The old Batemans Bay Bridge was opened in 1956. Photo: File.
The South Coast has been a popular holiday spot for at least 100 years.
In that time plenty of attractions have come and gone – did you know there was once a hotel on Broulee Island?
Here are five of our favourites that are no longer.
Birdland provided people like Ben Venn, from Scotland, with the chance to have an up-close experience with some of Australia’s unique wildlife. Photo: Zoe Cartwright.
Birdland
Established by former Wollongong man Colin Merret and his wife Violet in 1971 (they also owned Ulladulla’s Funland), the privately-owned park was set on eight acres of Crown land and home to birds, animals and reptiles, as well as a miniature railway.
Visitors could get up close and personal with a diamond python, or help feed baby wombats.
The park closed recently after the current owner, David Burnett, was unable to continue running it due to ill health.
Gavin and Debbie Heron with their children Morgan (left) and Charli, at Batemans Bay Mini Golf as it closed to make way for the town’s new aquatic centre. Photo: Kim Treasure.
Mini-golf
Batemans Bay’s Mini Golf Centre, on the intersection of the Princes Highway and Beach Road, was a popular holiday pastime for families – especially when the weather wasn’t nice enough for the beach.
The Heron family prided themselves on making the course fun and challenging with themed obstacles and sculptures.
The business was forced to close in 2020 to make way for the new aquatic, arts and leisure centre.
The replica 1800s gold colony town, theme park and accommodation made up one of only five tourism zoned properties in the Eurobodalla. Photo: Supplied.
Old Mogo Town/Mogo Gold Rush Colony
Old Mogo Town was a replica gold rush colony, built on an existing gold-bearing reef.
The business, built on 4.57 hectares of bushland hosted events and school groups and had theme park tours and accommodation for 148 guests.
Visitors could even pan for gold – plenty of kids took home a treasured jar of water with a couple of golden specks inside.
It was purchased by pharmacist and councillor Maureen Nathan in the late 1990s.
Sadly, in 2019 Maureen had to sell after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which led to her death in 2022.
Batemans Bay Bridge
Batemans Bay’s iconic bridge over the Clyde River welcomed residents and visitors to the town for 65 years but was taken down when a replacement bridge opened in 2021.
The sight of the vertical lift truss bridge replaced a motorised punt and revolutionised travel to the South Coast of NSW, eventually becoming synonymous with the town itself. It wasn’t vaguely legal, but back in the day it wasn’t all that unusual to see kids double-dared to jump off the old bridge, which was about five metres above the water at high tide.
In recent years the bridge was plagued with mechanical problems and caused traffic jams on several occasions when the lift became stuck.
A new $274 million bridge was built to take its place, ending years of frustration for boaters and motorists, but changing the face of the seaside town forever – and you certainly shouldn’t jump from it!
Rollerworld
If you grew up in Batemans Bay in the 1990s to 2010s, there was no cooler place to have a birthday party than Rollerworld Batemans Bay.
The large indoor rollerblading rink in Kylie Crescent was home to plenty of bumps, bruises, giggles and (we’ve heard) the occasional first kiss.
The roller disco, complete with blaring pop music, disco lights and iconic Pinkys Pizza, was the coolest hangout in town, until it closed in 2016.
What have we missed? Are there childhood tourist attractions you miss when you head to the coast?
Original Article published by Zoe Cartwright on About Regional.
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