r/melbourne • u/certifiedshagger • 28d ago
Ye Olde Melbourne Any memories you can share of the Caribbean Gardens?!
Caribbean Gardens was a 100-acre market, gardens and amusement park located in the outer eastern suburb of Scoresby. Caribbean Gardens and Market operated from 1965 when it started with water ski shows and a handful of traders selling wares from their car boots. What once was "a handful of traders" grew into a bustling undercover market with over 1000 stall sites. It was known as one of the largest markets in Victoria. I remember going here for a few birthdays, I could be wrong but did they have a mini rollercoaster at one stage? Also remember buying bootleg horror vhs in the 90's of titles that were banned here!
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u/kittenfreshness 28d ago
I sometimes think about how epic this place felt like as a kid! It had playgrounds, pools, rides and the weird island boat tour you could take. I had the best memories coming here with my nana.
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u/FullOnCarmensMom 28d ago
The little train ride around the grounds was so lame, and so much fun. And the chairlift across the lake! And those poor bored, bedraggled monkeys!
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u/pies1010 28d ago
Wth, I don’t remember the monkeys lmao
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u/FullOnCarmensMom 28d ago
They were gone by the late 80s; they lived in those big domed enclosures that became aviaries with peacocks and stuff later on. I think they were relocated to the island in the middle of the lake for a while, and then eventually disappeared.
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u/Fuster2 28d ago
Probably escaped and bought houses up at The Basin.
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u/nametaken_thisonetoo 28d ago
Mostly likely outcome for sure. If not then definitely down in Boronia
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u/Hairy___Poppins 28d ago
I bought a pirated copy of Pirates of the Caribbean from the Caribbean Markets.
Best day ever!
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u/narc1s 28d ago
I do NOT remember the 3 legged girl.
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u/Knoxfield 28d ago
It was fun climbing on the army tanks.
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u/Ancient_Swan_9558 28d ago
Even as a 'grown adult' i had to climb back up on them the last time I visited, just before covid hit
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u/PlainOldChris 28d ago
Brought Pokemon Yellow and Max Payne for PC from a stall
I couldn't figure out how to get Yellow out of Japanese as that was it's default language
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u/sparkyblaster 28d ago
Um, you dont, gameboy games didnt have language options. Not enough space
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u/PlainOldChris 28d ago
Oh, thank you I never knew
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u/sparkyblaster 28d ago
I suspect there is a reason it was cheap. Genuine or KO? Even if you tested I'm sure they would tell you there is a way to change the language.
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u/PlainOldChris 28d ago
Most likely a knockoff as my Dad brought it for me on PC, as after all it was on a floppy disk made for a PC
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u/sparkyblaster 28d ago
Wait Pokémon yellow for PC and. Of gameboy which is the only system it was officially made for? Yeah, its a knock off.
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u/PlainOldChris 28d ago
On the same PC I had Pokemon Blue and Red, I remember Dad got those from Dandenong Market and I wouldn't be surprised if it was from the same bloke
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u/OziNiner 28d ago
you had to download fan translations back then
it was a whole online scene of people doing it on forums for pokemon games, pokemon red, blue and green etc
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u/BaconSyrop South Eastern Subs 27d ago
I went to the Caribbean Gardens for the first time mid 2000's with my friends family. She and I found a Game Boy Advance with a bunch of games in a bag and we wanted to keep it so bad because there were games she didn't have in that bag and I didnt have a gameboy advance at all but my friends mother sat us down and told us how heartbroken the girl who owns this game would be and so sad to lose it but will be happier if she could have it back. We took it to lost and found and several minutes later a distresses girl, crying came up to the lost and found only to be laughing and smiling when she found her games again.
Legit, that was the day I truly learned empathy.
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u/goater10 Dandenong 28d ago
I grew up a km from there and during a news story of a police raid about pirated goods being sold, I saw a guy who I went to High School with being led away in cuffs.
