{"id":1518,"date":"2021-06-01T22:59:07","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T12:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/?p=1518"},"modified":"2022-01-16T21:43:35","modified_gmt":"2022-01-16T10:43:35","slug":"kims-beachside-retreat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/kims-beachside-retreat\/","title":{"rendered":"Kims Beachside Retreat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kims, a journey through time<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Words Dorian Mode. Photography Kims Beachside Retreat<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With seniors being the most vulnerable group with COVID-19, there\u2019s never been a better time to support your local tourism businesses. Not only are you securing local jobs, but you don\u2019t have to travel far from home. Did you know there\u2019s one resort on the Central Coast that\u2019s the oldest continuous family-run resort in Australia? Not only is it like staying in Byron Bay on the Central Coast, when you stay at Kims, you are stepping back in time\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kims\u2019 history dates back to 1886, when a local seafaring merchant, Captain Frans Charlson, established \u201cThe Camp\u201d on the shore of Toowoon Bay. On his trading route to Norfolk Island, Charlson stopped at the picturesque inlet (then called Chinaman\u2019s Bay) for freshwater, attracted by the natural spring running down to the pretty yellow ribbon of beach. (It was the Captain who planted the stately avenue of Norfolk Island pines we enjoy today \u2013 he planted over 100 in the general area. \u2013 inclosing The Entrance.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlson thought the bay an excellent place to bring professional people to camp on his way to ferrying cargo to Norfolk Island (collecting his guests on his return voyage). Soon a slab-timbered kitchen was built which also served as the dining room. A bell summoned guests to this dining room and rang thrice daily for more than a century. This custom dates back to when men wore pocket watches, which they would not risk on sandy beaches, and the tradition of using a brass bell to signal the hour would have come naturally to Captain Charlson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In those days guest accommodation was crude, comprising tents and later simple timber cabins. Timber was in ample supply in the area. Indeed, the neighbouring suburb of Tumbi Umbi was highly valued for its timber. Tumbi Umbi is the Darkinjung word for \u2018place of tall trees\u2019. This timber was carted by bullock team to Chinaman\u2019s Bay (now Toowoon Bay). And later Charlson blazed a horse and cart track from Long Jetty to Toowoon Bay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kims Camp was a \u2018gentleman\u2019s only\u2019 retreat until the turn of the century when rules were relaxed to allow women to stay at Kims. Moreover, Australians constricted by Victorian notions of propriety, enjoying the beach was very much a \u2018dress up\u2019 affair, with nary a glimpse of flesh allowed. It was not until 1902 that laws prohibiting bathing on open beaches during daylight hours were lifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1920s, two Americans, the McKimmins brothers, who started Sydney\u2019s first ice cream parlours (the brothers\u2019 secret recipes are still in use today at Kims), purchased the retreat and improved the accommodation. It was the McKimmins who used their surname to create the name \u201cKims Camp\u201d. However, by today\u2019s standards Kims was still a rustic experience. Walls were bare timber and the furniture consisted of an iron bed with Kapok mattresses and a night chamber pot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1940s enter a retired British army colonel, Colonel Clive Loc Hughes-Hallett. The Colonel was a colourful character. Before the war, he studied Japanese, subsequently winning a scholarship to study in Tokyo University in the late 1930s. During this time, he took many secret photographs with a tiny spy camera, which proved invaluable to the war effort in years to come. Reporting directly to the British Secret Service, the Colonel also travelled to Vladivostok and across Siberia taking hundreds of secret photographs. But more on \u201cSiberia\u201d later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the end of World War II, the colonel, purchased the retreat from the McKimmins brothers, and shortened the name from Kims Camp to \u201cKims\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Colonel, being a military man, kept many of the naval traditions of Captain Charlson and the bell chimed guests to the dining room for nigh on a century. During the Colonel\u2019s time, Kims acquired a reputation for its dining room \u2013 one that has been honoured ever since. When you sit in the main dining room and look up, you\u2019ll see Kims\u2019 punkahs. A punkah is a Hindi word meaning a type of fan used since the early sixth century B.C. The word pankha originated from pankh, the wings of a bird which produce a draft when flapped. The punkahs underscore that Kims is a palimpsest of its erstwhile owners\u2019 eccentricities. One of things I love about Kims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why punkahs? Kims is renowned for its curries. The Colonel\u2019s father was part of the British Raj. (The British Raj refers to the period of British rule on the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947.) Hughes-Hallett\u2019s father\u2019s batman (in the British armed forces a batman is an officer\u2019s servant) brought back curry recipes from India for Kims (recipes still used in Kims\u2019s curries today). At a time when olive-oil was sold in chemists, ingredients for authentic curries were impossible to find in Sydney. So Kims sourced them from Veeraswamy, a restaurant in Piccadilly London, (still in business today) that\u2019s been operating since 1926. