Token - Top Deck Family Amusements Mooloolaba ND

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The unique attraction that reshaped the future of Mooloolaba (sunshinecoastnews.com.au)

Next door, the Wharf brought a whole new experience to Mooloolaba, and was also creating memories.

Its designers had described it: “This multimillion-dollar tourist facility is built on timber piles out over Mooloolaba Harbour, in the style of a turn-of-the-century dockyard.”

And they waxed lyrical about its allure for both residents and visitors: “From the harbourfront boardwalks to the old world charm of the fine emporiums which display everything from local crafts to high-tech kites and fashion, The Wharf is a place to browse, to buy something different or just sit and watch the boats plying the river.”

In the wake of Expo, there were also entertainers wandering the precinct. It was certainly ahead of its time.

Remember Murphy’s, the harbour-side licensed family restaurant, Pier One for fine a-la-carte seafood dining, and Prego’s Coffee House under the tower?

In the mix of shops was a “Kodak mini lab”, which was a big deal in the days before mobile phones gave instant photographs.

At its opening, Friday’s was listed as “a waterside beer garden, cocktail bar and night club” but it was as the latter, that it became the go-to entertainment venue for a generation conceived around the same time as The Wharf project itself.

Everyone will have their own memories of the area which has continued to evolve. There was the scuba training in a tank on site, paraflying, the Top Deck amusement centre and a carousel, and when Underwater World put in the seal stadium, it ranked as one of the best in the country.