I grew up in eastern suburbs Sydney, this was my youth. This brings back amazing memories of simple life and the beautiful harbour and beaches. Thank you for this documentary.
I was also 17 in 1985. Trust me, you miss what it used to be not what it has become. It’s still a visually beautiful and clean city with nice weather but that’s about all it has going for it. I’m leaving next year.
@@bsways We left last year, Sydney is not as it was, its Duplexes and mean angry people, its unrecognisable. Go to the Hunter Valley, its like Australian in the 1980s almost - amazing.
@@fingerprint5511 hey yes Sydney people are very aggro and quite fake. Its very difficult to make genuine friends with anyone. Its like you know lots of people but noone is really your friend. You could be dead in your apartment for a week and no one would notice or care until it starts to smell. I mean I'd love to move more rural somewhere but it's the cost of living here. Its too much. I'm headed to southeast Asia where Ill have a passive income, no longer need to work and I can travel and save money! Australia is a financial prison. A beautiful prison but a prison nonetheless. Until you decide to leave you don't realise how little freedom you actually really have
1985 I was going to pubs and clubs chasing Aussie rock bands like The Radiators, The Angels, The Oils, etc. Every Sat night. All over the St George and Shire regions plus Selinas at Coogee, Dee Why pub and the RSL, Revesby Workers etc. All the clubs made money from youngsters going to watch bands. Pubs put on bands too, until they turned to pokies and ruined everything.
@@grantwilletts5669 17 in '85 and after uni we would always head into Newtown for a beer and a band or somewhere closer to the Cross. Life in Sydney wasn't perfect back then, but it was simpler, almost more 'real' than it seems to be now. Moving back to the country when the kids leave home (that could be decades from now!!). Great viewing! Dave
@@davee8659 it was simpler and a hell of a lot less people and traffic. Great times. The pub vibe seeing great local bands has sadly gone. Heady days indeed.
Yep that's me too along with Mondo Rock, Split Enz, Ice House playing at the Revesby Workers, Bankstown Sports club and RSL. Sport every weekend for me it was playing cricket and soccer and watching the League Berries/Bulldogs' at Belmore oval on Sunday, or fishing in the Port Hacking/Georges or Hawkesbury on a Sunday or Flexi day. None of my mates worked on the weekend, we would meet up at the High Flyer Pub, also had flexi days and planned holidays to enjoy life.
I was ten and it was a golden age, not just for Australia but my family as my Dads business was roaring before the recession we had to have kicked in. Nostalgia is a bitter sweet emotion.
I was 20 years old in 1985 and Bondi was my second home in summer , the beautiful beach and ninos pizza is where we spent most of our time . how I miss 1985 .
It's not Australia anymore, just a mix of a thousand different little groups all doing their own thing and having their own agendas. There was once an Aussie culture, that is now dead and buried.
@@RS-rj5sh Balderdash. It was exactly the same back then. People just follow their interests, nothing wrong with that. I lived in Sydney 1981-1989 (mid-twenties to early thirties) and had a great life. Rent was reasonable, for a start. The aussie culture was gobbled up by the corporate sector, mate.
I was 7 in 1985. I remember going to the opera house and playing outside and sliding down. Bondi was so different back then. I miss the 80s! Thanks for posting this!
@@gregpetterson I was 12, but the film was not completely a memory, a lot of it was commercialized crap the bondi beach bit was true to history the beginning was not and the end was not I'm sensing this was some sort of documentary , which.. as we know they always throw stuff in that no one did Like Seriously...... SHOW OFF HANDS Which one of us growing up HAD A YACHT growing up? LMFAO I had a car tyre insert that i blew up and took to bondi beach,......>Never a Yacht
@@martinkuliza If you looked around Sydney harbour in 1985 it was full of thousands of yachts. The film is all true history for it's time like it or not. True it doesn't interview anyone using a car tyre at the beach and I'm sure many people did.
Australia will never be like this again, I blame consecutive governments for ruining such a wonderful city. I moved out of Sydney in 1991 to the far north coast of nsw. I have no interest in going back. I wouldn’t even recognise where I grew up in the hills shire, totally changed for the worse. Kids of today would have no idea how great Sydney was in the 70’s and 80’s. Such a shame….
Look up castle hill showground and see what’s happened. The Baulkham Shire Council building isn’t at the ahowground anymore and everything is so different now.
Was 9 at the time, and lived in Lithgow. We visited my grandparents who lived in Manly many times. It’s still a beautiful harbour - very much a golden era when I think back on it now. Thanks for sharing the video 👍
There are a lot of people in Sydney who don’t appreciate what we have. They need to watch this video. Thank you for posting. I was 9 years old when this was filmed, honestly, take me back… If you told people these days the sun shines 15 of 17 days, they would probably tell you that we’re all gonna die.
@@gregpetterson no problem Greg, thanks for the video. I can remember the BBQ’s from back then, they were class and there was always a platter on offer. One thing that stands out is how carefree life was then compared to now. No wonder there is so much mental illness these days, too many things to complicate life and not enough time to enjoy the 15 of 17 sunny days.
What a lovely way to start my day and thank you. I moved to Sydney from the Mid North Coast in 1986 to start uni and have been here ever since. For me, returning to 1986 with your documentary is both nostalgic and sad - back when my dad was still alive, when we didn't have so much tech influence in our lives and life was probably "simpler" than it is now - at least for me. It remains a beautiful city, especially when you spend a lot of time in her many national parks and waterways! Many thanks again and cheers from the North Shore - Dave
I was born and raised in Sydney and have now finally moved to the mid north coast. It took me 60 years to get the hell out of "That Place"... Now if I have to go down to Sydney, I can feel the pressure of the place when I drive south over the Hexam bridge. Looking back, it was all over for me when they tore down the Dee Why pub. Sydney is a developers dream, but not much chop for the rest of us schlubs.. :)
I will be updating the original film end credits in the future once I have identified some of the unnamed people that were interviewed. I find as time goes on it is important to have these names recorded for future historical interest. If your interested even though you only appear for a few seconds I would like to include your name (guy shooting the JJJ Junior at Manly with Canon Telephoto) up to you? if interested and you don't want to leave your name here just email me. For my email go to my channel page and click on the 'about' section🙂
@@thedownunderverse We still have our identity. It's that it's being attacked to relentlessly now. From government and the corporate sector, down through the media and the "left", to the hordes of foreigners whom they're bringing in.
I was 14 years old and living the best years of my life. Only thing is, I didn't realise this at the time. I really hate the way this City has become. Over run with immigration, infrastructure bursting at the seams, extortionate energy prices, the death of our manufacturing industries, housing demand driving Australians out of their own market, Medicare crumbling, private health insurance through the nose, cramped suburbs, smaller blocks, smaller streets, every house has to have at least 5 cars, longer waiting times to see a doctor, high density ghetto suburbs, and so on and so fourth... Our Politicians have really done a number on us and ruined this once beautiful place of ours. At least I have the memories right ???
I hear you buddy, I was 17 in 1985, born at Bankstown. Lebbo capital these days. Now I live at Campsie. All I see are chinese everywhere and not aa word of English. And they are just downright rude people the lebs and the chinese
It seems Australian politicians these days see endless population growth as a positive. I think it will actually lead to the destruction of Australian society and culture. It will destroy what we love about Australia.
What a time to be alive! The day's before mobile phones, selfie sticks, reality television and Kim Kardashian that we know of! We're simply a different people nowadays! The times before mass materialism and narcissistic tendencies took hold.
Mobile phones were already there. They cost about $5000 and had a run time that couldn't rack up much of a bill. We had reality TV. It was Bert Newton and Norman Gunston. You couldn't get more real than that.
@@philgray3443 I think your right about the cost of mobile phones. I understand NEC made one in Australia, If you got the in-car and boot country range booster you were up for $6000
Dont forget mass immigration. It was 70000 per annum back then, which was a sustainable rate for the amount of housing being built. 400000 now, and Sydney is a chaotic, miserable, and unaffordable mess, thanks to massive immigration being forced on us by our hopelessly corrupt politicians.
