U3A is back with a fabulous mix of special guest lectures

Wollongong’s University of the Third Age kicks off its 2026 program with a fabulous mix of guest lectures. All sessions are held at the Salvation Army auditorium in Burelli Street, Wollongong.

On Monday, 9 February at 9.30am, Stuart Traynor will revisit the disappearance of the Beaumont children in Adelaide 60 years ago.

On 26 January 1966, Jane, 9; Arnna, 7; and Grant, 4, disappeared from a crowded Glenelg Beach and were never seen again. The most extensive police investigation in Australian history failed to locate the children or their abductors.

However, in the past 15 years, evidence has emerged that they were taken by a well-connected Adelaide businessman who died in 2004. Who was he? Stuart will reveal the latest research and theory on who he was and where it is believed that the bodies are buried.

Also on Monday, at 11.30am, Larry Jennett will present his talk ‘We are Buying Time', covering emergency first aid and resuscitation, reminding us how we can use a defibrillator anywhere and at any to give an unconscious person the best chance of survival while waiting for paramedics to arrive.

Larry will share his 65 years of experience in the lifesaving movement to instruct the U3A audience in the operation and safe use of a defibrillator.

On Thursday, 12 February at 9.30am, Robyn Menghi will talk about 'Space in Aboriginal Mythology’.

Starting with 1770, she will contrast how Australia’s First Nations people saw the same night sky as European explorers but viewed the stars very differently.

Robyn will explore how, for more than 65,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have lived under the night skies and lived by its patterns. She will give illustrated examples of how they have used their amazing depth of knowledge of the sun, moon, stars and dark spaces for complex navigation, seasonal calendars, resource management, law, social structure and connection with ancestral Elders and Country.

On Monday, 16 February, Peter McIlquham will give the first in a three-part series of lectures on ‘The Ubiquity of Plastics’.

This initial presentation explores the development and adoption of new man-made ‘wonder materials’ (aka plastics) from the mid 1800s through to rayon, bakelite, and cellophane in the early 20th century.

It notes how transformative plastic has been in the establishment of the pillars of modern society, such as electricity networks and communication. Peter will also look at the explosion of plastics from the Second World War onwards, and how ubiquitous plastic has become in our everyday lives, exploring some of the materials that have influenced households, such as nylon, Tupperware, clingwrap, silicon and the like.

On Thursday, 19 February under the ‘Divided Nations' theme, Simon Hodsden will explore the divisions that are a feature of the United Kingdom “that make it in essence a divided nation”.

The lecture will first explore how the countries became “united” with the history of the unification of the Crowns of Scotland and England leading to the Act of Union. He will explain how Ireland became part of the United Kingdom, and problems that this created.

Simon will lead the audience gradually towards the 1970s and the calls for referendums to create separate legislative bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. He will finish with the polarising divisions within the United Kingdom that came from the Brexit movement and, as a result, the emergence of modern English devolution movements that have added to the complexity of running a truly United Kingdom.

Peter McIlquham will return on Thursday, 26 February at 9.30am to explore some key aspects of the Earth’s constant companion, the Moon.

The presentation first discusses the mystique of the Moon for early mankind, and how it was worshipped as a god. He then looks at how the major calendars from different societies all originate from the Moon’s phases.

The science of the Moon’s many images will be explored, namely lunar phases, lunar eclipses, blood moons, supermoons, and finally, why we only ever see one side of the moon.

Wollongong U3A presents its talks and lectures every Monday and Thursday morning during school terms and members of the public are welcome to attend to experience the wide program of stimulating activities offered to retirees who wish to continue life’s learning.