Anyone remember playing a round of putt putt golf at the course on the corner of Gordon and Grants streets?
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Or what about climbing into the innards of a 14 metre high cement bull on the Eggert farm at Redbank?
If you know those two once-thriving businesses in the Port Macquarie-Hastings, you can consider yourself nearly a local.
The area was once a mecca for family-oriented tourist attractions.
From the putt putt golf range to the Big Bull, there was also Fantasy Glades, Peppermint Park, Marbuk Park ... the list is endless.
Work on Fantasy Glades commenced in September 1967, and according to the Port News of the day it was built at a cost of around $80,000.
Fantasy Glades was officially opened the following year by George and Rosemary Whitaker. It was their pride and joy.
You could wander around Cinderella's Castle or check out the witch's cottage.
For many locals and visitors, Fantasy Glades simply had everything you wanted in a tourist destination.
In 1986, the park was sold to the Spry family and Brian Hutchinson, who operated the park until its closure in 2002.
When the facility closed, the daughter of the Whitakers, Cathy Galbraith, made an impassioned plea for the people of Port Macquarie to rally behind the town's oldest family theme park.
At the time, Mrs Galbraith said the family was devastated to read about the closure. The family urged a buyer or buyers to step up and rescue the popular park.
"We think there must be other ways around this rather than walking away from it," she said at the time.
"We want people to rally behind it because Fantasy Glades is really the last [family theme park] left in Port Macquarie and it would be awful to lose it."
She said there were many memories connected with the park for her and her family.
Rosemary, whose first husband George died in 1977, remarried Stephen Hobbs in 1982 and the pair kept the park going until they sold it to Pat and George Spry and Brian Hutchinson in 1986.
Following its closure, some of the rides and attractions were purchased by Tony Williams who flagged plans to reopen the park in a new location on the Hastings River.
Unfortunately, for many people, this did not come to fruition.
The Fantasy Glades site was purchased by Jeff Crowe in 2015.
Since its closure, a common complaint from many visitors and locals has been the lack of family-friendly tourist attractions in Port Macquarie.
Where's Mumma?
Marbuk Park was sited at Tacking Point near the Port Macquarie Golf Club and was home to an array of snakes, birds and other animals. It included horse riding facilities too.
One of its features was a circular, brick snake pit that housed hundreds of snakes including tiger snakes, and copperheads.
And then there was Mumma - a 14 foot, 85 year old crocodile that arrived via specially constructed trailer box all the way from Townsville.
The year was 1969.
Unfortunately for Mumma - and the Port Macquarie community - Marbuk Park lasted just five years, closing on June 30, 1974.
At the time management indicated that a profitable operation could only be achieved by further financial investments.
But Mumma was saved, snapped up - so to speak - by Bullen Bros for $25,000 at an auction. When that sale fell through, Mumma was shifted to the Marine Park the following year.
Wildlife park aka Billabong
The Port Macquarie-Hastings has attracted many people to our area, some to enjoy the natural beauty, others for the relaxed lifestyle.
And then there are the visitors who stop in and immediately see the potential our area offers.
According to a story by Darrell Nash and published in the Independent in 2011, Bob and Shirley Boffa fit the latter reasoning.
They arrived from Queensland, and stopped in for family reasons as they were passing through to start a new life in Sydney.
Within a few days, the journey to Sydney was put on permanent hold and the couple purchased the River Motel and Bird World.
A school competition to find a new name for their venue was launched with "Billabong" coming up trumps - and Billabong Zoo: Koala and Wildlife Park was born.
Their venture was located at the then-crossroads of the Pacific and Oxley highways on wet wasteland. It was soon transformed into a nature sanctuary.
For those travelling north or south the sight of the Old Swagman was a marker for your highway trip.
By 1990, the opening of the new highway put pressure on Billabong to remain relevant but the Boffa's pushed ahead with their plans.
They eventually sold to Mark and Danina Stone.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Peppermint Park
No visit to Port Macquarie was complete without a visit to Peppermint Park.
And, for that matter, no local family went a year without dropping into the once-thriving theme park.
From the water slide to those funny dodgem car things, it was a sanctuary for a family fun day.
Peppermint Park opened in 1980 and would become a staple for visitors for the next 23 years.
The tourist attraction was based near Flynns Beach sitting on four picturesque acres.
Along with the water slides, there was skateboarding, roller skating and grass skiing.
There was also a putt putt golf range.
It was a sad day in 2003 when the park hosted its final day of operations.
Then manager Jamie Martyn said at the time: "Everyone coming in has been really sad.
"About 70 per cent of our visitors have been here before so everyone has been reminiscing.
"A lot of locals are shattered because Peppermint Park has been their second backyard."
The park's last day was a Crazy Day theme.
The Flynns Beach Resort was constructed on the site at a cost of around $12m.
Kingfisher Park
There must have been something in the water around 2000 because Port Macquarie woke one morning to learn that the popular bird sanctuary Kingfisher Park was to close.
In its place was to be a residential development of 28 allotments.
Then tourism president Howard Batt was reported as saying "anything that took away choices for people to do or see things in the town was disappointing".
Prior to the decision to rezone the land to residential, Kingfisher Park had been a popular Port Macquarie tourist attraction for many years.
Best described as a small zoo, there are farmyard pets, kangaroos, wallabies and Australian birds.
Set on natural bushland and landscaped gardens, koalas would often be seen wandering the park's surrounds.
The owner and operator, Giovanna Pawson, was well known in the Port Macquarie community. She was arguably best known as a Revlon model.
Cruisin' the river
Gordon McKinnon built Amaroo, providing river cruises up the Hastings River to the bridge and return in the early to mid-1960s.
Amaroo was later purchased by Claude Radley who then sold it onto Jim and Betty Goldring.
The Goldrings expanded the business when they purchased a new vessel, the MV Claranda which crossed the Port Macquarie bar in November 1974.
Claranda plied the river during the 1970s.
River cruises continue to be a go-to trip for many holidaymakers.
The Big Bull
Farmer John Eggert deserves credit for having the foresight to construct a bull on his property at Redbank.
Such was the popularity of the 14 metre tall and 21 metre long Holstein that it drew tourists from across the state and country.
Part education, part fun - including the hayrides - and part retail, the facility housed a gift shop on the ground floor and a beef display.
Bookings were common for birthday parties - apparently there were some ripper 21st celebrations - meetings, Lasiandra committee, chamber events and other social activities.
In fact even after it was closed to the public, visitors would still drop by to grab a photo or two.
The Big Bull was torn down in 2007.
In an era of the Big Oyster, the Big Banana or the Big Merino, the Big Bull stood out. Literally.
Despite losing many family theme parks over the years, the Port Macquarie-Hastings still has several facilities in operation including, golf driving ranges, aqua golf, Timbertown, Stoney Aqua Park and camel rides to name a few.
What's your favourite memory for family theme parks in Port Macquarie?
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