[June E]

I was so excited when I won my very first colouring in competition as a child. The prize was only a stuffed toy, but it was very special at the time. (We didn't have much as Mum was a single parent after my parents separated and she worked hard for what we needed.) I love to enter competitions to this very day!

How times change, you won a stuffed toy my great granddaughter won $250 at Easter in a colouring competition she is almost 7 !

 

[Anthony Rodman]

I remember staying awake in my bed Christmas Eve waiting to see Santa Claus for real aged 5 .
To hit me with reality my dad by wheeling my dragstar into my bedroom sissy bar and all and as pissed as a rat turning on my bedroom light .
What a shock it was, oh this is life, Santa Claus is a myth. I can't ever tell my story around any children!
Andy

 

[Trish M]

We knew we were I for a treat when we'd see Dad's old Land Rover parked outside school in the afternoon.

We lived in Cairns and on those oppressively hot summer afternoons, Dad would surprise us (my two sisters and I) and take us for a swim in the local creek.

Nothing tasted sweeter than the watermelon he'd put in the water to cool.

He was a good and generous man, he always share the watermelon with other kids out for a swim.

This is just one of the very many special memories from my childhood. We were blessed with the very best parents.

 

[Rosita1950]

My Favourite Childhood Holiday Memory
My childhood holidays were spent at Coolangatta, the most southerly beach of Queensland’s Gold Coast. This was during the 50s, when life was much simpler than it is now. My siblings and I would play “Who can see the sea first” as we headed down the road from Brisbane to Southport. Then it was a long drive along the seafront, through busy Surfers Paradise, past the Currumbin Bird Sanctuary and Green Gables cottage. When we reached Kirra, we knew we were almost there. We always rented a cottage and after we had unpacked, we would excitedly explore our new surroundings. We would fish with Dad on the causeway across the mouth of the Tweed River, build sandcastles on Rainbow Bay beach and drive up to Razorback Lookout for an ice cream. One day, while playing on the swings, I found two shillings in the sand. That was enough for ice creams for everyone..such an exciting find!

We didn’t have much money, so our pleasures were simple and mostly free activities. The Currumbin Bird Sanctuary, however, cost one shilling and so that was always a special treat. We would hold the tin plate of honeyed bread and the colourful birds would land on the plate and on us too! Santa’s Workshop was also fun, as we were allowed to choose a lucky dip. We loved walking up the street to Point Danger with its views over the mouth of the Tweed and across to NSW. We would watch the surfers at Duranbah, long before it became a well-known surfing hotspot. We could not afford to visit the new Jack Evans Porpoise Pool, but we had a great view of it from the top of the hill. We also loved Greenmount Beach, just to the north of Rainbow Bay. There was always entertainment there and we loved to watch the antics of Ronricco the hypnotist and the people he persuaded to join him on stage. This was in the days before Macdonalds and KFC, so our meals were simple and home-cooked. I remember once, in our little cottage( which is still there!), eating porridge and being thrilled to get the creamy top of the milk from the bottle the milkman left on our step.
The Gold Coast has changed almost beyond recognition now, but for me, Coolangatta will always be the best spot on the Coast and will hold my precious childhood memories forever!!

 

[Joyous77]

As a child I lived in a hotel and I would go to the beer garden and ask the drinkers if I could have all the ice cream off the top of their beer. I thought the froth was ice cream.

 

[EllenM]

My sister and I could always find things to amuse us for hours on end during the long Christmas holidays. If we weren’t drawing pictures of Cinderella’s ballgown with coloured chalk on the blackboard our dad made for us, we were being tomboys riding full pelt down the hill on the little red go-cart our dad also built with love.
One Christmas, our dad really outdid himself. He made us our very own cubby house.
It became such a magical place and looking back, I’d say most of our treasured childhood memories are still stored there.
We had an old gramophone in the cubby and my sister and I had a favourite 78 we’d play over and over, and over again.
It was Edith Piaf singing La Vie en Rose. We didn’t understand the lyrics but we knew it was special and different to anything else we’d heard.
We played that record all through the summer holidays. We memorised every word and mimicked every nuance of the Little Sparrow’s voice. And we were dressed for it too, draped in our mother’s old costume jewellery, sparkly scarves, imitation pearls and a generous slash of bright red Cyclax lipstick that had seen better days.
I swear, when the holidays came to an end and we returned to school, our teachers were wondering why those two little sisters in their plain, brown checked uniforms spoke in an exaggerated clipped monotone with such gutteral, nasal voices. Ah. C’est la vie.

 

[IJH]

When I was at kindie one day, I was about 4 years old, we were taken down the road to a shallow swimming pool at the house of one of the kids, but I forgot to bring my bathers. No problem I swam in my undies, forgetting I would not be allowed to keep them on after swimming. I was so embarrassed and sure that everyone was watching me that I sat the rest of the day holding my skirt tightly between my legs!

 

[Kckbud]

Enjoying holidays at family shack at Victor Harbor before all the houses. And holidays at Pt Elliot, old caravan park. So many changes.

