Taking a dip in an ocean pool is the right stuff. Just ask those who frequent the Bogey Hole or the baths at Merewether and Newcastle.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The allure of ocean pools prompted architect Nicole Larkin to create an online database.
The website, called The Wild Edge, features all ocean pools in NSW.
Nicole describes ocean pools as being "anchored to our iconic coastline" and important to the national psyche.
Extensive work has been done on the project, including 3D mapping. One aim of the project is to help ensure the pools are protected and maintained in future, and possibly reimagined as times change.
Many ocean pools were built as public projects during the Great Depression, including the Merewether Baths.
"The Merewether Baths are considered to be of state significance, chiefly for their aesthetic importance as the largest seawater baths of their kind in the state and possibly Australia," according to the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.
The Bogey Hole is much older. The site, which was listed on the State Heritage Register in 2003, was the first recorded purpose-built ocean pool on the NSW coast. Built by Europeans, that is. We're pretty sure Aboriginals had their own ocean pools of a different kind.
Convicts started building the Bogey Hole around 1819-1820 under orders from Major James Morisset, then Newcastle's commandant. The pool was cut into a rock face. It's unclear if the site had been a natural Aboriginal rock pool beforehand.
"It was known, originally as the Commandant's Baths. The name Bogey Hole was applied afterwards and is said to come from the Dharawal word meaning 'to bathe'," the environment and heritage office said.
"In 1863, control of the baths passed to Newcastle Borough Council for public use. The baths were enlarged by council and catered mainly for male swimmers, with women being permitted only at set times."
Thankfully, women are now allowed. Mermaids too.
As for Newcastle Ocean Baths, construction began in 1910. The pool was used unofficially from 1912, but wasn't complete until after World War I.
The baths were officially opened in November 1922, after the art deco pavilion was built.
Lonely Planet
Who knew Merewether had an aquarium.
The Lonely Planet website lists one of Newcastle's attractions as "Merewether Aquarium".
"Not an aquarium in the traditional sense, this pedestrian underpass has been charmingly transformed into a pop-art underwater world by local artist Trevor Dickinson. There are numerous quirky details, including the artist himself as a diver. Find it at the southern end of Merewether beach, opposite the Surfhouse top entrance," the website said.
- topics@theherald.com.au