Do you know the HMAS Vampire? My uncle served on her. Been past the Mercantile many times when i was young; I can bet my Grandfather drank there (Defended Tobruk with the 9th) he worked at Paddy's Market during the depression; There was another one we went to, but i can't remember the name...
No, it's brilliant. Best place in the world. And the world is fine, too. Things are only shit if you insist on seeing shit. Change your vantage and your life will change also. 💗
Mate, you've got to recalibrate your social media feed. It's not all bad in Oz these days. For example, I'm heading to the Illawarra tomorrow to enjoy the sheer beauty of the escarpment, ocean, and lunch at the Mount Kemble pub. Beats living in Seria!
Moved to Sydney from the far north coast of NSW in 1986. My girlfriend had moved and I came down a bit later when I had got a job. Thought I would be here for a couple of years. My girl dumped me the day i got here and she was the only person I knew in Sydney. Still here. Loved being in Sydney for for the 80's living in Darlo then Bondi. Still go to Stanley St in East Sydney to revisit the old haunts including the Lord Roberts and Bill & Tonys. Great doco - a love letter to Sydney in the 80's.
I worked as a bus driver for a year in 1985. Drove over the bridge from the North Shore to Wynard and back many times. Plus lost a wing mirror or two on occasion.
Not surprised about losing a wing mirror or two, just as busy on the bridge then as it is now. Tough job driving in the city. There is a bus in the film crossing the bridge from North to South, could have been you!
Superb video. I was 10 years old back in 85, living in my homeland UK and wouldn’t have known very much about Sydney. Been living in Sydney a while now and love life here. Love learning all about its history. Thanks for posting this Greg.
This was a few years before I was born. But the 80's seem like an awesome time to be alive. There were still cars and most modern conveniences. Minus mobile phones and fast computers.
@gregpetterson Maybe not the 2020s: inflation and wokness are rampant. The poor can't afford electricity, and the politicians don't even know what a woman is.
The 80's were awesome we weren't backwards, just really laid back :) We got to experience life without mob phones and the internet, and then we did. Apple Mac coming to Aust 1986 I think. To see what Australia was like in the mid 80's and how it has changed 35 years later is a privilege I suppose. Very Aussie ocker then.
Nsw has some the best beaches in the world. Sydney is absolutely heavenly. I will never understand why people compare melbourne with sydney its night and day difference
Melbourne? They have nothing. Always makes me laugh when they go around the country for the New Years Eve fireworks & they show that stupid little stream that goes through Melbourne that they call The Yarra River where they showcase their $100 dollar bag of fireworks & then Sydney harbor pops up on the TV screen with it’s multi million dollar bag of fireworks & it’s the best in the whole world .Who wants to see boring Melbourne & don’t laugh South Australians , Adelaide is just as boring .
@@blastermaster2383 Agree with you about the fireworks. But I think your a little bit tough on poor old Melbourne and Adelaide though, I'm sure their trying their best. Sydney is lucky having the iconic harbour bridge and Opera house to show case the fire works. 🙂
A guy from Melbourne I met at a party in Sydney was extolling the virtues of his home city. “If you took away the Harbour, Beaches and Weather.. what have you got “ he pronounced in a triumphant glow. To this I quipped “ Melbourne “ 😂 I lived in Melbourne for a bit and I stopped telling people I was from Sydney as it kicked off the usual 5 minutes of rather parochial banter which seems weird when people from Sydney really dont care about Melbourne while they seem obsessed in being better than Sydney. It’s kinda pathetic to be honest when Sydney is literally one of the most beautiful cities if not the most. Little brother complex.
Can anybody identify the women at 5:18 interviewed at the Nuclear protest on Sydney harbour? and the guy in the middle at 7:35 interviewed on Bondi Beach? (the old boys lifeguards). So the film credits can be updated in the future.🙂Also thanks to some viewers who have pointed out a very important incorrect date in the narration. The narration at the start of the film has the first fleet dropping anchor in Sydney Cove on 28th of January 1788 when it should be 26th this will also be updated in the future.
@@anthonyraymond5718 Thanks for your comment. With the help of The Bondi Loop FACEBOOK Group and the Bondi Historian Lawrie Williams we have identified Frank Hurley on the left (Australian heavyweight wrestling champion 1949. Was taken prisoner by the Germans in WW2 on the Greek Island of Crete and spent the war years in a prison camp in Germany) and Gordon Cassidy on the right but we are STILL TRYING TO IDENTIFY THE GUY IN THE MIDDLE?.🤔 I have been informed these guys were all original old boy lifeguards.
I was busy growing inside my mum to see these days first hand. Grateful to have video footage of what Australia was like back then. I was clearly born at a wonderful time (1986) 😅
Great video, Kiwi whom lived in Coogee for 2 years at this time. Loved the City, great Pubs Selina's Cooggee Bay Hotel saw so many great Aussie and Kiwi Bands.
I was one of the very fortunate people privileged to grow up on the Northern Beaches. We did not understand that it was a paradise. We were the luckiest people in the world, living in the most beautiful part of the most beautiful city in the world. I was in my late twenties then and those couple of decades were when it was when it was at its best. Truly superb.
@@stevestewart-sturges2159 Yes, I lived near Dee Why, but Harbord was the best for body surfing. Pittwater was and still is the most beautiful place in the world to go sailing. Halcyon days.
@@stevestewart-sturges2159 All great spots, a lot harder to get parking now to back then.🙃 Was easy parking at Freshie then. I'm guessing it's all changed as it was over 20 years ago when I was there last.
@@thomaselliott573 harbord was also my favourite spot for body surfing. My mate had a VW Combie and on our way to Harbord if the Spit bridge closed we would all jump out and leave the Combie in the traffic jam and go for a quick swim until the bridge went down. Does anybody do that these days?
My first experience in Sydney was 1987, on a rugby trip from Nz, went to Katoomba played there, Wollongong. I loved the experience as a young 15year old. I would move back to live in my 30s to Brisbane Queensland,,Aussie is in my blood, love this nation and its people. God bless Australia 🇦🇺 👍
The young lady worrying about a nuclear accident destroying Sydney didn’t see that eventually politicians would destroy Sydney by cramming millions more people into our city. Higher rise everywhere and crazy property prices. It’s awful. The Australian way of life is gone. And seeing fellow white Australians is becoming a rarity.
You're not alone in that thought mate. I'm the only white person on my bus to work each day. No one is reading or watching English content on their phones during their commute, only foreign. They don't need to integrate because they are the Australian population now. We're the immigrants. I was born here but I don't consider myself Australian anymore.
@@ferrarikangaroo9271 I agree, when I travel on the train it is much the same. The Sydney of 1985 has long gone in many suburbs along with the uniqueness of the Australians from that period. I was not born in Australia but even I miss the Australian characters from that time. Thanks for commenting.
I was 17, at the time, and I miss that time, I think I miss the feel of that time, along with just being young and having your whole life ahead of you. In some ways it was a more innocent time a simpler time. But I still I think Sydney is a great City and Australia, a great country, the greatest, country, actually by far, (my parents came here from Europe in 1962 and I'm so glad they and I was born in Australia ) and I will always be grateful that they were able to settle here, I will always love Australia I have travelled a lot , and would not want to live anywhere else permanently.
I lived across from Bondi back then, in a old block of flats in Campbell Pde... to get up at sparrow, run across to the beach and have your morning surf, bit if tea and toast and get on the 380 into the City, do your day's graft then back, either to the beach, maybe walk down to Bronte along the beach in the sunset, down a schooner at Selinas and take in a band, a late night kebab at Bondi Junction, hit the clubs and hotels Friday and Saturday night, hung over morning surf on Sunday.... konk out on the beach.... life was bloody marvelous
Yes I lived in Bennett St, Flood St, Roscoe St & Blair St. Flats were cheaper & easier to rent back in the 80's I moved into my first share flat in 1985. At 19 years of age. I had a full time job as a phone technician when I was 18 years old at Telecom before it was called Telsra & stolen from the people. We didn't realise how good we had it back then. Most work places were unionised, work & housing was much more secure & we didn't cop shit from bosses or governments.😊😊
Thanks for your interesting comments. I think you're right, Bondi did have off days depending on wind and tide conditions back then. Tooheys beer was popular if I remember correctly.
