As a kid, I spent a lot of happy days at Frogys, the roller-skating rink in the main street of Gosford, NSW. Every second kid had their birthday party there, and I loved rolling around to the high-octane beats of the Grease Megamix.
It was closed in the late 90s to make way for a major redevelopment, which never came, and so has sat abandoned for close to two decades. As the exterior of the place has deteriorated, I’ve often wondered what the inside looked like. Well, now I know.
After drinking heavily for Australia, me, The Boiler, and Grandmaster D headed across town to a house party. As we were wandering down the main street of Gossie, I noticed that the front door of Froggys was wide open, so we all went inside to check it out.
What we found was incredible.
Happy memories flooded back as I walked into a place I’d been so many times, but there’s noit a whole lot that’s recognisable. The roof has entirely rotted away, leaving the building open to the elements. Much of what used to be the skating rink is flooded. There’s graffiti everywhere, and a few mattresses where hobos have slept.
The last time I was in Frogys, I was a teenager and it was the site of an under-age dance party, complete with fat chicks dancing to Barbie Girl. The highlight was fingering some chick from Lisarow, and the lowlight came about three minutes later when her heavyset, cross-eyed brother threatened to punch the shit of me. Good times.
There’s still talk of the site being redeveloped one day, but with the, uh, difficulties facing developers in Gosford, it’s more likely that it’ll still be rotting away in another 20 years.
And as for that girl I fingered, I’m still waiting for a call!
The Drunk and Jobless World Tour 