 

[Robyn M]

My family lived on a farm and my brother & I loved staying in town with our grandparents during the school holidays, it was a nice change from living in the bush. One time our grandmother prepared little pot plant gardens for us to look after. Mine thrived and his died because he was too lazy to water them, so he decided to secretly water mine with kerosene! I was devastated for the rest of our holiday. Years later we had a great laugh about his cheeky underhanded tactics.

 

[Aussiecris]

3 blocks down the road there was a park with an old steam roller. I would spend hours with friends making up all different types of games and imginitive play. This steam roller was a pirate ship a spaceship a boat a car a pack of horses, anything we wanted it to be. We would ride our bikes down the foot path because it was on a major road and knew to be home before the strret lights came on. Im over 60 now and recently looked up on Google maps looking for the old roller, sadly it is long gone but the memories will remain.

 

[Luciemcm]

I loved spending days down Glenelg surf life saving club with my parents who volunteered to raise funds for equipment. Having immigrated from holland the beach was amazing and being in the community was an amazing experience and the acceptance was unbelievable.

 

[Eveil]

My childhood was spent travelling the world as my dad was in the army. I have many favourite moments, mostly when I have have felt the most connected to my parents and my siblings, for example, when we have all come together to play games, gone on outings, or shared special occasions. One of my favourite childhood memories is when we were on an international flight, for one of our dad's postings, and the air hostess took myself and my two brothers to visit the captain and copilot in the cockpit. Although I was very young I still remember the feeling of excitement that I had walking down the aisle of the airplane towards the front of the plane and how grown up I felt when the copilot discussed with myself and brothers the workings of the plane!

 

[Chicky]

Making mud pies after the rain. I then carried one inside to sell to my Mum.

 

[saundy]

My favourite childhood memories were Christmas mornings which were spent with my Grandmother (who was a very special lady in my life), the entire family would spend every Christmas morning there where she would have the most spectacular Christmas lunches every year even home made plum pudding and my favourite Christmas cake my grandmother made and cooked in her wood oven was spectacular to put it mildly. It was not Christmas for her unless we had Christmas lunch together in her home.
Very fond memories of a very special lady who was a large part of my life for many years, and holds a special place in my heart and always will.

 

[Dor jar]

Spoiler

I remember Dad teaching me how to ride a 2 wheeler bike. He was holding onto the back seat while I pedalled. I was chatting away to him, and suddenly turned my head to look at him. He was a LONG LONG away from me while I was finally riding my bike.
Another time, I would run to the end of the street, waiting for my day to come back from work on his bike. When he got to me, he put me on the cross bar and took me home like that. Great memories. Miss you Dad ! <3

Manyyears ago riiding my pony ZEBRA IN SMALL CREEK IFELL OFF MY FRIEND CALLED OUT THAT I HAD TAKENTO WATER LIKE A FISH WE ARE STILL FRIENDS NO PONIES

 

[Christinedawn]

One of my best childhood memories was visiting my Nanna and pop, also grandma and grandpa each Sunday. We all lived in Melbourne at the time. Both sets of grandparents lived a suburb away from each other and about 15 minutes from us so all our time wasn't spent driving.
Another memory is regular sleep overs at Nanna and pop's house.

 

[Jest]

i lived on a farm in the country, born 1939 and to this day I do not remember anything about the war years. I had two older brothers and an older sister. Guess you could say I was an only child. A very lonely child who did not want for anything except company.

 

[Diannel63]

I grew up with two brothers,a mission in itself.
We played boy games like football marbles billycarts (made by my dad) and fishing off the bank of some river! And yes I was a Tomboy.Well talking about one fishing trip I went on with my brothers and dad which both my brothers had a fishing rod and I didn’t so dad made me a fishing rod out of a branch and some fishing line and of course a hook and worm on the end.
Sitting waiting for a fish to bite I was decorating the end of the stick with whatever I could find so with the constant moving of the stick amazingly I got a bite. I screamed my dad who was asleep in the back seat he woke up sitting upright he hit his head on the roof of the car. He thought I was drowning but I had a bite. Omg the fish was dragged in and I thought there you go I got a fish with my homemade fishing rod. Moral of the story…..be happy with what you have haha!!!

 

[margaretritchie48]

One of my memories was going to Ilkley for the weekend and staying in a sort of hut. No running water, we got from the stream at the back. Not much facilities either. Remember my sister and I having a big piece of cardboard and sliding down the grass slopes. As a family we had a good time as both mum and dad worked so hard.

 

[Nelbert]

Catching the train in winter to my grandmother's cottage in the blue mountains, sleeping under piles of blankets with a hot water bottle. Eating scone's made on the fuel stove, walking through the bush collecting mountain devils and her showing me how to make clothes for them . All her wonderful stories, I know so much about my family and have enjoyed passing her stories along with mine to my children and grandchildren. My grandmother took me to the theatre, easter show, interstate to visit cousins, knitted me warm woollen jumpers. She was a single mum but she gave so much love to all, and loved my Dad as if he was her own