Everybody Needs Good Neighbours

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Today was something Ashleigh had been wanting to do for her last few visits to Melbourne, but never got the chance in the past - visit the Neighbours street and set. Well, today was the day. When we booked, the tour specifically said that it was a tour to the street only, with a bonus of getting photos with a past or present cast member. They only do set tours on the weekend, and we couldn't go, but we were aware of that when we booked.

There is a specific building on Flinders St, dedicated to the Neighbours tour (as well as a few others the company does, but the sign advertises neighbours). We'd seen it a previous day by accident, so we knew where to go. It was still a near 30 minute walk from our hotel, and by 10am, it wasn't pleasant, but we made it.

We arrived early and were the first ones there, but soon the small section was packed with people waiting for three separate tours. Our bus arrived around 11 (as scheduled) and we all piled on to meet our tour guide, Gerard - an amusing and entertaining Irish tour guide who was filled with many random facts about Neighbours and life in general.

Then he revealed to us that as it was the holidays, and no filming was occurring, they could take us to part of the set as well. This was fantastic, because it definitely wasn't in the itinerary, but a bonus as the cast and crew were on holidays. So yay!

Neighbours is filmed in the Suburb of Burwood, about thirty minutes outside of the city at Fremantle Studios. Just before we arrived at the studio, our bus' air con stopped working and the bus began to get warmer. So our bus driver had to phone through and organise another bus so we could be kept cool on a very hot day. Thankfully, this only happened right before, so we weren't on the bus for very long.

We couldn't see all of the set, such as the studio with the house interior, or the Lassiters complex, as apparently you need a security guard for that and the studio was literally empty apart from one security guard at the gate. We were taken to the outdoor area where Grease Monkeys (the burger shop never used apart from the outside of it), the mechanics which is often used, as well as the place that was once 'Dial-a-Kyle', now referred to as the Handywoman.

It was a lot smaller than it looks on TV, but of course that's with every set. We were given a short tour of the area, and Gerard pointed out many spots in the small space where particular things happened. We were also right near where the cars used on set were parked.

Over the break with filming, some directors had set up a board where you can write your name on if you visit, so we all did that which was kind of cool. We now have our names forever written there!

The new bus arrived a short while later and after taking some photos, we boarded again and headed to the street.

The street is actually a 6 house cult-de-sac in a small out of the way suburb near Burwood. It is literally in a suburban area, and people really live in the houses used on the show (and apparently get compensation for their use). As assumed, it isn't actually called Ramsay St, but Pin Oak Ct. Gerard gave us the reason why they chose this street due to location and convenience.

It was really interesting to see all the houses watched on TV every night, and we were able to get some pictures with the street sign (which was brought on the bus with us). At about 1 o'clock, the cast member arrived, who was Ben Nichols. He played a character called Scott Timmins (aka Stingray), but his character died about 7 years ago. He is now working behind the scenes on the show.

I was glad it was someone I knew, and he was an easy going guy and talked casually to everyone. We all got photos, and then he had to leave, and so did we. Thankfully, on the way back, they did a stop closer to our hotel, so we didn't have to walk all the way back. We returned to our hotel for a little bit, before heading out for some lunch - which was mediocre. Neither of us had ever tried Nandos before, but we weren't really impressed by it. But it was food.

We did a little more shopping. On our way to a bookstore, we came across a board game shop and ended up walking out with three games we hadn't intended on buying. When we got back to our hotel, we attempted playing one of them called T.I.M.E Stories, but it is apparently a very complicated game and will need more deeper reading of the rules to understand it.

For dinner, we got some Crust pizza and have spent the evening relaxing in our hotel before we have to pack. Tomorrow we head back to Canberra. It's been a good trip, but like always, we are excited to get back home and back to our normal lives!

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