Your fondest childhood memories

[tiga]

I loved growing up as a kid in Melbourne and I thought we could all share our fondest childhood memories of living in Melbourne and see if we have any in common.

Here are some of mine..Shame many of the places I want to mention don't exist anymore.

Going to Poppa's Pizza on the corner or North Road and Nepean Hwy for pizza and live music. It was amazing watching the guys spin the pizza dough.
Going to Rob's restaurant in Albert Park and doing the whole Happy Days eat in the car with the tray attached to the window thing.
Going to Luna Park and smelling the Popcorn and the Cinnamon donut smell just as you walk through the mouth. Then Hit the Scenic railway and the giggle palace then follow up with an eerie trundle through the river caves. Then finish off with a trumpet, eskimo pie or a two-in-one.
Going to the Palais Theatre to see the Skyhooks farewell concert before they headed over to the US for the first time.
Ice Skating at St Moritz on the Esplanade. Watch out for the Skinheads! 
Visiting the Wax Works in St Kilda. Getting past the big scary Dracula at the entrance was no easy task. From memory this place burned down(ironic) and it became one of the very early McDonalds in Melbourne. I remember going to a primary school friends party there in the mid 70's.
Staying at the Rosebud Caravan Park in the school Holidays. Going on the Arthur's seat Chair lift and play mini golf.
Going to the family Bathing Box at Brighton beach and pulling out the skiff for a paddle. Wish we had kept the box as apparently they are worth big bucks now.
Learning to sail on Albert Park Lake with the Tomb thumb sailing school. Our Instructor looked like a genuine old salt. cap rusty beard and all.
Going to the corner shop with a crate full of empty coke bottles to buy scanlens footy cards and a bottle of YooHoo. I'll never forget the smell when opening a pack for the first time.
Swimming at the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Pool in Malvern. The irony of naming a swimming pool after someone who drowned did not escape me. 

[1965]

Don't have any.

 

[Judge Roughneck]

Dunstall and plugger kicking 40 goals between them against us

[dwaino]

80s kid, so watching 1st gen Transformers. I may or may not have ordered the entire 1st gen from Japan on DVD years ago before it was available in the west.

Back when the Gabba had grass hills for standing we used to go around harassing everyone for the footy pogs in the bottom of their coke cups 

Just a couple things that resonate when I think of my childhood.

[WilliamPowell]

Family holidays down at Indented Head before my Dad passed away

Treasure those memories

[tiga]

Family holidays down at Indented Head before my Dad passed away

Treasure those memories

Ahh indented head. Know it well. I stayed at portarlington on quite a few occasions as a kid and did a bit off Fishing off the pier at Indented head. Also went to a couple of school camps at Toc H at Point Lonsdale. Loved exploring the old gun batteries there.

Dwaino, I tried collecting pogs but they were just so damn easy to lose so I gave up and focused on footy cards.

I have plenty of footy memories as well but I thought I'd focus on the non footy memories which are not often spoken about on this forum.

[mightytiges]

* Going to all the suburban footy grounds in the old VFL and U19s. My first paid job was filling in as scoreboard attendant at Punt Rd.
* Going with my dad to Sunshine station (a lot safer in those days) to watch the interstate trains and buying foot long lolly snakes from the local milk bar across the road from the station.
* Going on family trips to Echuca, Warrnambool, Bendigo and Ballarat.
* At a mate's 9th birthday party, we shared between the two of us a 18-piece bucket off KFC yet we were both skinny as anything. We and our mates use to just run around and play cricket, footy & soccer in the back streets of Seddon & Yarraville for hours.
* I had a bike as a kid with foot brakes and we use to play this (in hindsight dangerous) game where you'd sprint up to full pace down a long concrete driveway then lock the brakes full on and skid as far as you could without stacking. This was before helmets too by the way. The longest skid mark won.

Going to the family Bathing Box at Brighton beach and pulling out the skiff for a paddle. Wish we had kept the box as apparently they are worth big bucks now.

They're selling for well over $100k now, tiga.