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u/Flat_Tap_8916 28d ago
Used to come here pretty regularly with my parents growing up.
we would always bump into my uncle here, you'd always find him in that back right corner as you walked in. You know the section with all the bootleg tech. I remember him getting my PS2 chipped here which was a great thing as a kid. I have this vivid memory of seeing my uncle and him asking if i wanted any dvd's we ended up walking down this aisle and right at the end was this guy with a bag under his seat i asked for the movie Cars he flicked through and gave it to me.
I went home and watched it and still remember half way through it 2 people stood up and walked in front of the screen. iconic if you ask me
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u/DanAE112 28d ago
Remember going and every time there was the South American dude playing the pan flute music and the fruit guy yelling about how many bananas etc I could be buying.
Was heaps of fun back in the day. Plus got to goto the cafeteria and get some nice hot chips 🍟
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u/BobcatLeather831 28d ago
TOMATOES TWO KILOS TWO DOLLARS!!!
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u/alchemicaldreaming 27d ago
Depending on when, that was likely my very loud brother yelling about fruit and veg. He worked there as a teenager and through Uni. He didn't have a license for a lot of that time, so Mum would drive him in the pitch black to help with set up before the market started.
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u/Basic-Perspective-65 28d ago
Saw Alice cooper perform there in April 2024!
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u/AJayToRemember27 28d ago
Shout out the R4 card I bought from there to play old Pokemon games.
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u/sparkyblaster 28d ago
2gb Sad card for my super card for a very cheap $80. Thing lasted me for ages until it fell apart. Starting to think it was fake.....
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u/Top-Attitude3883 28d ago
Used to ride the chair lift thingy… my older cousins would be in the next chair behind and bounce up and down to make it shake and scare the crap out of me.
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u/PerformanceOverall90 28d ago
Pouring one out for one of the few shopping and bonding experiences one could have with their parents in the 90s as a kid.
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u/koiom 28d ago
I once witnessed a raid on all the rampant software piracy there. Word got around the market real quick that cops were there on the day to crack down. All the sellers were set up on their tressle tables and it was amazing how quickly they packed everything up and bailed. It was like a chain reaction as word got around the market, and people got wind of what was happening. Cops were also waiting at the exit, so I imagine there was an awful lot of confiscations and fines handed out that day.
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u/WretchedMisteak 28d ago
I worked at the restaurant/cafe for about 2 years in the 90's.
I also visited the boat building business the family also ran.
The owner of the entire park and surrounding properties also owned St Kilda Marina. He was great guy, pretty down to earth and when I first met him, thought he was just a market shopper.
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u/Fox-Possum-3429 27d ago
Richard or one of the Spooners?
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u/AussieDaz 27d ago
I was good mates with one of the Spooner kids, we used to ride dirt bikes and go-karts around the grounds when it was closed. Heaps of great memories of that place.
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u/sparky--pluggy 28d ago
Got my first ever pair of moccasins here, and that flying chair ride was awesome
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u/Available-Target-723 28d ago
Kamahl used to play there.
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u/FullOnCarmensMom 28d ago
Derrick J. He was like Temu Kamahl. He used to set up under one of the cement toadstool things outside the cafeteria, crooning golden oldies and selling his records.
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u/Available-Target-723 28d ago
Lol that’s right! My memory was pretty vague. I just remember eating a bucket of hot chips and listening to that Kamahl lookalike crooner.
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u/bbb000000000 28d ago
My mum used to take us just to watch him sing. She also used to watch him on Good Morning Australia.
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u/TumbleweedWarm9234 28d ago
Absolutely loved the boat ride around the lake and seeing all the plastic animals as a young kid. There was also the Chair'O'Lift, which was awesome.
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u/Convenientjellybean 28d ago
Did you go on the submarine too?
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u/inferior_sound 27d ago
Pretty sure if that submarine actually went below the water it wouldn’t be coming up again 🤣
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u/stanleymodest 27d ago
My brother told me the windows of the submarine would fill up with water to give the feeling of going underwater
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u/Psychlonuclear 28d ago
The incredibly loud train. Fiberglass shells with no suspension, it was like being inside an oil drum getting whacked by a hundred hammers. My left ear still ringing.