@@gregpetterson Yeah although Malabar was probably worse Bondi had a bad rep for a while. And pretty much everybody drank Tooheys if not Tooth / Reschs. Although VB and Swan had started to make inroads into the market.
My memories of 85 are just that, golden sunsets.. summer was summer. Many weekends down at balmoral beach. A few trees there still have our carvings 😊 life and people were fascinating (not screens) .. that vision of the aqua plane, as a kid you'd look up and see all kinds of flying objects. You played sports and enjoyed it. Family was more valued...
@@gregpetterson thanks mate ... the coastline, colors of summer, personalities at bondi .. centrepoint looked golden and new! and how many people living in Sydney at the time can identify with all these images. Life was magical. BTW so was TV .. countdown .. Cheers .. Hey Hey .. its amazing how the environment at certain times rubs off on other bits of society and there is a richness and abundance.
great era from 70s right up until around 2000... then the internet really took over, then social media, then smart phones... people have all the entertainment they need in their one hand.
Thank you for this documentary ~ it’s lovely to step back in time . I lived in Coogee and Bronte then . I did travel across on the ferry to work at Dalwood Children’s home in Seaforth . It certainly was a beautiful ride across the harbour . I also went to tech in kogarah . I loved the public transport system , it was so efficient . I also loved the rock swimming pools , the gorgeous cliffs and beaches , and the blue mountains just an hour or so train ride away ! I met interesting people there , dedicated myself to yoga doing regular classes at Bondi junction , and alleviated my chronic health condition symptoms at the time . Which was fabulous . These days I’m more aware of the indigenous history ~ seeing places through a different lense . What a sad & tragic time began for the Gadigal people and all indigenous tribes , when Captain Cook arrived on these beautiful shores .
Australia was beautiful back then, Sydney back then was the best times of my young life, how did we get to where we are today, the wrong people running our country, Australia isn't Australia anymore, that old Soldier that got out of the German NZI camp would be rolling in his grave if he saw how society in our country is today
Wrong type of immigration. Im late 30s with my parents (Austrlian born) being italian. I dont know what is was like when their parents moved here (i hear stories of getting bullied as "wogs" when they were kids) but i knew my grandparents (immigrants) always worked hard, tried to learn the language and blend in. My parents aren't the type to start trouble. All i see now is arabs treating the roads like their personal playground, no care in the world to follow any rules and second generation asians still not able to speak english clearly. This might sound like a racist comment, but as someone with multiple ethnic friends, and work with multiple cultural backgrounds its the truth as bad as it may sound. some will say you cant generalize but when the majority or certain groups act this way its hard not to.
Absolutely loved this documentary thank you for sharing. Can you tell me the name of the/ artist of the piano music that is throughout the documentary? At the beginning etc … it’s beautiful ❤
I remember those days. International Roast was our coffee. Chinese braised chicken was the heights of exotic cuisine. For the less adventurous there was always Red Rooster or a Chiko Roll from the corner shop. Wine came in cardboard boxes, and VB beer was everywhere. Men dressed in king gees or polyester suits, and women wore Katies or Best and Less. The sweet scent of Winfield Reds permeated the city. A root in a panel van was a classy date. And the Daily Telegraph was our window to the world. Our golden age indeed before multiculturalism.
LOL - spot on!!! Laid back, Anglo-Celtic Australia has all but disappeared. Many of the old diggers would be devastated at how we've sold ourselves out and are being replaced.
@@embracedmadness This is because the universities deliberately limit med school intakes - it's cheaper to import foreign fully trained doctors. Super bright Aussie students with 98 score ATARS across double maths, physics, chemistry, still can't get into medicine - it's deplorable.
Well you dont know shit, because my grandparents came over from Poland in 1948, my grandad help build the snowy mountains hydro electric scheme with about 65,000 other migrants from over 30 nations.. so immigration helped you have all those wonderful things you enjoyed..
I moved to Sydney in 1985. It was a great city then and it's still great. Thanks for the upload. Shame about all the whiners and racists commenting though.
They were good days back then. We can't say the same for Australia today. The WEF, WHO & UN test bed now. Banjo & Henry would be rolling in their graves if they could see how gutless Australia has become.
Great video! I read your bio and see that you enjoy documenting for historical and future reasons! 😊 Our family has an hour or so worth of film, and much of the film is/was recorded from my grandfather's airplane, back when he owned and flew a small commercial airplane just after WW2 (He was in the RAAF and flew in a light bomber during the war, i suppose thats where he learned to fly). Im not sure if you want Australian film like that, but if you do, i can go find the DVD, set it up on my laptop and send you a copy. Wether you use it or not, thats upto you, maybe you'll simply enjoy viewing some footage of rural Australia from a birds eye perspective. 🙂 Either way mate, have a good one 👍🏻 Oh, i nearly forgot to say -- the film is from the mid 50s). Its family/home footage of my mothers side of the family.
Andrew 'the boy wonder', aka Denton, assisting Doug Mulray on 2MMM - what a way to begin! I was flatting in East Sydney while at Kenso Kindy. What a time. Pumped fuel at Rosebay on weekend - watched the seaplanes or the 18 footers. Life was simple and good.
In my early 60’s and living in Sydney in the 70’s and 80’s was absolutely awesome…. Smoke in the pubs, live music, no bloody tolls ( except harbour bridge and F3… 60 cents) plenty of affordable housing and east to get around. No more:(…. Best thing about it now is seeing Hornsby in my rear view mirror heading home up the coast
This short Docu-film is a ripper. Cheers for sharin' it, mate! Bloody bonza gettin' a squiz at Sydney back in the '80s and gettin' a feel for the times. The sound added a fair, and them Super8 film shots, mint quality, mate! Classic as, but top-notch shootin' and editin' there. Bauer S175XL wasn't just for dinkum amateurs, ey? Proper professional Super8 gear, fair dinkum. Cheers 🇦🇺❤
Great vid. These were the days even as a 1st generation kid born here from asian parents, you'd still feel the aussie cultural influence. I was 8 yrs old in 85. Growing up in the 80s was a lot better than now.
Anyone else turned 17 in 1985? Interesting how many people in my cohort clicked on this video! 😅 Must be the point of nostalgia to return to the days when life was simple and free. 😎🦋
I hate Sydney these days. Been here my whole life over 50 years. After the olympics it changed for the worse. Every man and his dog came here and it went downhill in many ways. Ridiculously unaffordable these days. Gentrification has pushed people out. I rented a two bedroom unit in the city for $80/week in 1990. Now you’re lucky to get a shoebox for $500/week. They promised us that all the technology would make life easier but people are working harder and longer with fewer benefits than ever before. Apparently if you have a multi million dollar mortgage that you’ll never pay off you’re considered lucky.
I have with agree with you on some of your points. Yes they did promise that technology would give us an easier life with more free time. I never did believe it would happen. Your right, more young people are working longer and harder than ever just to live in Sydney.
@@gregpetterson I’m leaving to south east Asia next year. I can live there and have a very nice lifestyle without working and save money and travel. In Sydney all I do is work to pay bills and get nowhere.
One of the problems of housing affordability was here already in 1985, illustrated by the attitude of that guy on the boat in the video. Get your life down to working 2 or 3 days a week and spend the rest of your time sailing on the harbour, hey? Only the well-off could do that, and then they bought up all the real estate and got richer by jacking up the prices and rents. Now they are richer, and so many have to suffer because of it...
@@papasmurfette007 but you can't really blame them for investing. Blame the politicians. They are the ones who have failed to implement policies to stop the rampant greed. Most likely because they too have property portfolios and are making a lot of money from it
"Original film type Kodachrome 40 (Super 8 sound film) restored and enhanced to HD. " I remember growing up in the 90's and being intrigued by the photos in old magazines from the 80's at the dentist and doctor's waiting room. The colours made it look like another planet, especially since fashion seemed to have changed a lot too by then. Side note: the narration by Morag McArthur sounds like just like a present day Laura Tingle.
i was a teenager then, catching the train into Central from fairfield for $1, i would then free range around town, man the things i got up to, all harmless of course but amazing nonetheless
Your so right, house prices were more stable back then and the banks would never give a loan at such a high percentage of income like they do today. If the same rules applied today, you probably couldn't buy a home in Sydney on the max amount approved by the banks.
