Secret Suburb: Discover Casula’s hidden treasures
WITHIN 35km of Sydney’s CBD lies a semi-rural enclave that abounds with hidden treasures and fun activities well worth discovering on a day’s family venture one weekend, Jenifer Jagielski discovers.
NSW
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WITHIN 35km of Sydney’s CBD lies a semi-rural enclave that abounds with hidden treasures and fun activities well worth discovering on a day’s family venture one weekend, discovers Jenifer Jagielski.
One look at the list of classes for the summer holiday workshops and you’ll be wishing you were a kid again, assuming that is it’s been a while since you last wore a mermaid necklace or played the ukulele.
The eclectic offerings at the Casula Powerhouse take craft class way beyond the crayon-coloured lines to a place with sea creature puppets and gingerbread cars.
Fortunately, during the annual Way Out West Festival for Children, adults get to tag along during a week of creative and clever performances, films and activities.
You might as well start brushing up on finger-painting skills right about now as when it comes to kids and colouring, it’s all fair game.
Finding shops and learning short cuts are part of moving house, but for Stefania Pallotta and her husband, the house wasn’t enough.
To make it their home, they needed to be a part of the community.
Moving to Australia from Italy in 1997, they chose Casula for its semi-rural and quiet neighbourhoods; an ideal atmosphere for Stefania’s massage and aromatherapy clinic but a bit frustrating when it came to finding durable organic work shirts.
That’s when Stefania figured she’d just create her own line and with ties to the area, she made a conscious decision to develop a product that could be locally sourced – fabric, labour, and even packaging.
“Local manufacturing means we have full control of each step of the production of our garments”, Stefania said.
“The company provides job opportunities to local skilled people which also helps the economy.” And that’s the difference between a good and great neighbour.
Surely King Arthur and his Knights of the Roundtable had to have more to talk about dinner than just gallantry and battle.
At some point, even the most jaded warrior would have to have a gripe about the in-laws or the lousy weather – not quite what you’d expect from gents in shining armour.
But, it’s those types of sidebars over a meal that Casula based production house, CuriousWorks aims to explore in the online documentary series Meet + Eat.
It brings people from different backgrounds together to share their food and their stories.
“We assume we know things about people we see regularly but, in truth, we have no idea of their life story,” director and producer of Meet + Eat, Mark Taylor, said as he eludes to grocery store clerks and our school teachers.
Having a meal together is a unique way to move past day-to-day personas and truly get to know someone.
Quite literally food for thought.
It was the generous blocks of land with their lush lawns that lured Warren Laws and his wife to build their home along Leacocks Lane.
Casula was relatively close to the city but rural enough to still have wildlife - like a wallaby that landed in his swimming pool.
So when bits of rubbish were left lying around the nearby park that he and his young family had grown to love, he did what any good neighbour would do: he picked it up, threw it away and continued to do so every Saturday.
Not long after that, others joined in, including a woman who worked with native plants.
Unbeknown to them, their efforts were getting the attention of the Liverpool Council who approached them and asked if they would like to form an official environmental group.
That was in 2005 and it just goes to show that people really can make a different — one piece at a time.
It started in 2013 as a one-off project with Opera Australia’s regional program: find 40-50 Pacific Island singers active in their community and willing to work under the tutelage of choir director Robert O’Brien to create Casula Voices – A Pacific Community Choir.
The resulting performance, with traditional dancing and costumes was truly impressive but what was really outstanding and maybe a bit unexpected was the unique sound produced by the thick and natural fullness in the voices of these singers.
“It’s a texture that opera singers try for years to achieve,” Casula Voices’ vocal mentor and trained opera singer, Ballina Gee, said.
“Pacific Islanders grow up singing as a way of sharing stories and expressing their spirituality.”
Ballina says that part of the uniqueness of this choir is not just the rounded voices themselves but also that everyone comes to the group with a different musical style – jazz, rap, and even gospel, making Casula Voices a true representation of this diverse community.
Coos and cuddles of a newborn baby are one of life’s great joys, but when it’s time to head back to work or even to the shops, leaving him with a carer can be a tough ask.
But, there are ways of keeping bub close to your heart - besides the 2245 photos on your iPhone.
Maria Doan, owner of Impressionable Kids, suggests a subtle silver pendant with your little bundle of joy’s fingerprint.
Of course nothing will take the place of all those pictures, but at least this way you can save them for the 100cmx100cm canvas over the lounge.
As is with most of Greater South and South Western Sydney, the original inhabitants of Casula were the Tharawal people.
They used the area along the Georges River for fishing and as a regular meeting place for the local tribes.
For the early 19th century, settlers who came to Casula to established fruit and vegetable farms, the riverbanks remained a spot for picnics and water activities.
From 1910, this “garden of the municipality” became a resort that included gazebos and rowboats but closed in the 1950s when the land was cleared for the impending power station.
Over the years, Casula has produced a number of lauded citizens, including Jack and Bob Ingham whose chicken farm would eventually become Inghams Enterprises, the largest chicken and turkey producer in Australia.
There were some unsavoury stories too.
Although not from Casula per se, a group of drunk and unruly soldiers — who during World War I were stationed at Casula’s temporary reserve training station — led a revolt, smashed up pubs, and then commandeered trains into Sydney.
Their rioting continued until military police were called in and wrangled them back in.
Though the area has seen plenty of development, it has managed to retain a neighbourly and subdued air – something reminiscent of those early farming days.
Fast Fact:
Glenfield Farm, circa 1817, is the oldest continuously working farm in Australia.
Follow Jenifer Jagielski on Twitter @moxnixchick
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