Summer Holiday in Forster 1971

Nearly every year through the 1960s and early 1970s we'd take the last 3 weeks off school to holiday in Forster NSW. We'd stay at "Nundah" flats in Head St. It was owned by Cec and Lily Parsons who lived in "Stella Maris" next door. (The back of the house was a self-contained flat that was also let during the holidays.)
This is a Super 8mm movie that has been digitized. It has suffered in the 50 years since it was made and hence the quality varies from very good to very poor. It shows Forster as it was at that time. 1971 was the year town water was put on. Prior to this each house had its own tank as well as a bore pump. The advent of town water changed Forster from a slow country town into the destination city it now is.
The video starts with our train trip on the North Coast Daylight Express that we'd catch from Strathfield. Our grandfather would drive us to the station: he, my grandmother, and cousin can be seen waving us off. We'd take the train to Taree where we'd travel by bus (that would do deliveries along the way) or get picked up by fellow Nundah stayers who we'd see each year. We got to know the other kids very well. Each morning it would be our responsibility to take the scraps bucket to the main garbage bins. Whenever this occurred the other kids would yell "Heeeyyyy pig boy!".
In the early 60s Forster had an air service from Mascot to Wallis Island that we took on a few occasions.
The video shows the baths, beach, breakwaters, and lake. It includes scenes at the trampoline centre at the end of Wharf St. It includes some scenes from the tennis courts that used to be near the baths. It also shows my brother's birthday with a cake made by Mrs Parsons. Each year she'd host a Christmas dinner where her plum puddings, which had been boiling away for 8 hours a couple of days before, would be served, The smell of them boiling is still one of my most favourite memories.
Each holiday we'd take the bus into Taree and spend the day with a highly anticipated lunch at the RSL Club next to the Manning River.