@@gregpetterson negative gearing wasn't a thing back then was it? It is just astronomical the prices now and there are either people struggling to get into the market or people with multiple properties. Crazy
@@KellyOsborne222 Yes I think you are right about the negative gearing. Its very sad for some people at the moment, definitely not the lucky country for them like they use to say 40 years ago.
I think there are other factors overlooked here too. One elephant in the room was the tremendous amount of "New Arrivals" in the last 20-25 years or so. But I'm sure that I'll get accused of all sorts of nonsense just for stating the obvious.
@@Fnord23Gnosis no-one mentioned that in this video. Australia is multicultural and has been for a very long time.. there has always been other migrants coming here. Their ethnicities have changed but same sitch.
It's mad how popular and common topless sunbathing was in the '80s. Feel sort-of sorry for people these days, as we didn't bat an eyelid about it back then but you rarely see it now. Well, I guess those people have the internet now! But anyway, still sailing and surfing in Sydney. Despite all it's problems and expense of living here, it still stacks up as a great place to be.
Totally agree, its still a great place to live but sad that many struggle with the expenses living in Sydney today. Thanks for taking the time to comment🙂
I was a child at that harbour peace rally. My Grandfather was the Uniting Church Reverend Rex Mathews from Paddington & inner city congressional archdiocese of greater Sydney. The 80s , in eastern Sydney was the best most inspiring place i could wish to be.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
I grew up in eastern suburbs Sydney, this was my youth. This brings back amazing memories of simple life and the beautiful harbour and beaches. Thank you for this documentary.
Glad to hear brings back good memories. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
This is the Australia I grew up in . I’m 60 now but these were good times .
Great to hear the 80's treated you well. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Lucky barstard! 👍🏻 I was born in that year so got the 90s and 2000s arguably the last two decades before Australian way for life has turned to shite!
I turned 17 in 1985. These days I live far away, but my heart will always be there. God I miss that town. And my youth, I suppose.
Yes time moves on, but nice to have good memories from that time. Thanks for commenting.
I was also 17 in 1985. Trust me, you miss what it used to be not what it has become. It’s still a visually beautiful and clean city with nice weather but that’s about all it has going for it. I’m leaving next year.
@@bsways We left last year, Sydney is not as it was, its Duplexes and mean angry people, its unrecognisable. Go to the Hunter Valley, its like Australian in the 1980s almost - amazing.
@@fingerprint5511 hey yes Sydney people are very aggro and quite fake. Its very difficult to make genuine friends with anyone. Its like you know lots of people but noone is really your friend. You could be dead in your apartment for a week and no one would notice or care until it starts to smell. I mean I'd love to move more rural somewhere but it's the cost of living here. Its too much. I'm headed to southeast Asia where Ill have a passive income, no longer need to work and I can travel and save money! Australia is a financial prison. A beautiful prison but a prison nonetheless. Until you decide to leave you don't realise how little freedom you actually really have
@@fingerprint5511same here. We got out of Sydney last year. Not the same place I grew up in 😢
1985 I was going to pubs and clubs chasing Aussie rock bands like The Radiators, The Angels, The Oils, etc. Every Sat night. All over the St George and Shire regions plus Selinas at Coogee, Dee Why pub and the RSL, Revesby Workers etc. All the clubs made money from youngsters going to watch bands. Pubs put on bands too, until they turned to pokies and ruined everything.
Interesting comment. I think your probably right.
I turned 18 in '85. Revesby Roundhouse always had great bands.
@@grantwilletts5669 17 in '85 and after uni we would always head into Newtown for a beer and a band or somewhere closer to the Cross. Life in Sydney wasn't perfect back then, but it was simpler, almost more 'real' than it seems to be now. Moving back to the country when the kids leave home (that could be decades from now!!). Great viewing! Dave
@@davee8659 it was simpler and a hell of a lot less people and traffic. Great times. The pub vibe seeing great local bands has sadly gone. Heady days indeed.
Yep that's me too along with Mondo Rock, Split Enz, Ice House playing at the Revesby Workers, Bankstown Sports club and RSL.
Sport every weekend for me it was playing cricket and soccer and watching the League Berries/Bulldogs' at Belmore oval on Sunday, or fishing in the Port Hacking/Georges or Hawkesbury on a Sunday or Flexi day.
None of my mates worked on the weekend, we would meet up at the High Flyer Pub, also had flexi days and planned holidays to enjoy life.
Would go back in a flash 😎👍🏼
I'm with you 🤠Thanks for commenting.
I was ten and it was a golden age, not just for Australia but my family as my Dads business was roaring before the recession we had to have kicked in. Nostalgia is a bitter sweet emotion.
So true, thanks for your comment.
What was your Dad doing? Globalization also destroyed many a Mom and Pop business
I was 20 years old in 1985 and Bondi was my second home in summer , the beautiful beach and ninos pizza is where we spent most of our time . how I miss 1985 .
Nice to hear your memories. Thanks for your comments👍
I was 15 at the time. This brings back so many great memories. It was indeed a special time in Sydney
Nice to hear, thanks for commenting🙂
The way Australia should have remained before our politicians stuffed it up
Multiculturalism stuffed it up.
@@peteormond2828 Found the racist
@@peteormond2828 international interest such as UN and WEF stuffed it up
I second that!
@@peteormond2828 Nope, Building developers and Councils did the damage.
I weep for the glorious past - how Australia once was in the fab eighties. I am 72 now with lots of great memories. Thank you for posting this.
I'm sure you could tell a few great stories about the 80's. Thanks for taking the time to comment.👍
It's not Australia anymore, just a mix of a thousand different little groups all doing their own thing and having their own agendas. There was once an Aussie culture, that is now dead and buried.
@@RS-rj5sh Could be some truth in this. Thanks for taking the time to comment🙂
@@RS-rj5sh Balderdash. It was exactly the same back then. People just follow their interests, nothing wrong with that. I lived in Sydney 1981-1989 (mid-twenties to early thirties) and had a great life. Rent was reasonable, for a start. The aussie culture was gobbled up by the corporate sector, mate.
@@paulthew2 nah ...it wasn't exactly the same back then ...trust me on that
I was 7 in 1985. I remember going to the opera house and playing outside and sliding down. Bondi was so different back then. I miss the 80s! Thanks for posting this!
Thanks for your comment. Nice to know the film brought back some happy memories🙂
@@gregpetterson
I was 12, but the film was not completely a memory, a lot of it was commercialized crap
the bondi beach bit was true to history
the beginning was not and the end was not
I'm sensing this was some sort of documentary , which.. as we know they always throw stuff in that no one did
Like Seriously...... SHOW OFF HANDS
Which one of us growing up HAD A YACHT growing up?
LMFAO
I had a car tyre insert that i blew up and took to bondi beach,......>Never a Yacht
@@martinkuliza If you looked around Sydney harbour in 1985 it was full of thousands of yachts. The film is all true history for it's time like it or not. True it doesn't interview anyone using a car tyre at the beach and I'm sure many people did.
I was 30 when this was made.I have been living in Queenland the last 7 years and I never thought i would ever say I miss Sydney.
the Sydney you miss doesn't exist anymore
Everyone over a certain age remembers how good this country was.
Yep, agree with you. Thanks for commenting.
Too bloody right!😢
Australia will never be like this again, I blame consecutive governments for ruining such a wonderful city. I moved out of Sydney in 1991 to the far north coast of nsw. I have no interest in going back. I wouldn’t even recognise where I grew up in the hills shire, totally changed for the worse. Kids of today would have no idea how great Sydney was in the 70’s and 80’s. Such a shame….
Some interesting truths there. Thanks for commenting.
Sydney is awesome to this day. You voted for those govs, why didnt YOU make a difference???
So very true Sir..I did the same and moved my family to the Blue Mountains 10 Years ago.
Take care friend
Look up castle hill showground and see what’s happened. The Baulkham Shire Council building isn’t at the ahowground anymore and everything is so different now.
@@Iwishiwasflying Unfortunately progress does not always move in the right direction. Thanks for commenting.
