Famous gathering place at Hardys Bay

The most famous and regular gathering place on the Bouddi Peninsula is under the Yum Yum Tree in Hardys Bay in the late afternoon sun.

It originated around at the Wagstaffe store when it was run by Harry Kinson.

Harry sold liquor out of part of the shop and customers would often gather together around the front of the shop where the coffee tables are now.

The site and the gatherings were popularly known as Harry's Place.

When Harry moved from the Wagstaffe store and built the shop now known as Killcare Cellars around 1980, he took the liquor licence with him and his customers followed to the new gathering spot under the Yum Yum trees, although there was a stage when it was commonly referred to as the Defaulters Club, since many of its members had been barred from the RSL club.

In the early days the people who gathered there did their drinking in the car-park outside the shop.

Deb Holloman met her husband Steve Teasdell in the car-park of the bottle shop.

Later on, the drinkers moved across the road, to the small area on the waterfront, where the coral trees provided shade.

Many local identities have participated in the conviviality of the Yum Yum group.

Prominent among these in the 1980s and 90s were Brian Burrows and Jack Morrow, who would establish themselves regularly at 3pm every afternoon to open the proceedings.

CD-ROM, 2010

David Dufty, The Bouddi Peninsula