Joyce and Willy Mueller, with daughter Linda, used to serve starving surfers. Picture: SYLVIA LIBER
For Bill and Joyce Mueller, the North Beach Bathers' Pavilion was the backdrop for busy, summer days filled with half-naked surfers, Chiko rolls and broken windows.
Operating the nearby kiosk for nearly a decade, the Wollongong couple were deeply entrenched in the area's beach culture, serving countless buckets of hot chips and dozens of Dagwood Dogs and Golden Gaytimes to starving surfers.
The couple, who lived in the building next door that is now home to Diggies Cafe, fondly recall summers spent catering to the region's beachgoers, sweeping sand out of their bustling store and dealing with naughty surfers.
MORE: The transformation of the North Beach Bathers' Pavilion
"The boys used to sit under the windows and flash us ... they used to play football every day and they would break so many windows with the ball that Bill put bars up and they're still there," Joyce remembered yesterday.
"We had a big dog that used to call out all the lovers who would use the nearby sheds ... it was a very funny time."
The Muellers ran the popular takeaway joint from 1969 to 1978, a time when surfing was a religion for Aussie teenagers and going to the beach was non-negotiable.
Their kiosk became so busy in the warmer months that they even set their young daughter, Linda, to work, popping her behind the counter to serve the steady stream of hungry customers.
"I started working when I was eight ... I could barely see over the counter," Linda said.
"But, now that I look back, it was really the beginning of my understanding of maths ... Dad would have all the prices on a board so I got really good at adding up 17-cent packets of Smiths Chips and cans of [passionfruit soft drink] Passiona."
The trio returned to the site of their one-time family home yesterday ("a coffee machine is now in my bedroom," Linda said) to check out the newly refurbished bathers' pavilion and take a walk down memory lane.
"The pavilion was a big part of our life so we had to come and see the work," Linda said. "It's so nice to see it restored and open to a whole new generation of people."
