Do you remember....? (Aussie Version)

[offline]

GROWING UP IN AUSTRALIA?.

I'm talking about hide and seek in the park. The corner milk bar,
hopscotch, billy carts, cricket in front of the garbage bin and
inviting everyone on your street to join in, Skipping, handball,
handstands,
elastics, bulrush, catch & kiss, footy on the best lawn in the street,
slip'n'slide, the trampoline with water on it, hula hoops, stepping in
puddles, mud pies and building dams in the gutter. The smell of the
sun
and fresh cut grass.



'Big bubbles no troubles' with Hubba Bubba bubble gum. A choc-top. Mr
Whippy cone on a warm summer night after you've chased him round the
block. 20 cents worth of mixed lollies lasted a week and pretending to
smoke
"fags" (the lollies) was really cool & Maison would get you pissed! or
so we were told.. A dollars' worth of chips from the corner take-away
fed
two people (AND the sauce was free!!). Being upset when you botched
putting
on the temporary tattoo from the bubblegum packet, but still wearing it
proudly.


Watching Saturday morning cartoons: 'The Smurfs', 'AstroBoy',
'He-Man',
'Captain Caveman', 'Archie', 'Jem' (truly outrageous!!), 'The Wizard
of
Oz', 'Banana Man' and 'Heeeey heeeeey heeeeeeey it's faaaaaaat
Albert'.
Or staying up late and sneaking a look at the "AO" on the second telly.
When 'Monkey Magic' with fish face & pigsy had a cult following.



When around the corner seemed a long way, and going into town seemed
like going somewhere. Where running away meant you did laps of the
block
because you weren't allowed to cross the road?? A million mozzie
bites, wasp
and bee stings. Sticky fingers, cops and robbers, cowboys and indians,
riding bikes and catching tadpoles. Marco polo in the neighbours'
pool ("fish
outta water?!""NOOOO"), drawing all over the road and driveway with
chalk.
Climbing trees and building cubbies out of every sheet your mum had in
the cupboard.

Walking to school, no matter what the weather. When writing 'I love
...?' on your pencil case, really did mean it was true love. "he
loves me? he
loves me not?" Running till you were out of breath. Laughing so hard
that your stomach hurt. Pitching the tent in the back/front yard.
Jumping on
the bed. Ghosts stories with the next door neighbours. Pillow fights,
spinning round, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for the
giggles.


The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team. Water
balloons
were the ultimate weapon. Cricket cards in the spokes transformed any
bike into a motorcycle. Eating raw jelly, making homemade lemonade and
sucking on a Funny Face, Paddle Pop or red Icy Pole.



Remember when there were only two types of sneakers - girls and boys.
Dunlop volleys with the green 'n' gold or blue and the only time you
wore them at school was for "sports day." Bloomers in primary school &
Scungies under netball skirts. You knew everyone in your street -
and so did your
parents! It wasn't odd to have two or three "best friends" & you would
ask them by sending a note asking them to be your best friend. You
didn't
sleep a wink on Christmas Eve and pretended to sleep for the tooth
fairy.



When nobody owned a pure-bred dog. When 50c was decent pocket money.
When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for 10c. When nearly
everyone's mum was
there when the kids got home from school. It was magic when dad would
"remove" his thumb. When it was considered a great privilege to be
taken
out to dinner at the local Chinese restaurant with your family.



When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed her or use him to
carry groceries and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.
When
being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate
that
awaited a misbehaving student at home. Basically, we were in fear for
our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs,
etc.
Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! Some of us are
still
afraid of them!!!

Remember when decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo" or dib
dib's-scissors, paper, rock. "Race issue" meant arguing about who ran
the fastest. Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in
Monopoly".
Terrorism as when the older kids were at the end of your street with
pea-shooters waiting to ambush you.

The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was boy/girl
germs,and the worst thing in your day was having to sit next to one.
Where
blue light disco's were the equivalent to a Rave, and asking a
girl/boy out meant
writing a 'polite' note getting them to tick 'yes' or 'no'. When there
was always that one 'HOT' guy/girl. Having a weapon in school meant
being
caught with a slingshot. Your biggest danger at school was accidentally
walking through the middle of a heated game of "brandies".

Nobody was prettier than your Mum. Scrapes and bruises were kissed and
made better. Taking drugs meant scoffing orange-flavoured chewable
vitamins C, or swallowing half a Panadol. Ice cream was considered
a basic food
group. Going to the beach and catching a wave was a dream come true. If
you actually lived there boogie boarding in the white wash made you the
next
Kelly Slater. Abilities were discovered because of a 'double-dare".
Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest
protectors.

