Australia Day 2026: Getting to the Event

Plan your trip to our Australia Day event in advance to make your journey as smooth as possible.

Road closures

There'll be several road closures in place around the harbour area that might affect how you get to the event.

Driving and parking

If you’re planning to drive, we suggest you plan ahead as parking and roads can get busy on Australia Day. Parking may be limited so allow plenty of time.

Please note, if you park in the Flagstaff Hill or Marine Drive car parks, roads will not reopen until 10pm. Delays exiting the event precinct are expected.

Park and Ride

There'll be several Park and Ride options available within easy walking distance of Free Gong Shuttle Bus stops, which will drop you right near the event site.

Areas with lots of parking near the Free Gong Shuttle Bus route include:

• University of Wollongong Main Campus - over 1,000 spaces across multiple car parks
• Innovation Campus, North Wollongong - over 100 spaces.

Download our park and ride map below.

Australia Day 2026 park and ride map  PDF, 468.03 KB

Bus

On Australia Day the Free Gong Shuttle Bus will keep running until 10.30pm. Just look for the Green 55A/55C bus.

Please note, due to road closures between 4pm - 10pm the Free Shuttle Bus will travel along Corrimal Street instead of Cliff Road. See Transport for NSW's detour map PNG, 4523.36 KB for more information.

If you plan to travel by bus to the event, we recommend you check the bus timetables below to plan your trip:

• Premier Illawarra timetables
• Dion's Bus Service timetables

Train

The closest train stations to the event area are either Wollongong Station or North Wollongong Station.  Both train stations are about a 30-minute walk to Wollongong Harbour.

If you arrive by train to Wollongong Station or North Wollongong Station, you can also hop on the Free Gong Shuttle Bus to travel to the event.

Bike

Prefer to cycle? Riding a bike is a great way to travel to the event. Why not cycle along the Blue Mile to Wollongong Harbour.

The Wollongong CBD pop-up cycleway provides a link between Wollongong train station and Crown Street Mall to the Blue Mile.

Check out the Wollongong Cycling Guide and Map PDF, 12254.44 KB to plan your cycle route into the event.