hard yakka
Is it just us or is Wentworth Street in Port Kembla welcoming a renaissance? It’s latest addition, Yakka Records & Bottle-O, is symbolic in name and nature of a wave of new creative spots to hit the area. These have young families and city-expats mucking in to build a new kind of Port Kembla.
Words Penny Keogh
Images Chris Frape
The playful retro signage of a marlin splashing across the new Yakka Records & Bottle-O shopfront window pulls in the curious passer-by on Wentworth Street in Port Kembla. It’s hard to know what’s in store if you choose to walk on through the door. But that’s the charm.
Is this a tackle shop? Nope. A café? Kinda. A bottle-o? Yep. A music venue? Sort of. This is just the kind of pondering owners James and Chelsea are hoping to prompt. It’s as if they’re inviting an evolving description of Yakka as they build a business that reflects their creative backgrounds and locals’ interests.
“I worked in music for the past 10 years and Chelsea’s background is in the arts and has worked for the Opera House and Sydney Festival,” said James. “Post-covid, we had a chance to re-evaluate what was making us happy and decided to create something that combined what we knew and loved.
“We moved from Fairy Meadow to Port Kembla three years ago along with a lot of other young families,” continued James. “It’s a special time to be here with exciting things happening on the street.”
James and Chelsea have transformed what was formerly a grocer and before that a furniture shop into a vibrant hub for locals. It’s just as easy to pop in for your favourite brew on the way home as it is to stay a while.
“We wanted a bottle shop with the warmth of a country pub where it’s good to sit down and watch Wentworth Street go by,” said James.
There you can browse some good records, and park yourself on the stools for a chat over a tasting plater bought from Yakka’s deli goods section. You won’t find products in a lot of bottle shops, with a big focus of their specialty offering being centred on natural wine. Locals are also taking a keen interest in the intimate food, wine, and spirits masterclasses, and the new tasting bar.
“We host various masterclasses on natural wines, as well as more niche ones on vermouth and mezcal,” said James.
The unexpected pervades throughout James and Chelsea’s plans. An eclectic portfolio of events is planned through collaborations with some of Wollongong’s notable creative businesses.
“Our most recent collaboration with Egg & Dart for a gallery exhibition is a great fit for us and matches this mood of change in the street where there’s a lot of people ramping up creativity in the area,” said James.
“The popular Thirroul surf store Finbox are opening a new shop in the same building as us,” continued James. “We’re hoping to host some music here soon, with collaborations with from some local and touring labels.”
“We wanted a bottle shop with the warmth of a country pub where it’s good to sit down and watch Wentworth Street go by”
“The building is also a platform for other local retailers like retro clothing brand Wandering Merchants.”
The same Yakka Records & Bottle-O spirit has also been seen in other ventures which have exploded the Wentworth Street creative scene in recent years. This includes popular music and entertainment venues, Servo Truck Bar and The Vault, along with recent addition, The Iron Yampi.
“It’s been cool - The Servo is booking great musicians,” said James. “Artists from other impressive labels like Music in Exile and Bedroom Suck are coming here to perform.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the Port Kembla locals have welcomed the ingenuity of these of creatives rejuvenating the street, stepping up to lend a hand. It seems they too see the possibilities of Port Kembla becoming a destination for all of Wollongong and beyond.
“We were admittedly quite nervous about how a shop in Port Kembla would go before we opened the doors,” said James. “But we’ve been blown away by the continued support of both locals, the wider people of the Gong and by people who’ve travelled to the shop from various parts of Australia.”
“Hopefully there is a domino effect from here with new people coming, more support from Council and more big events for Port Kembla,” said James.
“This is a unique spot. It is a gigantic street that used have five pubs, sustained by the steelworks close to the ocean,” said James. “It has this history and old charm that works well together with new things too.
“Living in Port Kembla is one of our favourite parts of the shop as well as meeting so many lovely people that live locally to the wider Port Kembla community.
“We can’t wait to see what else is to come for Port Kembla and Yakka,” continued James. “We hope the support we’ve been given can encourage even more people to have a crack at opening something on Wentworth Street and see it finally live up to the potential everyone’s been talking about at barbeques since the 90’s.”
Visit Yakka Records and Bottle-O at: 125-127 Wentworth Street Port Kembla