Was 9 at the time, and lived in Lithgow. We visited my grandparents who lived in Manly many times. It’s still a beautiful harbour - very much a golden era when I think back on it now. Thanks for sharing the video 👍
Manly is a great spot. Most of the surfing shots were taken at Manly. Agree with you about the golden era. Thanks for your comments.
I had family in Lithgow as well as Narrabeen, Im now in Bathurst
watching this i am reminded what was so great about Sydney then - and miss it intensely now. the decades have not been kind
Have to agree with you. Thanks for taking the time to comment🙂
There are a lot of people in Sydney who don’t appreciate what we have. They need to watch this video. Thank you for posting. I was 9 years old when this was filmed, honestly, take me back… If you told people these days the sun shines 15 of 17 days, they would probably tell you that we’re all gonna die.
How funny🤣🤣. Thanks for your comments.
@@gregpetterson no problem Greg, thanks for the video. I can remember the BBQ’s from back then, they were class and there was always a platter on offer. One thing that stands out is how carefree life was then compared to now. No wonder there is so much mental illness these days, too many things to complicate life and not enough time to enjoy the 15 of 17 sunny days.
What a lovely way to start my day and thank you. I moved to Sydney from the Mid North Coast in 1986 to start uni and have been here ever since. For me, returning to 1986 with your documentary is both nostalgic and sad - back when my dad was still alive, when we didn't have so much tech influence in our lives and life was probably "simpler" than it is now - at least for me. It remains a beautiful city, especially when you spend a lot of time in her many national parks and waterways! Many thanks again and cheers from the North Shore - Dave
Thanks for your comments Dave. Good point about the national parks and waterways they are stunning 👍
I was born and raised in Sydney and have now finally moved to the mid north coast. It took me 60 years to get the hell out of "That Place"... Now if I have to go down to Sydney, I can feel the pressure of the place when I drive south over the Hexam bridge. Looking back, it was all over for me when they tore down the Dee Why pub. Sydney is a developers dream, but not much chop for the rest of us schlubs.. :)
@@lukebable Thanks for your interesting comment.
@@gregpettersonwhat did he say?
@@CarolynEllisQtEllis Who is he?
This is excellent, thank you for bringing back so many memories of Sydney!
Thank you for your kind comment 🙂
Have never seen this before but very cool to discover a shot of me 9:51 as a young bloke shooting the JJJ Junior at Manly. Great memories there.
Unreal fantastic! I've been waiting for someone to recognise themselves. Your the first, thanks so much for letting me know. Was a great day.👍
I will be updating the original film end credits in the future once I have identified some of the unnamed people that were interviewed. I find as time goes on it is important to have these names recorded for future historical interest. If your interested even though you only appear for a few seconds I would like to include your name (guy shooting the JJJ Junior at Manly with Canon Telephoto) up to you? if interested and you don't want to leave your name here just email me. For my email go to my channel page and click on the 'about' section🙂
I grew up in clovelly right next to Bondi
After Sydney had the olympics it was never the same
Interesting comment thanks.
Beautiful. Proper Australia. A golden age.
Right on. 👍
Absolutely!
When we had an identity
@@thedownunderverse We still have our identity. It's that it's being attacked to relentlessly now. From government and the corporate sector, down through the media and the "left", to the hordes of foreigners whom they're bringing in.
Australia before the CCP took over. It was inevitable.
This Australia is long gone. Forever. Now we live on a prison planet.
Agree 💯
chinese rule
"This Australia is gone. Forever. Now we live on a prison planet."
-Indigenous people.
Thanks to global communism
@@wolfgangvonuce9803 Million bucks says you're from Sweden...
I miss that Australia so much! Thanks for the trip down memory lane 👏🏻
Thanks for your kind words and taking the time to comment.
I was 14 years old and living the best years of my life. Only thing is, I didn't realise this at the time.
I really hate the way this City has become. Over run with immigration, infrastructure bursting at the seams, extortionate energy prices, the death of our manufacturing industries, housing demand driving Australians out of their own market, Medicare crumbling, private health insurance through the nose, cramped suburbs, smaller blocks, smaller streets, every house has to have at least 5 cars, longer waiting times to see a doctor, high density ghetto suburbs, and so on and so fourth...
Our Politicians have really done a number on us and ruined this once beautiful place of ours. At least I have the memories right ???
The 1980's were a unrealised golden period. As you said at least you have the memories 🙂
I hear you buddy, I was 17 in 1985, born at Bankstown. Lebbo capital these days. Now I live at Campsie. All I see are chinese everywhere and not aa word of English. And they are just downright rude people the lebs and the chinese
Yep the Politicians have totally destroyed us!
It seems Australian politicians these days see endless population growth as a positive. I think it will actually lead to the destruction of Australian society and culture. It will destroy what we love about Australia.
@@sushimamba4281 Interesting comment, thank you.
What a time to be alive! The day's before mobile phones, selfie sticks, reality television and Kim Kardashian that we know of! We're simply a different people nowadays! The times before mass materialism and narcissistic tendencies took hold.
So true👍
Kim who?
Mobile phones were already there. They cost about $5000 and had a run time that couldn't rack up much of a bill. We had reality TV. It was Bert Newton and Norman Gunston. You couldn't get more real than that.
@@philgray3443 I think your right about the cost of mobile phones. I understand NEC made one in Australia, If you got the in-car and boot country range booster you were up for $6000
Dont forget mass immigration. It was 70000 per annum back then, which was a sustainable rate for the amount of housing being built. 400000 now, and Sydney is a chaotic, miserable, and unaffordable mess, thanks to massive immigration being forced on us by our hopelessly corrupt politicians.
Thanks for this piece of history. Reminds me of Sydney in 1985. Lived around Bondi
Thanks for your kind comment🙂
Yes me too. Working people could afford to rent a place back then. Great days.😊
1985 we restored my uncles pub the Mercantile The Rocks! Best days of my life!! ( & yes the Family still own it) Uncle Paul is passed thought!!
Interesting memory of a great Sydney landmark! thanks for sharing and fantastic to hear it's still in the same family👍
Great pub, I think I should own a few bricks!
Do you know the HMAS Vampire? My uncle served on her.
Been past the Mercantile many times when i was young; I can bet my Grandfather drank there (Defended Tobruk with the 9th) he worked at Paddy's Market during the depression; There was another one we went to, but i can't remember the name...
R.I.P Australia. It’s so sad what happened here. Looking to escape but not sure where to. Everything has been poisoned
Thats the question for sure, where would you go? thanks for commenting.
No, it's brilliant. Best place in the world. And the world is fine, too. Things are only shit if you insist on seeing shit. Change your vantage and your life will change also. 💗
Mate, you've got to recalibrate your social media feed. It's not all bad in Oz these days. For example, I'm heading to the Illawarra tomorrow to enjoy the sheer beauty of the escarpment, ocean, and lunch at the Mount Kemble pub. Beats living in Seria!
What the hell are you on meth I think 🤔 your poisoned! Sydney's still the best place in the world!❤ it's November 2024
Moved to Sydney from the far north coast of NSW in 1986. My girlfriend had moved and I came down a bit later when I had got a job. Thought I would be here for a couple of years. My girl dumped me the day i got here and she was the only person I knew in Sydney. Still here. Loved being in Sydney for for the 80's living in Darlo then Bondi. Still go to Stanley St in East Sydney to revisit the old haunts including the Lord Roberts and Bill & Tonys. Great doco - a love letter to Sydney in the 80's.
Good to hear a bit of your history and to see it turned out OK. Thanks for your kind comment👍
I worked as a bus driver for a year in 1985. Drove over the bridge from the North Shore to Wynard and back many times. Plus lost a wing mirror or two on occasion.
Not surprised about losing a wing mirror or two, just as busy on the bridge then as it is now. Tough job driving in the city. There is a bus in the film crossing the bridge from North to South, could have been you!
Superb video. I was 10 years old back in 85, living in my homeland UK and wouldn’t have known very much about Sydney. Been living in Sydney a while now and love life here. Love learning all about its history. Thanks for posting this Greg.
Thanks for your kind comments. Glad Sydney's been treating you well🙂
😎
Thankyou
The old blokes saying, everyday it gets better. I will never see that happen today.
