Hi, it’s Adrian Bo here, and today I’m on Bunnerong Road, specifically at Eastgardens Shopping Centre in Maroubra, Eastgardens. Which of course also runs from Matraville and Hillsdale to the south to the edge of Eastgardens and Pagewood all the way up to Kingsford. Now I’m on a mission to make sure our local history and stories are kept alive. And today I’m going to talk about one of the biggest bands in music history who used to live here right on Bunnerong Road. Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb lived at 171 Bunnerong road between 1963 and 1966, along with younger brother, Andy. And whilst they played regular gigs up in Queensland, having emigrated there from the U.K. in 1958, their move to Maroubra was the new start that led to the Bee Gees becoming known in just about every country on the planet. Being chosen as the support act to Chubby Checker’s concert at Sydney Stadium in 1962 may have been the big motivation to move to Maroubra, but in 1963 they signed their first recording deal with the help of legendary musician Col Joye, with Leedon Records, and never looked back. Now Bunnerong Road used to be called Old Botany Bay Road until 1833, the word Bunnerong being the Aboriginal word for “sleeping lizard”. In the 1890s there was a regular organised bike race with Sydney district teams, competing on what they called the seven mile track along Bunnerong Road.

One of the oldest surviving boomerangs was found about 60 years ago during excavations to extend the sewage system on Bunnerong Road. It’s now housed in the Powerhouse Museum. Further up the road in Pagewood there was a General Motors-Holden factory built in the 1940s and demolished in the 1980s to make way for the now extremely popular Westfield Eastgardens Shopping Centre, which we are standing in today. Not many people knew it was a General Motors-Holden factory. Of course, Bunnerong Road is going to become synonymous with the mighty South Sydney Rabbitohs, the team I’ve supported since I was born and grew up in the suburb of Maroubra. The Heffron Centre, which is due for completion soon, will house the new Rabbitohs home with headquarters and training facilities alongside fantastic new sports facilities for public use. Now there are 118 units and 80 houses on Bunnerong Road in Maroubra. 55% of them are owner occupied and 45% are rentals. 45% of residents have lived here for over 10 years, which is very high, the average resident having been here for 10 years and six months. This is a great testament to the location and all its lifestyle benefits.

The official street record would be number 395 Bunnerong Road, which sold in 2018 for 2,000,040. The next door neighbour at 393 having sold for 2,000,000 in 2017. I’ve been selling in the area for 32 years and some of the most recent sales I’ve handled here, nearby, include 907 Anzac Parade in Maroubra, just across the other side of Heffron Centre, which was a four bedroom home that I sold before auction for just over $2 million, which was a failed campaign via a previous agent. Also, 46A/17 Green Street in Maroubra Junction, which was a one bedroom unit on the edge of the junction itself. And that sold on Christmas Eve for $635,000. Also, 1/39 Minneapolis Crescent, a four bedroom dual level home which sold last year as well. I hope you’ve enjoyed that exploration of Bunnerong Road and we can’t wait to get the mighty Rabbitohs based here. It’s been a tough week with all the rain, so let’s hope we get to see some of those really nice autumn days again soon, and always remember your home is worth more with Adrian Bo.