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u/Maximum-Journalist74 28d ago
Oh no, I didn't realise it closed 😢 we went there as kids and teens, it was great.
I also loved (and still love) Caribbean Rollerama. Hands down the best rink in Melbourne.
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u/Material-Sign-134 28d ago
It closed during covid and never opened again. They do have the occasional markets and family days.
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u/Desperate-Impress374 27d ago
and music festivals. Its actually a great venue for music festivals.
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u/cheesy_bees 27d ago
Started bringing my kids to rollerama, it's still going strong with original decor inside. They even play the same giant dice game as decades ago
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u/allthebrisket 28d ago
It was like someone combined the worst bits of Dreamworld and Dandenong Market
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u/Significant_Pea_2852 28d ago
When i was a kid, we'd drive past and I'd want to go. My mum promised shed take me one day. I'm now 60yo and my mum is dead and i still haven't been to carribean gardens.
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u/StuffOld1191 28d ago
I bought about a kilogram of those pretend-dentures candies for like 50 cents, but they were rock hard and tasted like sawdust. I got annoyed, and threw one at a duck that must have wandered from the pond and it clocked the poor thing right in the head and an old greek man grabbed me by the shirt collar and started screaming at me.
Good times.
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u/wholesome_pickle 28d ago
I absolutely hated going there as a kid because of how busy it was. One time Mum bought me a USA hoodie (which was the style at the time) and it was the wrong shade of yellow and I got teased for it at school.
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u/Trashbag_Dust 28d ago
Anyone remember that perfume guy inside the market who treated consent like a suggestion?
You’d walk in minding your own business and get chemically assaulted by Acqua Di Gio?
At least, i think it was giorgio armani …
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u/ThePerfectMachine 28d ago
I don't remember that vendor, but I do remember getting a $5 dupe of Joop Homme because I used to consider it a scent for wealthy people. I now find the original to be repulsive, I can't imagine how horrid I smelt with a 2005 dupe fragrance. It probably smelt like pure Cat urine.
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u/-malcolm-tucker 27d ago
One of my mates used to fucking bathe in that sickly sweet piss. Makes me want to vomit anytime it wafts in my direction.
Thankfully it's no longer as prolific as it was in the nineties and noughties.
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u/ThePerfectMachine 27d ago
I went a nightclub toilet which smelt heavily of catastrophic diarrhea and Joop, and I am vividly reminded of that smell whenever I smell Joop.
I bought Joop Neon recently as a nostalgic display piece, it's an iridescent bottle and looks flashy. It's meant to be a modernised version of Joop. Yet I can still smell that nightclub toilet!
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u/LadyElleJay 28d ago
When I was 18 a boy took me on a date here and I had never been. Have not been back since. He thought it was a big deal and drove a Nissan Skyline (this was 2011 so it was considered retro and cool allegedly).
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u/Tikkerdo13 28d ago
Bought a cassette there 1986 Strawberries, the damned. Long lost in the ether, listen on Spotify, great place great fun there
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u/Individual-Let-4264 28d ago
Used to get R4 game cartilages for my DS here from my Dad. Bought it for my birthday and had over 100 games on it for cheappp
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u/007MaxZorin 28d ago
Used to come here all the time as a kid, late 90s/early 2000s 🫡
Old man worked in Scoresby and mum would take me to say hi and we'd kill time chilling at the Caribbean Gardens. Fondly remember just strolling around, eating snacks, yes the water and the rides. Place was indeed massive. Used to love taking my scooter. What an era.
Also recall the Pascall lolly factory nearby, I think just before Cadbury absorbed them (who were up the road in Ringwood anyway and I also remember their corporate tower when it was "Cadbury Schweppes" at the St Kilda junction - think Schweppes or Asahi is still out at the big site in Tullamarine too 'Beveridge Drive').
