale. My background is in HR. I used to work in the mining industry. I came to the business without experience, really. It was just because of a passion for food and baking. I grew up in a family with a mother who used to do a lot of baking. So I was involved in that from a very young age. Why has it been such a well-loved business in Fairy Meadow, do you think? We still have the original recipes and I think that’s why Zweefers is so well known. Some of them are really quite unique cakes. Probably the most popular would be the Passionfruit Japonaise, which is absolutely delicious. It’s always been a favourite at Zweefers. It originated in France and is an almond meringue sponge. The other reason is the staff at the back and front of the business. We are fortunate to have such great people working for us who truly care about the business and enjoy coming to work each day. What do you remember of Zweefers from its early days? I used to buy all my cakes for birthdays and special occasions at Zweefers. So I was very familiar with it. Two women started the business 25 years ago, I believe. The second owners were Darren and Natalie, who bought in 2004. Darren worked for the original owners as a pastry chef, then he purchased the business himself. So what items or flavours have you introduced since taking over? We’ve introduced our range of pies, which we bake here on the premises. We make our own pastry and filling. They’ve become quite popular with the locals. What other services do you provide? >We have a wholesale side to the business. We deliver to cafes and a lot of local businesses from as far south as Gerringong. It’s mainly local businesses, but we do travel down the coast a bit too. It was already happening when we bought the business. We just continued on with that. Our specialty cakes are quite new to Zweefers. We do quite a lot of custom design cakes for birthdays and other occasions. We’ve seen a lot of growth in the custom design cakes, particularly over the past six months. It’s hard to choose a favourite - they all look amazing. What do you love about working and living in Fairy Meadow? We live in Fairy Meadow and love the area, because it has a great community, it's close to the beautiful beaches and many other tourist attractions. So, what can the Fairy Meadow community expect next from Zweefers? Our plan is to continue with the great work that we’re doing. Maybe to build on some of the recipes we already have, so we can add to our range. It’s a credit to the previous owners - which there’s now been three of - for keeping the quality and great reputations that Zweefers has in the community. You can find out more about their delicious range r order your own specialty cake by visiting Zweefers Cakes. And if you've got a story to share, get in touch with myself, Joanne Danckwardt on 0426 264 771.
Feb 3, 2021
Local people: former professional surfer Jay Robinson
Life as a professional surfer has pushed Jay Robinson to always strive to be at the top of his game. Whether it’s being third in the world titles at just 17 or in a new sales role competing against national sales stalwarts, he’s always had a hunger for being the best he can be. Having a 20-year career as a professional and promotional surfer travelling the world, working in small villages and developing young talent, he knows what’s possible regardless of your background. Here’s the former pro surfer’s story... What led you to become a professional surfer? When I was 12 or 13 I noticed I had a bit of talent for surfing, because I joined the local Sandon Point Boardriders Club, and I was beating all the adults at surfing. I was in the cadets, which is 14 years old and under. Then you had the juniors, which was under 18s and then the open mens, which was over 18s. I was in the over 18s, and I was winning that when I should have been in the under 14s. What was your progression through surfing? I started competing at regional level and state level. Through the years, I became part of the Australian surfing team. I went to the World Titles when I was 17 and represented Australia, where I came third in the world. Although, I would have been World Champion but I was disqualified in the last surf because I was interfering with one of my competitors. So I went from first in the world to third in the world. That sort of gave me the drive to keep competing professionally as a junior, because I was paid a lot of money when I was a junior to compete. I was paid to travel and compete in a tour called the Billabong Junior Pro Series, which was all around Australia. That was for 21 years olds and under. I did that from age 15. By the time I was 17, I still had four or five years left but was already competing against older surfers. Being young, you’re pretty cocky with results like that, but you were brought down to earth by your elders. I did a lot of contest surfing and got good results and I felt like I was burning out. Hanging around older people meant I learned a lot of life skills. I moved out of home when I was 15 to the Gold Coast where all my sponsors were. They took me under their wing and I started travelling internationally. That opened my eyes. I got out of the juniors and started competing in the World Qualifying Series to get into the top 44 in the world. I didn’t find that too much fun. So by 21 I felt like I wanted a different career. So I had a sponsor that said “OK, so we’ll start sending you to Indonesia for 4-6 months a year and you can be a promotional surfer”. For 10 years I worked in Indonesia for six months at a time. I picked up the language, made a lot of friends and helped the communities out of my own sponsorship money. I probably gave away $10,000 to a couple of kids I thought had potential in surfing. I’d bring one of them out to Australia for a year. I had one come out to Australia for five or six years, until COVID hit. I’m 44 year old now, but I still attend my local boardriders club. When you reach 40, you have to compete in the over 40s, but I still compete