Your so right, good observation👍Thanks for taking the time to comment.
the optimism of the 1980s is long gone
they be turning in their graves
@@gregpetterson You're*
The golden years happy times and folk
Thanks for the memories ❤ grew up in the east and was 22 when this was filmed
Nice to know it brought back memories. The east a great part of Sydney. Thanks for commenting.
I was 9 in 1985 , I miss those days when Australia was Great ! 💞👍🏻🇦🇺👍🏻💞
Yep. I’m a similar age. It’s really gone to poop now hasn’t it
In the days when it was another UK
What do you miss about it the most given you were 9?
Now with this voice, they want to segregate. Not telling people of land tax if yes
Thanks for posting,Greg. Fascinating look at the year before I arrived in Sydney.
Thanks for your kind comment 🙂
The only changes I have seen is equity and diversity has improved.
This was a few years before I was born. But the 80's seem like an awesome time to be alive. There were still cars and most modern conveniences. Minus mobile phones and fast computers.
Your right it was. But who knows maybe in another 40 years time today maybe looked upon as a great time🙂
@gregpetterson Maybe not the 2020s: inflation and wokness are rampant. The poor can't afford electricity, and the politicians don't even know what a woman is.
You're right, it was awesome.
The 80's were awesome we weren't backwards, just really laid back :) We got to experience life without mob phones and the internet, and then we did. Apple Mac coming to Aust 1986 I think. To see what Australia was like in the mid 80's and how it has changed 35 years later is a privilege I suppose. Very Aussie ocker then.
Thank you very much indeed, Greg. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this. As a lover of history, I found these images thrilling to experience 😊
Thank you for your kind words Mr Einstein🙂Glad you enjoyed it.
When Australia was full of the people who built, and fought for this country. Unlike now days !
it looks so different today. thanks for the upload sir
So true. Thanks for your comments🙂
Nsw has some the best beaches in the world. Sydney is absolutely heavenly. I will never understand why people compare melbourne with sydney its night and day difference
Good comment about the beaches. Melbourne has other qualities different to Sydney.
Melbourne? They have nothing. Always makes me laugh when they go around the country for the New Years Eve fireworks & they show that stupid little stream that goes through Melbourne that they call The Yarra River where they showcase their $100 dollar bag of fireworks & then Sydney harbor pops up on the TV screen with it’s multi million dollar bag of fireworks & it’s the best in the whole world .Who wants to see boring Melbourne & don’t laugh South Australians , Adelaide is just as boring .
@@blastermaster2383 Agree with you about the fireworks. But I think your a little bit tough on poor old Melbourne and Adelaide though, I'm sure their trying their best. Sydney is lucky having the iconic harbour bridge and Opera house to show case the fire works. 🙂
@@IvanDalmatinac Interesting comment. All the best for your move to the NSW north coast
A guy from Melbourne I met at a party in Sydney was extolling the virtues of his home city.
“If you took away the Harbour, Beaches and Weather.. what have you got “ he pronounced in a triumphant glow.
To this I quipped “ Melbourne “ 😂
I lived in Melbourne for a bit and I stopped telling people I was from Sydney as it kicked off the usual 5 minutes of rather parochial banter which seems weird when people from Sydney really dont care about Melbourne while they seem obsessed in being better than Sydney. It’s kinda pathetic to be honest when Sydney is literally one of the most beautiful cities if not the most. Little brother complex.
Awesome. Back when I didn't feel like I was living in Shanghai or Mumbai.
We wouldn't have anyone running the 7-11's, uber eats or shopping mall security
@@MissHannah2036
Wouldn't that be tragic.😅
@@MissHannah2036 Yes we would we would have Aussies. How rude.
There’s always Bendigo.
What’s wrong with Shanghai?
Can anybody identify the women at 5:18 interviewed at the Nuclear protest on Sydney harbour? and the guy in the middle at 7:35 interviewed on Bondi Beach? (the old boys lifeguards). So the film credits can be updated in the future.🙂Also thanks to some viewers who have pointed out a very important incorrect date in the narration. The narration at the start of the film has the first fleet dropping anchor in Sydney Cove on 28th of January 1788 when it should be 26th this will also be updated in the future.
I was an old Bondi lad and those old fellas look like Icebergers. Bondi Icebergs used to be the rock pool on South Bondi.
@@anthonyraymond5718 Thanks for your comment. With the help of The Bondi Loop FACEBOOK Group and the Bondi Historian Lawrie Williams we have identified Frank Hurley on the left (Australian heavyweight wrestling champion 1949. Was taken prisoner by the Germans in WW2 on the Greek Island of Crete and spent the war years in a prison camp in Germany) and Gordon Cassidy on the right but we are STILL TRYING TO IDENTIFY THE GUY IN THE MIDDLE?.🤔 I have been informed these guys were all original old boy lifeguards.
She seems an inner west type
@@fergspan5727 Could be, well thats a start. Thanks for your comment👍
I wonder where those protesters are today, how their living their lives, how important, concerning, this is subject is for them 40 years later.
I was busy growing inside my mum to see these days first hand. Grateful to have video footage of what Australia was like back then. I was clearly born at a wonderful time (1986) 😅
Nice one, thanks for commenting.
Great video, Kiwi whom lived in Coogee for 2 years at this time. Loved the City, great Pubs Selina's Cooggee Bay Hotel saw so many great Aussie and Kiwi Bands.
Nice to hear you have some good memories. Thanks for your comments.
I was one of the very fortunate people privileged to grow up on the Northern Beaches. We did not understand that it was a paradise. We were the luckiest people in the world, living in the most beautiful part of the most beautiful city in the world. I was in my late twenties then and those couple of decades were when it was when it was at its best. Truly superb.
So true, sure is a beautiful part of the world👍Thanks for your comment.
Manly, Dee Why and Freshie, great spots, mate...
@@stevestewart-sturges2159 Yes, I lived near Dee Why, but Harbord was the best for body surfing. Pittwater was and still is the most beautiful place in the world to go sailing. Halcyon days.
@@stevestewart-sturges2159 All great spots, a lot harder to get parking now to back then.🙃 Was easy parking at Freshie then. I'm guessing it's all changed as it was over 20 years ago when I was there last.
@@thomaselliott573 harbord was also my favourite spot for body surfing. My mate had a VW Combie and on our way to Harbord if the Spit bridge closed we would all jump out and leave the Combie in the traffic jam and go for a quick swim until the bridge went down. Does anybody do that these days?
1985 was my last year living in Sydney as a youngster. Always a joy to come back and visit.
Hope you have some nice memories of the time. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Not an Indian or middle eastern in sight. It was beautiful
Absolutely correct. Now look at Australia, full of them.
My first experience in Sydney was 1987, on a rugby trip from Nz, went to Katoomba played there, Wollongong. I loved the experience as a young 15year old. I would move back to live in my 30s to Brisbane Queensland,,Aussie is in my blood, love this nation and its people.
God bless Australia 🇦🇺 👍
How nice, great to hear. Thanks for telling your story.
Love Sydney, spent a lot of time there in the 1980's
Nice to hear Zoo Zu
Yep. Great in the 80s. Not now.
@@warriorpoet9629 sad but true mate
The young lady worrying about a nuclear accident destroying Sydney didn’t see that eventually politicians would destroy Sydney by cramming millions more people into our city. Higher rise everywhere and crazy property prices. It’s awful. The Australian way of life is gone. And seeing fellow white Australians is becoming a rarity.
You're not alone in that thought mate. I'm the only white person on my bus to work each day. No one is reading or watching English content on their phones during their commute, only foreign. They don't need to integrate because they are the Australian population now. We're the immigrants. I was born here but I don't consider myself Australian anymore.
Interesting observation. Thanks for commenting.
@@ferrarikangaroo9271 I agree, when I travel on the train it is much the same. The Sydney of 1985 has long gone in many suburbs along with the uniqueness of the Australians from that period. I was not born in Australia but even I miss the Australian characters from that time. Thanks for commenting.
This was a nicely edited short doco and good little glimpse back to the mid-80s.
