Fennell Bay

Back in the day we’d drag ourselves down to the Bolton Point jetty at Bolton Point Park and pretend we were on holiday. The views across to the Fennel Bay bridge and Toronto made for excellent posture and even better excuses to stand still and fish — or to watch the kids launch themselves off the edge and make us all feel more fragile.

Weekends used to look the same: a circuit of community-led things that made Fennell Bay feel like a small town that refused to grow up into a suburb. Newy with Kids once listed our very own Fennell Bay Narunbah Schools as Community Centre (SaCC) Playgroup as a welcoming, free morning out — yes, there was a healthy morning tea involved, which is basically Michelin-level hospitality round here. Playgroup NSW even listed Letl Salan – the intergenerational playgroup — meeting on a Friday at 9:30am, which told you everything about our priorities: kids, seniors and a sensible start time.

If you wanted civic art, the Year 6s from Fennell Bay Public School got in and brightened up Bolton Point Skate Park with a dragon design — Lake Mac Family Life made sure we had photographic evidence that our future was colourful, loud and had good knees. The skate park sits on a big grassy field, which is handy when you need to picnic between watching the local talent attempt a 50–50 and a scraped elbow.

There isn’t much petty suburb-of-the-week drama in the files — no headline scandals, just lots of community groups, markets and the kind of small-scale civic pride that wears a sunhat. Newy with Kids even previewed shuttle buses from Fennell Bay to the Living Smart Festival in 2025, which is our cue to say: we’ll go if there’s a bus and we can bring a thermos.

Who would hate it here? People who need three artisan options before 9am and a tram every five minutes. Who’d love it? Families who adore playgroups and healthy morning tea, kids who want a dragon-painted skate park, anglers who appreciate a decent jetty, and anyone who values a place that still shows up for community things. We’ll be on the jetty — you know where to find us.