Come on, join in! Don’t pretend you don’t know the words!
The main reason for me wanting to visit Melbourne, as I mentioned in a previous post, was to do the Neighbours tour. I’ve watched Neighbours for as long as I can remember. It started in 1985, the year I was born and I grew up watching it. I remember when Kylie was Charlene and Jason was Scott. I remember the Brad, Beth and Lauren love triangle (before the current actors were involved), I remember Brad getting shot, I remember Pam & Doug, Madge & Harold (before Harold went missing and got amnesia)… I was there for it all!
As a true fan, doing the Neighbours tour was high on my bucket list and I am so pleased I did it! I got to stand on actual Ramsay Street! I think I actually text my mother to tell her that my life was complete!
The tour started early, about 9am, which is early for me! We got on the Official Neighbours Tour minibus with our very enthusiastic guide and embarked on the 45 minute journey to the Melbourne suburb where Pin Oak Court is located. On the way, our guide asked us all lots of questions and filled us in with gossip, a few spoilers and Neighbours trivia. I was in my element.
When we arrived, my first thought was that it’s actually a lot smaller than it looks on TV. We were told all about how Neighbours is filmed, watched a DVD and were left to wander the street for a short while. Neighbours own one of the houses (the one that is Kyle’s house) and another guy owns 2 or 3 of them. As you would expect, houses on Pin Oak Court, aka Ramsay Street, are more expensive than ones on the next street. We weren’t allowed to go onto the properties as people do live there. We were told a story about how a few years ago, someone went onto the balcony of one of the houses and pissed off it. The guy who lived there was about 80 and saw him so chased him with a baseball bat!
Once we’d finished on Ramsay Street, we visited the studio where it is filmed and had a tour on the bus. We were filled in with trivia such as the front of the studio doubles as the leisure centre and the hospital front. The doors actually have Erinsborough leisure centre stickers on. Also the fire escapes for the studio are used as doors into the school. No expense spared! We visited Lucas’s garage and Grease Monkeys, had a few photos and saw Callum being driven around to another location. We waved at each other. It was awesome!
But the best was yet to come!
Normally everyone gets their photo taken with the Ramsay Street sign but that had been stolen/misplaced the night before at one of the famous Neighbours Nights. Instead we got to meet Sonya! OMG, an actual Neighbours actress! I was so excited!! This was a definite highlight of the whole Australia trip. Eva, who plays her, was so lovely. She chatted for ages, answered loads of questions, posed for a million photos and signed everyone’s autographs. Lovely lady.
A fire exit used as the school
Another exit used as the school
The studio
Grease Monkey’s
With Sonya!
It was a fab morning! A definite must if you are a Neighbours fan!
Emily's adventures 