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Petrov Affair dominated Australian headlines in the 1950s. For months Australians were fascinated by stories of espionage and political conspiracies. Indeed, the Petrovs defection was regarded by Western intelligence services as a critical Cold War incident. However, few people know that the Petrovs were hidden from the poison-happy KGB at Kims Camp. For approximately six months Mr Petrov worked as a gardner, while Mrs Petrov worked as a scullery maid. It\u2019s believed that the Colonel \u2013 who\u2019d as aforementioned spent time in Vladivostok before the war \u2013 still had connections with the secret service and facilitated their stay. It was very hush hush at the time, but the clue lies in the fact that six cabins on the far side of Kims in the late 1950s \u2013 with a wink and a nod \u2013 were always known as \u201cSiberia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haldane and Marie Strachan and their son Andrew (the current owner) arrived at Kims in 1957. They eventually purchased the retreat from the Colonel who wished to retire. The name was changed to Kims on the Beach and later to Kims Beach Hideaway. Haldane and Marie Strachan were born in Scotland (Dundee and Aberdeen). Mrs Strachan passed away in 1993 but her Scots jam-making skill lives on in the kitchen. Guests can still sample such marvels as quince jelly, Seville orange marmalade, melon and pineapple jam and lime chutney that Mrs Strachan made famous. Moreover, if you\u2019ve ever stayed at Kims on New Year\u2019s Eve, you\u2019ll enjoy the troop of kilted Scottish Pipers piping in the haggis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the 1970s and 80s, numerous celebrities wishing to eschew the long lens of the paparazzi discovered Kims. International music icons such as The Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson and numerous other international notables stayed at Kims over the years. For nigh on a century, celebrities have valued the chilled, \u2018hideaway\u2019 aesthetic of Kims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mast, set in the gardens in front of the dining room, underscores Kims\u2019 long connection with the sea, reaching back to Captain Charlson. This mast, however, is from the yacht Satin Sheets, belonging to Andrew Strachan (current owner), who at the time represented Australia in yachting. Andrew famously captained the winner of the Sydney to Hobart Race in a small 47-foot yacht Ninety-Seven \u2013 the smallest boat to win the coveted prize since 1947. Many leading boats had to retire that year due to the huge seas. Andrew sailed on to win the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew refreshes Kims seafaring connection by going to sea when time permits. But if you look carefully, you\u2019ll find the Kims seafaring aesthetic in the cabins themselves, with their vanished timbers and porthole skylights and giant seashells. Indeed, win the evening, when I look north and see Norah Head Lighthouse winking at Kims through the long dark, I think of Captain Charlson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you do stay at Kims, say hello to the resident jazz pianist. He\u2019s played at Kims for over 17 years. And he\u2019s the researcher and author of this history! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the current regulations that were introduced by the government, Kims restaurant is no longer serving its famous buffet dinner and breakfast until further notice. Kims Restaurant is open for our inhouse guests to enjoy dinner and breakfast with their new a la carte menu.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your local and a senior, why not take advantage of the special Midweek Tariffs from $290.00 per night?<\/em><\/strong> www.kims.com.au<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kims, a journey through time Words Dorian Mode. Photography Kims Beachside Retreat With seniors being the most vulnerable group with COVID-19, there\u2019s never been a better time to support your…","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[75,45],"series":[115],"class_list":["post-1518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-article","tag-dorian-mode","series-coffee-with-a-coastie"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/07\/Kims-Cabins.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/feed\/podcast\/coffee-with-a-coastie","embedCode":"

Kims Beachside Retreat<\/a><\/blockquote>