against the 18 to 30-year-olds. I ended up finishing third overall in the open mens against all the guys that are professional surfers still. We have about 10 contests every year. I average about six every year. And I was third overall. I lost my dad when I was 8 years old, so surfing has been able to help me support my mum financially. I’ve travelled the world through surfing. I’ve had periods where it all became too much and I went to London and had a break for 22 months, where I only surfed 10 times in that 22 months. Then I got hungry and moved back and picked up sponsorship. But it was on the promotional side again, so I didn’t have to do the competitions. Then later, I put it aside for six months and moved to Hong Kong. But I got hungry for surfing again and moved back to it. What were the highlights of your surfing career? My highlight was helping build the village in Indonesia where I could actually help people. The smallest things I would find big. Like finding a big bag of rice for them. That made me feel good as a person. Specifically with surfing, the highlight was when I came third in the world. It’s a big world and there are a lot of surfers. I think getting third and not first in the world has a lot to do with my competitiveness. It’s like, well, look how close you can get to being first in the world. In any professional career, there’s lots of ups and downs. And sometimes we need to move away from it. But I always came back to it, because it’s my passion. Every day still, when I can, I’m surfing. And I’m having the best surfing time of my life because I enjoy it. I’m not under the pressure of sponsorship. I’ve done other things too when I couldn’t get sponsorship to support me. I went and worked at Barbecues Galore. I ended up becoming the number 1 sales person in Australia for the entire franchise. I think that had a lot to do with travelling and the people skills I’ve developed. I thought, OK, here’s something else I could be good at - sales. Working with people. Another time I went and did door knocking for Optus and I was no 1 in Australia for sales for them as well. It’s like my whole life I’ve got these expectations of being at the top. When you’re not getting that, you’re not feeling good. So I’m just hungry for anything I’m doing. I came from a family where we had no money, so it’s made me hungry to do things. Growing up I always had second hand stuff. My bike for Christmas was always a put together bike from second hand parts. It made me hungry to have that stuff and to work hard for myself and others. I grew up in housing estates and now my mum owns her own house. So for me, I’ve always wanted to look after my mum. You said you still surf every day. What’s your favourite local spot? Sandon Point - that’s my local boardriders as well. I can pretty much have any waves I want out there - not in a rude way. I guess I’m respected around here for surfing. I also like to surf at a spot called The Dragon’s Breath / The Virgins. It’s a really intense wave. It breaks from deep water on to a shallow ledge. It’s probably 5km out to sea, so you need a jet ski to get out there.
Jun 26, 2020
Welcome to our new website
At One Agency JD Property Agents, we are always looking for ways to improve the quality of service we offer. We are excited to announce that our new and fresh website is live, and we would love to introduce you to it, and encourage you to look around. After months of hard work and dedication, we are proud to showcase the new site to you, with its fresh new look and feel, intuitive design and navigation system. We have designed the site to enhance your online experience with us. We wanted to make the new website faster, easier to navigate, and more user-friendly for you. One of our goals with this new website is to provide our visitors an easier way to learn about our services and to browse information based on choice. Here what’s new: Fresh Design Our new website reflects what we stand for; with a sleek look and clean feel, with a simplified colour scheme, with our home page offering a more welcoming approach. We view our virtual premises like our home and want you to feel at home when you visit us. Enhanced Navigation and Contact Our improved on-site navigation system will help to direct you to the information most relevant to you. We now offer an easy way to contact us, with pop up contact form. Improved Search Our improved search function on our blog allows you to find the tips and resources you need whether buying, selling, leasing or community updates. Mobile Responsive Our new website is fully optimised for mobile devices, making it easy for you to navigate on a range of browsers and devices, be it at your desk, at home, or on the move. New Content We have also introduced new content, including the opportunity for you to get to know our team better with their own dedicated space on the site. Enriched research and access Our new site also offers you greater ability to view written client stories and video client stories from our clients when you are researching us and our services. The new website also gives better access to who we are, our sales services, our rental services, market reviews, and concierge. Greater Showcasing of Property The new site allowed us to improve how we showcase our properties currently for sale and for lease in a way that you can easily view a gallery of photos, watch the property video, see the property location on a map, view the floor-plan, and access a virtual tour. There’s a whole host of smaller but impactful changes, all to make your experience of the One Agency JD Property Agents site much better for you. We hope you enjoy the fresh new look of our updated site and encourage you to look around to find our other updates and changes. If you feel you could benefit from our services, we’d love to hear from you. Simply reach out. I hope that has helped you today. If you have any questions, I’d love to talk to you. My number is 0426 264 771. I look forward to talking to you soon.
