Mr Mackie said the book had been a labour of love, written over eight months.

He said he had been excited to find so many incredible stories that had either never been told or were scattered in different places.

“It has been an attempt to consolidate the interesting and sometimes controversial and long forgotten events into one compilation that records the changes that have taken place and the people involved,” Mr Mackie said.

“In fact, the Blowhole Point has been the focal point for almost everything that has taken place in Kiama.

“From the tsunami that created the blowhole, the cedar getters that supplied a growing Sydney, the sailing schooners that took first the cedar, then produce from butter and bacon, to blue metal.

“The growth of quarrying that was Kiama’s main livelihood for almost a century, followed by fishing and today tourists.”

In his foreword to the book Kiama Mayor Brian Petchler confirmed Blowhole Point had played a significant and important part in local history, both before European settlement and since George Bass. 

Bass said ‘the point mirrors the changing nature of the area.’

“Readers will find it a great read and it will answer many of the matters they have wondered about,” Mr Mackie said.

The book is for sale at Kiama Library and Kiama Visitors Centre for $30. 

It complements his 2011 The Chronology of Kiama - 1770-2011 and his mother Molly Mackie’s  book My Kind of Town Revisited