Thanks for your kind comments 🙂
I was 17, at the time, and I miss that time, I think I miss the feel of that time, along with just being young and having your whole life ahead of you. In some ways it was a more innocent time a simpler time. But I still I think Sydney is a great City and Australia, a great country, the greatest, country, actually by far, (my parents came here from Europe in 1962 and I'm so glad they and I was born in Australia ) and I will always be grateful that they were able to settle here, I will always love Australia I have travelled a lot , and would not want to live anywhere else permanently.
Agree your parents made a good move and also agree Australia is still a great place to live. Thanks for commenting.
@@gregpetterson cheers.
Having your Dog Off the Leash on Bondi Beach.. Try that Now!
Thats not going to happen😂
Now you need a license to go fishing!
Special memories of my childhood. I feel blessed to have experienced the innocence of the 80s.
Right on, the 80's were a golden period. Thanks for commenting🙂.
I lived across from Bondi back then, in a old block of flats in Campbell Pde... to get up at sparrow, run across to the beach and have your morning surf, bit if tea and toast and get on the 380 into the City, do your day's graft then back, either to the beach, maybe walk down to Bronte along the beach in the sunset, down a schooner at Selinas and take in a band, a late night kebab at Bondi Junction, hit the clubs and hotels Friday and Saturday night, hung over morning surf on Sunday.... konk out on the beach.... life was bloody marvelous
Those were the days, sounds like you were living it👍Thanks for your comment.
Yes I lived in Bennett St, Flood St, Roscoe St & Blair St. Flats were cheaper & easier to rent back in the 80's I moved into my first share flat in 1985. At 19 years of age. I had a full time job as a phone technician when I was 18 years old at Telecom before it was called Telsra & stolen from the people. We didn't realise how good we had it back then. Most work places were unionised, work & housing was much more secure & we didn't cop shit from bosses or governments.😊😊
I miss the eighties
Yep it was a great time, thanks for your comment👍
Beautiful🎉.. old is gold❤
I remember what Bondi was like back them. Like swimming in a dunny. Plus nobody ever drank Fosters in Sydney.
Thanks for your interesting comments. I think you're right, Bondi did have off days depending on wind and tide conditions back then. Tooheys beer was popular if I remember correctly.
@@gregpetterson Yeah although Malabar was probably worse Bondi had a bad rep for a while. And pretty much everybody drank Tooheys if not Tooth / Reschs. Although VB and Swan had started to make inroads into the market.
You are right, nothing like a Tooheys or 2, as the advert went.
Bondi cigars everywhere..
@@davidjohnston7512And I thought someone had dumped a load of Picnic bars in the water.
My memories of 85 are just that, golden sunsets.. summer was summer. Many weekends down at balmoral beach. A few trees there still have our carvings 😊 life and people were fascinating (not screens) .. that vision of the aqua plane, as a kid you'd look up and see all kinds of flying objects. You played sports and enjoyed it. Family was more valued...
Great comments and memories. Thanks for taking the time to comment🙂
@@gregpetterson thanks mate ... the coastline, colors of summer, personalities at bondi .. centrepoint looked golden and new! and how many people living in Sydney at the time can identify with all these images. Life was magical. BTW so was TV .. countdown .. Cheers .. Hey Hey .. its amazing how the environment at certain times rubs off on other bits of society and there is a richness and abundance.
@@cvarikos More good memories👍
great era from 70s right up until around 2000... then the internet really took over, then social media, then smart phones... people have all the entertainment they need in their one hand.
Agree with you, sure has been big changes in technology in the past 40 years.
No dots or cube worshippers to be seen. Wonderful!!!!
wow amazing footage of syd in the 80's😮
Thanks for your kind comment.
I like how the bloke at the end is so repulsed by work he has to spell the word out 😂
🤣🤣🤣 Life was a little more laid-back in the 80's
Still Centrepoint Tower to me... & Bondi in the 80's... I remember was a very relaxed place 😜
Have to agree with you. Thanks for your comment👍
@@gregpetterson I was staying with my dad in 1983 in a penthouse in Bondi Junction & then he looked after a friends place with a private beach nearby
@@Slashkamr Wow! living the life with a private beach. Sounds like great memories. Thanks for sharing.
In the late 70's on sunday 3-4pm almost no cars in many areas, even on the Bridge...
I was born in Liverpool hospital in 1984. A lot has changed since then .
Your right, thanks for taking the time to comment👍
Thank you for this documentary ~ it’s lovely to step back in time .
I lived in Coogee and Bronte then . I did travel across on the ferry to work at Dalwood Children’s home in Seaforth . It certainly was a beautiful ride across the harbour . I also went to tech in kogarah . I loved the public transport system , it was so efficient . I also loved the rock swimming pools , the gorgeous cliffs and beaches , and the blue mountains just an hour or so train ride away ! I met interesting people there , dedicated myself to yoga doing regular classes at Bondi junction , and alleviated my chronic health condition symptoms at the time . Which was fabulous .
These days I’m more aware of the indigenous history ~ seeing places through a different lense . What a sad & tragic time began for the Gadigal people and all indigenous tribes , when Captain Cook arrived on these beautiful shores .
Thanks for your comment. Glad it brought back some good memories for you.
The good old days just before the real estate market was stitched up and a whole assortment of other hustles
No doubt about it, a lot easier to buy and payoff a home then. Thanks for your comment.
Australia was beautiful back then, Sydney back then was the best times of my young life, how did we get to where we are today, the wrong people running our country, Australia isn't Australia anymore, that old Soldier that got out of the German NZI camp would be rolling in his grave if he saw how society in our country is today
Your probably right
Wrong type of immigration. Im late 30s with my parents (Austrlian born) being italian. I dont know what is was like when their parents moved here (i hear stories of getting bullied as "wogs" when they were kids) but i knew my grandparents (immigrants) always worked hard, tried to learn the language and blend in. My parents aren't the type to start trouble. All i see now is arabs treating the roads like their personal playground, no care in the world to follow any rules and second generation asians still not able to speak english clearly. This might sound like a racist comment, but as someone with multiple ethnic friends, and work with multiple cultural backgrounds its the truth as bad as it may sound. some will say you cant generalize but when the majority or certain groups act this way its hard not to.
@@cmelft2463 Very interesting thoughts from somebody with an ethnic family background. Thanks for commenting.
So much nicer to have Sydney Harbour Bridge without the flags spoiling the lines of the arch.
Interesting comment, got me thinking.
Absolutely loved this documentary thank you for sharing. Can you tell me the name of the/ artist of the piano music that is throughout the documentary? At the beginning etc … it’s beautiful ❤
Thanks so much for your kind words. Glad you liked the opening music track. It's called Mysterious Ways by Crescent Music.
I remember those days. International Roast was our coffee. Chinese braised chicken was the heights of exotic cuisine. For the less adventurous there was always Red Rooster or a Chiko Roll from the corner shop. Wine came in cardboard boxes, and VB beer was everywhere. Men dressed in king gees or polyester suits, and women wore Katies or Best and Less. The sweet scent of Winfield Reds permeated the city. A root in a panel van was a classy date. And the Daily Telegraph was our window to the world. Our golden age indeed before multiculturalism.
Thanks for highlighting some of the norms back then.
You wouldn’t have a doctor without multiculturalism.
LOL - spot on!!! Laid back, Anglo-Celtic Australia has all but disappeared. Many of the old diggers would be devastated at how we've sold ourselves out and are being replaced.
@@embracedmadness
This is because the universities deliberately limit med school intakes - it's cheaper to import foreign fully trained doctors. Super bright Aussie students with 98 score ATARS across double maths, physics, chemistry, still can't get into medicine - it's deplorable.
Well you dont know shit, because my grandparents came over from Poland in 1948, my grandad help build the snowy mountains hydro electric scheme with about 65,000 other migrants from over 30 nations.. so immigration helped you have all those wonderful things you enjoyed..
I was 9 and living in Bondi beach at the time, such good memories of my redstone skateboard and morey boogie board.
Nice to hear the film brought back some good memories for you🙂
i was 11 y.o in 1985....sad to see Australia now looks like baghdad
You have obviously never been to Baghdad...
you obviously havent been to auburn/bankstown/fairfield/liverpool/...to name a few,Australia is becoming Arabised?
@@slyonmeshut up. Australia was anglicised when we turned up on boats and raped and pillaged. Who are you to decide who lives here?
