The small town of Helensburgh in NSW is known as the gateway between the cities of Sydney and Wollongong, as it is located roughly halfway between the two (45km south of Sydney’s CBD and 34km north of Wollongong).

Helensburgh is the northern-most suburb governed by Wollongong City Council, and marks the northern end of the Illawarra region. It also borders the southern end of the Royal National Park and the western side of the Garawarra State Conservation Area, which adds to the town’s isolation from its neighbours. Many travellers will drive straight past Helensburgh on the Southern Freeway or Princes Highway without ever even knowing the town is there.

Helensburgh owes its existence to the coal mine that is still in operation today, and is notable for being Australia’s oldest working mine. The job opportunities provided by the mine in those early days meant that Helensburgh continued to thrive after the neighbouring villages of Cawley and Lilyvale slowly dwindled and disappeared, eventually reclaimed by the bush. The expansion of the railways to the south throughout the 1880s and 1890s also provided employment for many and added to the area’s population.