This one went for $172k  .
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-brighton-115946127

[Francois Jackson]

Eating hot bread from my dad's bread shop he used to have in Mulgrave

Playing cricket in the street using the electricity pole as the wicket(something I rarely see anymore in my area)

Dodging the blue coats at VFL park to get into club rooms as a 15 year old and eating the party pies that were coming around inside. Kicking the footy on vfl park oval after school,  sneaking in through a hole in the barbwire fence was a highlight also. (Hidden gem that hole)

Going to Chevron Thursday and Metro Fridays at the top of Bourke was my first foray into clubbing and besides the smelly carpet at Chevron I had a ball. Palladin(low end of bourke) was the first place I got into as a 17 yr old

First time to Europe as a 21 yr old. Europe till this day and travelling through the Greek Islands with mates still ranks as my favourite holidays I ever took as a young guy. No family to worry about, no debt to pay off back then, no worries other than to wake up and meet people from all over the world.

[yellowandback]

My main memories were using the paddocks near my house to go yabbying, doing jumps over kid made dirt tracks and general exploring for what has now become housing and a retirement village.
We also lived close enough to make the trek to Waverley Park which was always an interesting experience - that place could rain on the sunniest days.
Some of life's highs and lows at that ground - often in the same game.
I always enjoyed biking down to Jells Park - there was always something to explore in that park
We didn't go on many holidays but my memories of Wyperfeld National Park, the Grampians and Lake Eppalock are great memories of hiking and camping.
Then there were the train trips into town to play pinnies at Timezone, watch a movie and collect records from Cental Station, Gaslight Records or Dixons. Spent many hours picking through vast new and old albums.
Finally (and it didn't happen often) but spinning the lazy susan at the local Chinese after a good report card was just pure gold.

[Francois Jackson]

Ooh yes Jells Park nice one

Don't you think it's a bit sad how we could as kids walk wherever we wanted to without a hint of danger, and now most of us with kids have second thoughts about letting our kids do the same on their own.

[yellowandback]

Ooh yes Jells Park nice one

Don't you think it's a bit sad how we could as kids walk wherever we wanted to without a hint of danger, and now most of us with kids have second thoughts about letting our kids do the same on their own.

Yep but I'm not sure how real the danger is.....I just feel obligated to always have the kids within ear shot

[Francois Jackson]

perhaps although depends where you live. Wheelers hill is a great area.  I know il never let my girls go to places like for example dandenong on their own without me.

Talk about a seedy transformation of what i used to remember it being like 20 years ago.

[yellowandback]

Agreed, Wheelers Hill once had a great pub. It's still there but a shadow of its former glory.
Parmas on the balcony before strolling to the game - another fond memory 

[Francois Jackson]

Couldn't agree more. Used to love the wheelers back in the day. Thursday nights during summer used to be a cracker

[dwaino]

No kids of our own yet but it's because the missus fears the kind world they would grow up in like what you guys were just talking about. When I was a kid (not as long ago as most on here, I'm an 80s baby so my childhood was early 90s) I used to jump on my pushy, ride to a mates place and we would ride anywhere and wouldn't be home until sundown. I grew up in Logan (south side Brissie) and you wouldn't let a kid out on their own around there any more.

Fun story, got one of my early tats in a block of corner shops in Logan called Argonaut (a shout out to anyone from that part). Nearly 10 years later after moving to Melbourne I was getting some more work done for the first time in a great little shop on South Rd in Moorabin and after about an hour we finally agreed we found each other familiar. Turns out he was the same bloke who did it back up in Logan. Really small world sometimes 

A bit more on topic but Xmas reminded me of this. Toys. I'm a big kid and still occasionally like to detour down toy aisles in Big W and stuff and I feel sorry for kids now. Their toys suck. All made from cheap plastic crap, hardly any are licensed and they just look boring. I remember having metal cars and transformers, GI Joes that actually did stuff, ant farms, fun space and chemistry kits, and the Lego didn't come already half built. Good to see the Lego City stuff making a come back. I always wanted the police station as a kid but never got it. When I saw it recently I almost got it to make up for old times but lost it when it was $149. Do kids play with more electronics these days?  I know I had a commo 64, Amiga then Mega drive growing up but they only supplemented our toys, not completely replaced.