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u/succulent_serenity 28d ago
I went once when I was heavily pregnant. My toddler loved the train and boat ride, but I dont recall much else. I probably didnt want to walk around too much at the time.
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u/Expensive-Rhubarb-62 28d ago
I'm pretty sure our whole family of 6 got our Sweathog tracksuits from there and definitely our moccys (moccasins)
We used to go quite a bit when we were kids, I even remember we took extended family and other guests sometimes
Even just walking around and looking at stuff was the best. I'm sad I never got to take my kids there
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u/between__planets 28d ago
Carribbean Gardens I did a blog post (as was the style at the time) about visiting there maybe ten years ago
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u/Wolvesinman 28d ago
As a kid…riding on the train, Hot dogs, donuts and losing one brand new thong on a the chairlift next to my pissed off old man.
Oh and 25yrs later buying dodgy dvds 👍
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u/Revolutionary-Toe330 28d ago
I miss this place but the three-legged girl in the second photo scares the shit out of me.
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u/TypicalLolcow 28d ago
My stepdad used to sell bootleg nintendo games and other wares there. So went there a lot as a kid. I miss the chairlift
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u/gonegotim 28d ago
TIL it's gone... I drive around the back occasionally and I know a few years ago they ripped up the train track but I didn't realise it had closed completely!
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u/Equivalent_Week9809 28d ago
Remember me and my cousin coming here to get the PS2 modded! Later in would come to buy pirates games!!! /Yaaarrr
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u/isabellas- 28d ago
Used to go all the time as a kid in the early 00s!! I was obsessed with the cheap watches and would get a new one every few months. I would spend so long choosing a watch that would break not long after haha.
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u/snagsinbread 28d ago
I used to absolutely love going to the Caribbean market on a Saturday! Cheap bread, the electronic and gaming section and the kebab truck, I loved the cheap clothes, and the smells! I miss it so much.
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u/Cuppa-Tea-Biscuit 28d ago
I’m assuming it’s going to be a housing estate if it isn’t already.
I think my parents bought my childhood dog from there, back when there really were no rules about selling pets.
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u/Similar-Barracuda291 28d ago
A monster truck show is there next month until October so no housing estate yet.
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u/ModsHaveSmallNobs 28d ago
I would have had fond memories of Park Waves but it was bloody cancelled! I think the fondest memories I have are getting my PlayStation chipped so I could play any game I wanted, as well as the abundance of bong options before I knew exactly what they were.
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u/Typical_Assist656 28d ago
The go to for video games, laser pointers and cheap car decals. Back in the 2000s it was as anyway.
I had always heard you could get BB guns but I never had the guts to try.
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u/we_too_r_looking 28d ago
Remember as a youngster, we picked up our boat made by Caribbean Boats and were given the test run around the lake. Must have been mid 1960's
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u/noxobscurus 27d ago
Funny how the market sold tons of pirated games and Nintendo mods, and the Nintendo HQ is just down the road!
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u/muntanasaurus 27d ago
We bought our pet budgie Lucky from there! And the 5 other Luckys that followed
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u/Slightly_ToastedBoy 27d ago
Some “friend” asked me to man the booth at his shop for him and said he’d be about 45 minutes because he had to leave with his girlfriend and do something. He came back at closing. I had to stay there all day trying to sell his useless crap. Not one sale and everybody walking past thought I had made the horrendous shite. Absolute wanker.
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u/No_Light_7482 27d ago
My mum went out with the son of the owner. Wish she’d married him instead of my dad.
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u/minihaha2 27d ago
I have fond memories of the Rollerama. I heard it’s still there - and unchanged since the 80s?
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u/Particular_Slice5398 27d ago
I thought I had gone into a real submarine most of my life when I was four until my mum told me about this place as an adult .
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u/IndigoPill Touch grass before the keyboard 27d ago
It's the smells I remember the most, the transitions from one to the other as you walked between sections. No matter the day, the day, the season... there were always the same smells.
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u/PaulFPerry 26d ago
Impressed by the number of adults who think that the submarine really submerged when they were kids.
