Wedding Cake Island is more of a rock platform than an actual island, located about one kilometre southeast of Coogee Beach. The rocks serve as the beach area’s natural protection from swells.
Twice a year, in April and November, the Coogee Surf Life Saving Club holds a 2.4-km swim event from Coogee Beach which circumnavigates the island. The Coogee Island Challenge has been running for more than 20 years, attracting thousands of swimmers every year.
Locals also frequent the island each year, on ANZAC Day. Surfers honour local war heroes with a pilgrimage on the island. From early morning until late afternoon, Wedding Cake Island would be filled with surfers paddling to and from Coogee Beach to the rocky spot to pay tribute to the memory of Australia’s fallen heroes.
Although the area has been a prominent spot in the Coogee seascape for quite some time, here are some facts you might not know about Wedding Cake Island.
1. No one really knows why it’s called Wedding Cake Island.
Many locals will say that the island was named Wedding Cake Island because the white caps frequently adorning the rock formation when the surf breaks look like icing on a wedding cake from a distance. Some also say that bird droppings on the island resemble icing on a cake.
Wedding Cake Island is apparently known as Bridal Rook and Lemo’s Island to some of the older folks. Although the area was never really formally referred to by those names in existing historical records, the fanciful names became part of local folklore but the more romantic “Wedding Cake Island” became the most enduring moniker for the spot.
The island was only officially named “Wedding Cake Island” in 1977 by the Geographical Names Board of NSW. Newspaper accounts from the early part of the 20th century show, however, that the name may have been in use as early as the 1920s, half a century before the official naming ceremony of the island.
2. The iconic ’80s instrumental music dedicated to the island actually had lyrics.
In the 1980s, Australian band Midnight Oil released instrumental music immortalizing the Coogee rock spot which quickly became the unofficial surfers’ anthem for the place. Interestingly, both Peter Garrett and Martin Rotsey spent part of their lives in Coogee, a detail that’s thought to have served as inspiration for the piece.
Did you know that Midnight Oil’s music originally had lyrics?
Lyricist Peter Garrett originally penned words for the Wedding Cake Island music but the version with lyrics never made it past the final cut at the studio. Musician Rob Hirst, one of Midnight Oil’s founding members, claims that he is the only person who has a copy of the music+lyrics version.
These are, allegedly, the lyrics to Wedding Cake Island by Midnight Oil:
The raising of children, the rearing of young
Used to be simple but look what it’s become
The choice of career, the proper vocation
Out of your hands, all for the needs of the nation
No inhibitions with the modern child
Wasted lessons or pleasure or pain
Easy to follow your natural instinct
Easy to follow, much too hard to learn
Useless expressions and sporting aggression
Don’t waste my time, I can’t wait for the end of the session
What opportunity, the modern child?
Waste passion and wasted mind
Some kids got no time for playtime
Some kids got no time for games
Some kids got no time for playtime
Some kids got no time for games
3. Someone planned a fairy tale proposal on Wedding Cake Island that became a “titanic nightmare.”
It took a full year for Hilton Robinson to prepare his wedding proposal for Talia Mayerovitch on Wedding Cake Island. After meticulous coordination with family, friends and some island residents, the big day finally came. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite the fairy tale moment he had hoped for.
First, their boat ran out of petrol and Hilton and Talia were stranded and had to be rescued by Coogee Beach lifeguards. A second attempt to head out to sea ended in another rescue when a sudden squall came and big waves threatened to capsize their boat.
Things still ended on a high note despite the low points of the day, however, when Talia said yes to marrying Hilton. Interestingly, the couple managed to capture most of it on film. Today, Hilton and Talia are parents to two adorable children who will one day get to see (if they haven’t already) the adventure that their parents’ engagement day turned out to be.
