Chosen Area: Coogee Beach

The area I've chosen for my Earth and Environmental Science Open-Ended Investigation is Coogee Beach. The area chosen has easy accesss to water and land, where I am able to take samples from, the locality of the area also allows for me to take samples and to do practical work, on a regular basis whilst also allowing for my personal interest.

Over the past two weeks, I've been collecting information about Coogee Beach, its history, photographs and future plans for the area.

In this post is background information as to the history of the Beach. Taken from the Coogee Beach Sydney Australia website which is supported by the Coogee Chamber of Commerce Inc.


A Brief History of Coogee - Sydney Australia
The name 'Coogee' (pronounced as "could gee") seems to have been derived from an Aboriginal word which means "bad smell". This would be of course due to the decaying seaweed which is washed up onto the beach - even in these modern times.
The original track which brought people to the Coogee Beach area back in 1832 would have followed the basic route nowadays taken by Anzac Parade and Alison Road.
In July 1838, the village of Coogee was gazetted with many of the streets in the district named after sea creatures. Today "Dolphin St., Neptune St., and Bream St.," still remain whilst it is understood that Coogee Bay Road and Arcadia Streets were later renamed from their original "Whale St" and "Fish St".
As surf bathing became more popular, so did the area gain fame and in 1907 the Coogee Surf Lifesaving Club was formed.
In 1928 an amusement pier - similar to those found at many English beaches - was constructed. It commenced at the promenade and reached over 180 metres into the sea, however heavy seas took their toll and the structure was demolished in 1934. Click here for a view of the beach with the pier still standing. See below for a link to more period photos.
Coogee was also famous for its large domed building at the northern end of the beach known as the "Coogee Beach Aquarium". This building with its pleasure gardens, sea water baths and restaurants attracted great crowds until it too was demolished for safety reasons. However in its place a new building with a similar appearance to the original now stands - offering arcades of shops, restaurants and entertainment venues.
In the late 1980's, the Randwick City Council embarked on a bold redevelopment of the Coogee seashore area. The resulting work along with the building of the 'Holiday Inn' nowadays the Crowne Plaza Coogee, and the refurbishment of the 'Coogee Bay Hotel', together with the newly built "Coogee Bay Boutique Hotel" extension , has given rebirth to the area as a major international holiday destination.
This tourist activity has also resulted in the appearance of a large number of 'Backpacker' style establishments, as well as a wide variety of cafes and restaurants - many with open air (pavement) seating.
The future will see further improvements to the foreshore area, with the completion of coastal walkways and the proposed changes to the seaside parklands and local shopping area streetscape are eagerly awaited by all.

Within the next few days I hope to obtain the Management Plan for Coogee Beach and also the Coogee Beach Surf Club '100 Year Centenary Book' which entails information about the history of the beach and the surf club as well as the growing popularity of the beach over the decades.

Furthermore, within the following weeks I plan to collect samples from the area and photographs, and determine why the environment in this area presents the findings that I gather.