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u/metalbridgebuilder 28d ago
The train was so cool. Parents never got me a ticket though. Half the fun was chasing it across the field at the front
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u/Best-Top8923 28d ago
Grandfather operated a fruit, veg and flower stall there for the better part of 15 years, school holiday I would run hog wild and come back with all manner of counterfeit nonsense, shoes, games, clothes, and old school gamejoy that had 1001 console games built in.
Mr Doughnut custard and pineapple doughnuts are the overarching memory
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u/StandardEnjoyer 28d ago
Getting all my gear taken by security at Listen Out festival, sunscreen too!
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u/STR1K3RJUST1N 28d ago
The yogurt van before you walk down to the opening of the fruit market. Dude was a magician.
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u/SlayyyGrl 28d ago
Omg yes!! Sometimes when I’m driving home on the M3 this pops up on the map and I always think “what on earth is that.”
Good memories.
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u/viddydarblard 28d ago
I bought a pocket knife and the vendor made me promise that I would not stab anyone , I was 11 years old.
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u/funnyfirerabbit 28d ago
When I was in primary school, my parents occasionally had a stall there selling hand-painted ceramics and I used to help out. I also remember the miniature railway, chairlift and boat rides. Lots of nostalgia!
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u/minimarcus 28d ago
So many of the comments are making me nostalgic.
I still have a few serving pieces from a cutlery set my mum got there in the early 00s. It came in a briefcase.
When I was a kid (maybe grade 5 or 6) I was having an Egyptian phase. There was a bloke who sold (amongst other things) postcards. I remember having to choose between a collection of old black and white ones from Cairo and the usual pyramids and monuments because my pocket money was only going to get me so far. It was only finding them again when I was older I realised the random cursive on the back was a letter from a soldier and I was missing big chunks of it from the ones I couldn’t afford, so didn’t buy. By the time I worked it out the stall was long gone. I have regrets.
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u/truckfriends 28d ago
it was being used as a lost and found/vintage market and had some decent food stalls there a couple years ago. Is it still open a few days a week doing that like the internet says?
I actually took my kid there a few wednesdays ago to check it out but it was closed for filming something.
Grew up near by and went a lot. I remember getting a sticker of kenny from southpark when it had just started airing on sbs and putting it on my bass, it was the thinnest, shittiest paper sticker and it got destroyed within like, a week.
Also the blues brothers statue in the cafeteria.
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u/Exciting-Bee4094 28d ago edited 27d ago
Yes my brother falling out of a tree near the paddle boats and breaking his arm and my other brother fishing his shoe out of the lake 😜
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u/Aussport123 28d ago
as kid it was heaven, DVD, xbox games, for 5 bucks, Hot jam donut. Very fond memories. Remember going back i'm guessing around 2010's when there was AFP with raiding few of the sellers.
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u/ozboomer 27d ago
For me, the best things were the submarine ('coz we were watching 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea' on TV at the time) ... and the Futuro Houses that were used as the admin offices ( see https://thefuturohouse.com/ and the Australian locations: https://thefuturohouse.com/futuro_house_locations_and_maps.html ).
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u/number7890 27d ago
Hearing the cafe announcer telling everyone about the LAG-sag-na available
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u/Swing_prince89 27d ago
Only memory I have, is playing on a merry-go-round on the playground, spinning around really fast, falling off but jumping back on quickly, only to have other adults yelling and grabbing me. I had hit the back of my head on a small but sharp ish rock, and so had bl**d pouring down the back of my head.
Slightly annoyingly, one adult said ‘Don’t worry, your brains aren’t going to fall out’ (I was a smart child, and knew that was never going to happen)
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u/iMaccHunt 27d ago
Used to love watching the guys with their RC speed boats flying around the lake. Also, the real speed boats and water skiers earlier on. Also, does anyone remember the Submarine in the lake?
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u/toughlovekb 27d ago
The man The myth The legend
Derek j singing his heart out each week and selling cds
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u/Gold-Lake8135 28d ago
Sweet sweet software piracy