Nov 28, 2019
12 days of Christmas hamper giveaway Fairy Meadow
After the success of the 12 Days of Christmas Hamper Giveaway Fairy Meadow over the past few years, we’re sharing the local Fairy Meadow treats again this season. Starting Thursday, December 1st 2022, we’ll be giving away local business donations, collectively valued at over $1500. Once again, the giveaway showcases all that the Fairy Meadow businesses in our Illawarra region have to offer, from food to entertainment and quality products and services. We already know how great it is working and living in Fairy Meadow, but this year we wanted to spread that message and highlight some of the best shopping, eateries and services and encourage you to shop locally this Christmas. Christmas Hamper Giveaway Fairy Meadow Goodies This year we will be drawing 12 individual winners on Wednesday 14th December 2021, unveiling the prize details each day from December 1, which is collectively valued at over $1,500. However, to give you a sneak peek, the businesses include: The Fraternity Club Allure Beauty Fairy Meadow Newsagency The Sensory Studio LokaMo Active Wear Harley and Johns Ruby Oak Floristry Massimo Papa Balgownie Travel Zweefers Chalk Financial Fairy Meadow One Agency JD Property Agents Fairy Meadow Make sure to support these businesses this Christmas, as doing so invests money back into growing our community. Entering the Giveaway To enter, leave a comment on any or all of the 12 Days of Christmas video posts on Facebook from December 1 to December 12, 2022, which will appear on Joanne Danckwardt’s One Agency JD Property Agents page. TERMS & CONDITIONS: Entrants must be aged 18+ and resident in the Illawarra region. Entrants are responsible for collecting their prizes from One Agency JD Property Agents business in Fairy Meadow. Entries will be drawn at random. Entries open on December 1 at 6am and close at 11pm December 12 and winners will be announced on the Facebook page on December 14. The giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Facebook and Facebook accepts no responsibility for entries. We appreciate each of the businesses that have chosen to be part of the fourth year of the Christmas Hamper Giveaway Fairy Meadow.
Sep 26, 2019
September 2019 E-News
Welcome to Spring and our latest newsletter! Spring is a time when traditionally when many properties are listed for sale. Our newsletter this month talks about the timeframe you have if you want to sell and be in your new property before Christmas. We also discuss the realities of predicting the real estate market, along with explain more about water usage charges in a rental property. We are also excited to welcome and introduce our two newest team member. Lucie Friedrich and Kristy McWilliams. Enjoy the latest edition of our newsletter which provides some great insights into the real estate industry. To view more, simply go to http://bit.ly/2mS6OVH. If you would like to receive our regular newsletter into your inbox, simply subscribe to receive this FREE and valuable information tool. YES, SUBSCRIBE ME TO YOUR NEWSLETTER We hope you enjoy this latest newsletter edition, and welcome your feedback for any articles that you may wish to be included in future editions.
Aug 30, 2019
August 2019 News
We have expanded and grown! We are excited to welcome Carley Ryman to our team and look forward working with Carley to bring our clients a more comprehensive and personal service. With Father’s Day this weekend, we take this opportunity to show all the special Dad’s out there how important they are to us. Speaking of showing Dad how much he is loved, head on over to our Father’s Day competition on Facebook for the chance to win a weekend away! This month’s news provides some insight on what you can do if your pest and building report comes back and it is not perfect. We also discuss the importance of using innovative practices to add to a sales and marketing process that will improve the positioning of a property being for sale in the current market, along with provide clarification on who is responsible for pest control in rented properties. To read our full news update, simply go to http://bit.ly/2MFyYyH. If you would like to receive our regular newsletter into your inbox, simply subscribe to receive this FREE and valuable information tool. YES, SUBSCRIBE ME TO YOUR NEWSLETTER We hope you enjoy this latest newsletter edition, and welcome your feedback for any articles that you may wish to be included in future editions. Until next month. If you have any family or friends that might benefit from real estate guidance, please feel free to pass on my details or share this link. I’d love to be able to help.