Now, didn't that bring back some fond memories?? If you can remember
most of these, you're an Aussie legend!!! Pass this on to another
Aussie
legend that may need a break from their "grown up" life... I
DOUBLE-DARE
YA!!!!!

[Forum Troll]

What ever happened to that Aussie show, "Boomerang", that had the kids as reporters, and they went all over the place reporting on cool things. I remember in one ep they came to Los Angeles and went to that night club thats in a haunted castle. One of the kids was named Buddy or Cubby or something like that.

[offline]

Boomerang was a bit before my time. I grew up on Skippy, Danger Island, The Hardy boys and Six Million Dollar Man amongst others.

Never owned a Malven Star but did build a billy cart

Heyyyyy Cisco.... Heyyyy Puncho!!!!

Oh oh.. I recall My favorite martian and "f" troop too 8)

[NamPla]

BOGANS!!!

Blokes with mullets & black Bonds muscle shirts with a pack of Winnie Reds up their sleeves, playing Galaxian & Xevious down at Timezone...

Chicks with poodle-perms & heavy Joan Jett eye-makeup, and tight Faberge jeans...

"Foils" for $20 bux!!! :P

Godzilla & Gamera films every Friday night/Sat mornings, with "Vampira" hosting!!! Hell yeah!!! (Also Herculoids, The Galaxy Trio, Birdman, Space Ghost... Lost In Space, Space 1999, UFO, etc... Hammer movies...blah blah)

Marble season, yo-yo season, pile-ons, British Bulldog, "brandy" with a cricket ball, honkey-nut wars, boogey-boards, mass rumbles, "hickies", dissecting rats & eyeballs at school & sticking shit in peoples' sandwiches... etc etc...

Bundie Rum & Coke thru a straw down an alleyway or in a park... ha ha...

Man, I could write a BOOK! (Good topic!)...

[offline]

Vampira.. yeah!!

Remember taking everything but the kitchen sink to go camping at a
fully serviced camping ground.

Remember when going to Frankston was a holiday!!

Getting to watch tv once past 8.30

..Watching Carry on Films or James Bond or drooling over the Channel O weather girl

getting a chiko roll at the drive-in

killing others with elastic band guns

Playing downball & upball or riding the mad mouse at the Royal Melbourne show or the Luna Park Senic Railway


Atari Space Invaders
Game & watch video games
Targ at Timezone

Buying or getting your 1st Seiko digital watch with 7 alarms
Finally getting rid of the black & white tv for a new Phillips colour tv
Watching boring 16mm doco's backwards at school on hot summer afternoons
Ninja star knives, BB guns

Memories...

[pacmania_2001]

This is like an exact description of my childhood. I remember so many of those things.

Memories....

[NamPla]

getting a chiko roll at the drive-in

Ahh! Chiko rolls, I forgot about them.

Remember Wagon Wheels?

Also, TV shows like COMBAT, THE GUARDIANS, LOST IN SPACE.......

The "Hurricane" at the Royal Show!

And bogan chicks... Did I mention bogan chicks?

[curlyween]

Exactly....described my childhood to a Tee.
What about stuffing a whole packet of Big Charlie bubble gum in your mouth, and hardly being able to chew it?
Remember when colour telly came in?
When Wagon Wheel's were bigger than your hand?
Playing Space Invaders for 20c a game at the milk bar?

Aaahhh...the good old days.....

[garry]

The Banana splits !!! Catweazle & the Goodies.

[bunyip]

- What about when the first house on your street got a TV (pre-colour) and all the kids would go there on Sunday night to watch Disneyland.
- Enormous Cream Buns at the school 'tuck shop' for 5 cents.
- Street parties that involved the whole street.
- Hikes in the bushland around your suburb.
- Playing cricket and tennis in the middle of the road - having to move every half-hour to let a car pass.
- Father and Son nights at the local council hall to try to educate us kids on you-know-what.
- Collecting the eggs from the chooks in the back yard.
- Waiting for the baker's truck at lunch-time to get the bread delivery.
- Being woken early when the milkman made his noisy delivery.
- Being interrupted on the toilet at 6.00AM when the dunny-man came to collect the pan.

I could go on and on and on too.

OK, so I might be a little older than you!

[Sifaga]

Deleted:

[bunyip]

Yep - I mentioned the Milkman,
Since I'm here again - here are a few more..

- Falling through the cover over the sewerage sump in the front yard.
- Paying for your first broken-down rusty bike with your own money.
- Changing the color of your old bike every week.
- Travelling for 6 hours on a Sunday to be able to swim for an hour on the nothern beaches.
- Hanging out of the train doors and jumping off the train at the platform-end.
- Kids "free-day" at lunar park.

OK I'll go quietly now ...