😂
I moved to Sydney in 1985. It was a great city then and it's still great. Thanks for the upload. Shame about all the whiners and racists commenting though.
Agree, it's different but still great🙂
They were good days back then. We can't say the same for Australia today. The WEF, WHO & UN test bed now. Banjo & Henry would be rolling in their graves if they could see how gutless Australia has become.
Thanks for an interesting comment🙂
Great video!
I read your bio and see that you enjoy documenting for historical and future reasons! 😊 Our family has an hour or so worth of film, and much of the film is/was recorded from my grandfather's airplane, back when he owned and flew a small commercial airplane just after WW2 (He was in the RAAF and flew in a light bomber during the war, i suppose thats where he learned to fly).
Im not sure if you want Australian film like that, but if you do, i can go find the DVD, set it up on my laptop and send you a copy. Wether you use it or not, thats upto you, maybe you'll simply enjoy viewing some footage of rural Australia from a birds eye perspective. 🙂
Either way mate, have a good one 👍🏻
Oh, i nearly forgot to say -- the film is from the mid 50s).
Its family/home footage of my mothers side of the family.
Wow! sounds great, would love to see a copy of it. For my email details please click on the 'About' section of my RUclips channel page. 🙂
Before they sold this place out. Now it’s “multicultural” which equals one big mess and overpriced in every aspect.
Your right about overpriced, thanks for commenting.
Andrew 'the boy wonder', aka Denton, assisting Doug Mulray on 2MMM - what a way to begin! I was flatting in East Sydney while at Kenso Kindy. What a time. Pumped fuel at Rosebay on weekend - watched the seaplanes or the 18 footers. Life was simple and good.
Good memories. thanks for sharing👍
Those where the days my friend we thought they would never end weed sing and dance the hole day through , great time and song if you remember 😮👀😳🫣
So true 😊
In my early 60’s and living in Sydney in the 70’s and 80’s was absolutely awesome…. Smoke in the pubs, live music, no bloody tolls ( except harbour bridge and F3… 60 cents) plenty of affordable housing and east to get around.
No more:(…. Best thing about it now is seeing Hornsby in my rear view mirror heading home up the coast
Good memories and good laugh about Hornsby🤣. Thanks for commenting.
They definitely had stronger accents back then compared to now!
Intersting observation 👍
There are other people mentioning this. A gentrification is erasing regional accents in the UK.
Great doco . Thank you
Thank you for your comment, nice to know what you thought of it
10:59 - Australia really was "the lucky country", but not so much nowadays.
I think your right. Thanks for commenting.
This short Docu-film is a ripper. Cheers for sharin' it, mate!
Bloody bonza gettin' a squiz at Sydney back in the '80s and gettin' a feel for the times. The sound added a fair, and them Super8 film shots, mint quality, mate! Classic as, but top-notch shootin' and editin' there. Bauer S175XL wasn't just for dinkum amateurs, ey? Proper professional Super8 gear, fair dinkum.
Cheers 🇦🇺❤
Thanks for taking the time to comment, super nice kind words thank you🙂
Sydney 1985, what a year, what a decade. Babylon. Best time of my life.
Definitely agree with you 👍
100%
Love the world two veterans proper Aussie characters remind me of my late grandfather
there be long gone now
Rip to them 🎉🎉🎉
So true, real characters. Thanks for commenting.
No Indians. WONDERFUL!!!!
White Australia, the way it should of been kept.
Great vid. These were the days even as a 1st generation kid born here from asian parents, you'd still feel the aussie cultural influence. I was 8 yrs old in 85. Growing up in the 80s was a lot better than now.
Nice to hear it sounds like you enjoyed growing up in the 80's. Thanks for commenting.
Anyone else turned 17 in 1985? Interesting how many people in my cohort clicked on this video! 😅 Must be the point of nostalgia to return to the days when life was simple and free. 😎🦋
Yes, life was more simple and free back then.
I hate Sydney these days. Been here my whole life over 50 years. After the olympics it changed for the worse. Every man and his dog came here and it went downhill in many ways. Ridiculously unaffordable these days. Gentrification has pushed people out. I rented a two bedroom unit in the city for $80/week in 1990. Now you’re lucky to get a shoebox for $500/week. They promised us that all the technology would make life easier but people are working harder and longer with fewer benefits than ever before. Apparently if you have a multi million dollar mortgage that you’ll never pay off you’re considered lucky.
I have with agree with you on some of your points. Yes they did promise that technology would give us an easier life with more free time. I never did believe it would happen. Your right, more young people are working longer and harder than ever just to live in Sydney.
@@gregpetterson I’m leaving to south east Asia next year. I can live there and have a very nice lifestyle without working and save money and travel. In Sydney all I do is work to pay bills and get nowhere.
One of the problems of housing affordability was here already in 1985, illustrated by the attitude of that guy on the boat in the video. Get your life down to working 2 or 3 days a week and spend the rest of your time sailing on the harbour, hey? Only the well-off could do that, and then they bought up all the real estate and got richer by jacking up the prices and rents. Now they are richer, and so many have to suffer because of it...
@@papasmurfette007 but you can't really blame them for investing. Blame the politicians. They are the ones who have failed to implement policies to stop the rampant greed. Most likely because they too have property portfolios and are making a lot of money from it
"Original film type Kodachrome 40 (Super 8 sound film) restored and enhanced to HD. " I remember growing up in the 90's and being intrigued by the photos in old magazines from the 80's at the dentist and doctor's waiting room. The colours made it look like another planet, especially since fashion seemed to have changed a lot too by then.
Side note: the narration by Morag McArthur sounds like just like a present day Laura Tingle.
I think your right, Morag does sound a little like Laura Tingle 👍Thanks for taking the time to comment.
i was a teenager then, catching the train into Central from fairfield for $1, i would then free range around town, man the things i got up to, all harmless of course but amazing nonetheless
I grew up in the 90s and 2000s. The 80s and 70s must of been goldern times.
Very true, it was a golden period. Thanks for commenting.
I see nobody was concerned about the cost of living or house prices.. 🤨
Your so right, house prices were more stable back then and the banks would never give a loan at such a high percentage of income like they do today. If the same rules applied today, you probably couldn't buy a home in Sydney on the max amount approved by the banks.
@@gregpetterson negative gearing wasn't a thing back then was it? It is just astronomical the prices now and there are either people struggling to get into the market or people with multiple properties. Crazy
@@KellyOsborne222 Yes I think you are right about the negative gearing. Its very sad for some people at the moment, definitely not the lucky country for them like they use to say 40 years ago.
I think there are other factors overlooked here too.
One elephant in the room was the tremendous amount of "New Arrivals" in the last 20-25 years or so.
But I'm sure that I'll get accused of all sorts of nonsense just for stating the obvious.
@@Fnord23Gnosis no-one mentioned that in this video. Australia is multicultural and has been for a very long time.. there has always been other migrants coming here. Their ethnicities have changed but same sitch.
when I came to Sydney 1989, it was so beautiful. There were not any tall buildings either in Darling Barbour nor at Opera House
Interesting observation. Thanks for commenting.
It's mad how popular and common topless sunbathing was in the '80s. Feel sort-of sorry for people these days, as we didn't bat an eyelid about it back then but you rarely see it now. Well, I guess those people have the internet now! But anyway, still sailing and surfing in Sydney. Despite all it's problems and expense of living here, it still stacks up as a great place to be.
Totally agree, its still a great place to live but sad that many struggle with the expenses living in Sydney today. Thanks for taking the time to comment🙂
Love the bronze whalers and white tipped pointers.
I was a child at that harbour peace rally. My Grandfather was the Uniting Church Reverend Rex Mathews from Paddington & inner city congressional archdiocese of greater Sydney. The 80s , in eastern Sydney was the best most inspiring place i could wish to be.
The eastern suburbs is a great place to be anytime, but during the 80's it must have been even better. Thanks for commenting🙂.
I was doing a course at Gymea TAFE in 1985 definitely the best of times. A lot more common sense back then.
Thanks for your comment, always interesting to hear what people were doing back then. Agree it was a great time.👍
NO such thing nor mindset of common sense exists, Stupid.
Define it if you Retarted-ly think so 😐🤐