Bendigo: Arakoon, Cherry Berry Farm, Gillies Corner history
Remember when going down Big Bendi was a rite of passage or it was not uncommon to wake up in the morning with stamps to six nightclubs on your arm? If so, you likely grew up in Bendigo.
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Today’s kids rave about the big slides at many indoor Victorian council leisure centres and the likes of Adventure Park Geelong, but they didn’t hold a candle to the thrill of hurtling down Cherry Berry Farm’s concrete slide on an inflatable doughnut.
Today’s kids rave about the big slides at many indoor Victorian council leisure centres and the likes of Adventure Park Geelong, but they didn’t hold a candle to the thrill of hurtling down Cherry Berry Farm’s concrete slide on an inflatable doughnut.
Sure, if you happened to slip off the rough concrete would leave you scarred for a week or two, but it left you with a vital life lesson that still rings true today — whatever you do, just hold on.
Arakoon’s tube and toboggan slides were arguably much safer, although many came to grief while attempting to navigate the latter while standing up.
The rewards of a successful attempt — rowdy clapping from the dam shore — was well worth the risk.
Sadly, neither are around today. Legend has it a mix of drought and escalating insurance premiums — which would likely rival a small country’s GDP today — played a part in their demise.
You woke up on a weekend morning with stamps to six nightclubs on your arm
Yeah, there are still a few nightspots around the city today, but it’s nothing compared to the heady days of the 80’s and 90s, when there were more than half a dozen clubs going at once.
Some have changed their names during this time, but if you remember the likes of Velvets, Abbey Road, Studio 54, Hyper, Hot Gossip, the Sundance Saloon, Sports Bar and The (old) Universal you know what we’re talking about.
And a night out wasn’t complete without the delicious post-clubbing food, whether it was potato gems from next to Studio 54 or a burger and/or dimmies from the Dunny Diner.
You remember when the Hargreaves Mall used to be THE place to shop
A trip to the Hargreaves Mall today can be like walking through a wind tunnel, but there was a time, pre-Bendigo Marketplace days, where it was THE place to be.
If you are old enough you will remember having lunch upstairs at Coles New World, while finding your way through Myer’s many levels — including the lower-level sports department — was often like trying to escape a maze.
And no trip to the mall was complete without stopping in at Brashs to buy the latest chart-topping cassingle from the likes of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Guns N’ Roses, Johnny Farnham, INXS and Kylie.
In the evenings, on whichever particular night was agreed at the time, Hargreaves St was the meeting place for dozens of car enthusiasts (a polite name for petrol heads, hoons or revheads) who would do blockies around the centre of town pumping out loud music and, often, even louder wheelies.
You had a pie bought from ‘Gillies Corner’on the corner of Hargreaves and Williamson streets
Gillies Corner, named after the Gillies Pies shop at the end of the mall on the corner of Hargreaves and Williamson streets, was widely regarded among Bendigonians as the place to get the best pies in the state, if not the country.
Gillies Pies first bakery was opened in Mitchell St by three brothers in 1950, but the Gillies corner store was their most famous location.
Even St Kilda superstar forward Tony Lockett was a fan, with an advertisement of him thinking ‘get me a Gillies’ while lining up for goal beaming into loungeroom TVs across regional Victoria at the height of his fame with the Saints.
You know Bendigo’s Myer was the first ever Myer
… and you will tell people whenever the opportunity presents. Yes, for those who didn’t know, a virtually penniless Sidney Myer arrived in Melbourne as a 21-year-old with limited English, yet worked his way to the top walking the streets of Bendigo hawking sheets and towels door to door.
Eventually, he opened a small drapery shop, Myer’s, with his brother in Bendigo in 1900.
The rest is history.
You will always believe Big Bendi’s true home is at the Bendigo Acquatic Centre, not Bendigo Water World
Going down Big Bendi was a right of passage when growing up in Bendigo, especially when drought — and likely public liability insurance issues — brought about the demise of Arakoon and Cherry Berry Farm.
The Bendigo Acquatic Centre, renamed in honour of Olympic swimmer Faith Leech in 2018, is now home to the Hoobee Toobie slide.
But those of us old enough will always call it the home of Big Bendi.
You remember John Brumby as Bendigo federal Labor MP, not as Victorian Premier
Everyone in Melbourne talks about John Brumby as Victoria’s Premier from 2007 to 2010.
Not Bendogonians, who remember him being elected as a young federal Bendigo MP in 1983.
You skated up a storm at Zoo Roller Disco
Roller skating was big in Bendigo in the 1980s.
Depending on your age, the disco rivalled dinner at Pizza Hut, underage Friday night Velvets and the Bendigo Aquatic Centre Blue Light as the place to be.
You went arse-up (more than once) at Bendigo Ice Skating Stadium
When the Bendigo Ice Skating Stadium opened in Hattam St, it was the place to be on a 30C-plus day. You would go into the stadium soaked in sweat and — after hours of skating, sliding and falling fun — leave soaked in melted ice (which some people call cold water).
Ten minutes later you would be dry as a bone.
While the Golden Square rink closed in 2010, there was pop-up ice skating and tobogganing at the Bendigo Showgrounds in 2015. Golden Square
You went to the Epsom Flea Market
For almost 25 years, no Sunday was complete without the morning Midland Highway car trip to the Epsom Market.
At its peak, the market had about 400 stalls, where you could find the latest flea market fashion, preloved kids’ toys or an assortment of books or magazines, from the latest Fred Bassett or Garlfield comic book to a collection of 1980s Street Machine magazines.
Sadly, the Epsom Market closed in early 2004 but today’s Bendigo Showgrounds market is pretty much the same thing.
You remember many of the old businesses on this drive through town in 1985 …
… and you know of a time when the preview was cutting-edge technology.
You wasted many an afternoon playing arcade games at Vibrations
Vibrations, situated about where Tap House Bendigo is now, was home to some of classic arcade games — with Street Fighter II arguably the most popular.
There were also a few pool tables, making Vibrations a popular hangout for Bendigo Senior Secondary Students in the early 1990s.
You saw the Queen visit in 1954
If you made it this far, you may be old enough to remember Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit to Bendigo in 1954.
Children waved their flags, jumped up and down on the ground with excitement, and cheered their heads off as the Queen and the Duke drove through their ranks.
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