The Morning Before the Arvo After

This blog post is the prequel to my last blog post about my pilgrimage to the real life Ramsay Street. As with any prequel, it's nowhere near as exciting as the original but the morning just before I decided to hop on that tram to Vermont South, I feel really captures the perfect snippet of my daggy little adventures around Melbourne.

My original plan for that day was to go to the Melbourne Tram Museum. Trams are a pretty awesome mode of transport and I have an ever growing collection of tram magnets which used to live on my boiler back at home, before I packed everything in boxes to go to the storage of Dad for the year.

My current collection of tram magnets.
It may be a lot larger by the time I get back from my travels!

The Melbourne Tram Museum is only open on the second and forth Saturday of the month and I've been wanting to go to it ever since I found out about it. So I went off to the suburb of Hawthorn on Saturday morning to learn more about the trams of Melbourne. The museum has 20 vintage trams in a warehouse and regular guided tours led by enthusiastic volunteers. You're encouraged to hop from tram to tram and you can even ring the bells if you're able to find a driver's compartment that doesn't have small children already doing just that. 

I'd like to think this is the tram all the residents of Ramsay Street get on when they're going to the city.

After spending far to much time and money in their extensive gift shop, I finally left the Tram Museum in search of some lunch when I stumbled across this butchers shop. I may not have found any Cannings when I went to Frankston but at least I found some here!

Eventually I found a nice little cafe to satisfy my poor hungry belly and as I was eating lunch I was trying to decide what to do for the rest of the day...which is when I discovered that I was actually on a direct tram line that would take me all the way to Pin Oak Court!

You can read all about that part of my day here.

If you would like to get in touch or have any suggestions as to where I should visit, please email me at dagsontour@gmail.com or find me on Twitter @fiona_mclean. Equally if you would like to see some of my non Neighbours related travel pics or have a nosy at some photos of the things I sell on Etsy (I knit and sew crazy things) then feel free to follow me on Instagram too @mcpoodleshop.

Pilgrimage to Pin Oak Court

Yesterday marked the first monthiversary since the day I landed in Melbourne. I've been putting off going to Pin Oak Court (the real residential cul-de-sac where they film all the external Ramsay Street footage) for a special day as I didn't want to peak too soon but it was such a lovely day and I just happened to be in a place earlier on in the afternoon where I could then get a direct tram to this most sacred part of Melbourne. So that my friends, is exactly what I did.

I had to walk for around 20 minutes after getting off the tram due to the driver not stopping at the stop I'd pressed the bell for, but that meant I got to go on a lovely scenic walk through the delightful suburb of Vermont South where every house looked like it should be situated on Ramsay Street. As I came round the last bend in the road before the turning, my heart rate definitely quickened and I could feel my eyes welling up with emotion and then before I could prepare myself fully...there it was! The junction to mythical street of hopes, dreams and aneurysms (RIP Stingray) with the street sign  towering above me like some majestic arrow pointing the way to the Promised Land.

As I walked up the street I was greeted by the loveliest security guard I've ever met. His name was Rocky and he has been the guardian of that little residential street for the last seven years. We had a lovely long chat and he told me that there had been around 120 people casually walking up the no through road that day which shocked me because I still have yet to find any Ramsay Street merchandise in Melbourne and therefore thought that nobody cared any more! He even offered to take some photos with me in them which was very nice of him. He asked me where I came from and I told him I've been living in Manchester in the UK for the last six years, at which point he informed me that the family who live at the Sharma Rebecchi house originally come from Manchester too.

Despite his assurance that he doesn't watch Neighbours, Rocky knew a hell of a lot about the show and tried to quiz me with questions like; "this used to be Paul Robinson's house, do you know who lives there now?" and was impressed that I knew my stuff. I told him that my boyfriend regularly tries to catch me out by quizzing me with the Perfect Blend website open (the holy bible of Neighbours trivia) and it's an extremely difficult thing to do.

My photos aren't the best as I got there in the late afternoon when the sun was low and shinning directly above Harold Bishop's old house so the exposure is slightly all over the place.

The Current Willis House

This house is currently where Terese and Piper Willis live (after the rest of their family either died, moved away or got divorced and moved to Queensland). Before Brad and Terese moved in it mainly belonged to Paul Robinson and the various families that have been linked to him. It was also the home of the Starks and Lou Carpenter.

The Brennan House

The Brennan house aka the original Ramsay/Harold Bishop house, complete with a brand new fence which apparently will be written into the show soon (no doubt installed by Amy Williams). As you can see from the picture below, Harold must have popped in for a visit because there's a caravan in the driveway.

The Canning House

This is the original Robinson household and currently the home of Sheila and the rest of the Canning family. This is probably the most iconic of all houses where Jim Robinson spilled that bowl of oranges all those years ago and also was also the home of the Martins, The Wilkinsons, The Scullys and The Timmins'.

The Kennedy House

Despite this being an unplanned visit and I had no intention of going to Pin Oak Court when I left the house that morning, I still managed to dress accordingly for this beauty of a photo. I will forever be a Dr K groupie...ever since he signed my breast at a student night in Chester about 10 years ago (I was young and crazy back then). What an absolute legend of a man!

The House of Trouser

I know Toadie is all grown up and is a sensible lawyer with a wife and family now but this will always and forever be the house that he, Lance, Stu and Joel used to sit around in their underpants drinking beer and eating pizza.

The Sharma-Rebecchi House

This is where Toadie's brother, Shane and his family live at the moment. Once the home of the Mangles, The Turners, The Hancocks (who I liked very much despite popular opinion) and the highly sexy Michael Williams.

Final Thoughts

I don't think I could have mentally prepared myself for just how magical the experience of going to Pin Oak Court was going to be. Don't get me wrong, I knew it was going to be a very special moment but nothing could have warned me about how peaceful, reflective and life affirming it actually was. I know I've been joking about when I finally get to Ramsay Street it will be my equivalent of going to Mecca but when faced with the reality of it, it actually was a pretty deep and meaningful pilgrimage.

Despite one tour bus, the odd 100 other people that had set foot on this hallowed street before me on that day alone and one guy who was very sheepishly trying to wander around nonchalantly whilst I was in full on conversation mode with Rocky, I found Pin Oak Court to be a very quiet and peaceful little suburban cul-de-sac.

I spent what must have been half an hour there and at no point was I made to feel that I had over stayed my welcome. Rocky was the perfect host and was very encouraging towards my crazy fandom. He really made the experience special for me and I could have chatted away to him for hours.

I used to think having round the clock security on the street was a bit extreme and felt sorry for the residents who live there but it really felt like he was part of the street. He is the living, breathing friendly wave each morning that helps to make a better day and he bridges the gap between pilgrims like myself and the people that have to put up with us.

Thanks Rocky!

Brush Script at Smith & Deli

The friends who I'm currently staying with in Melbourne are vegans and so I have sampled a lot of great vegan eateries around the city ever since I arrived. Today we had lunch at Smith & Deli which is a super tasty vegan deli in Fitzroy. I had the most incredible toasted meatball sandwich and I honestly couldn't tell it wasn't real meat or that the melted mozzarella inside wasn't real cheese and regardless of all of that, it was probably the best sandwich I've eaten in my whole life. 

As we were waiting in the queue, which was very long and snaked its way throughout the whole shop to the door because it was a Saturday and because the food in there is so damn good, I got really excited by their excellent use of brush script lettering dotted around the place. It always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling when I see the brush script font being used in every day situations at the best of times but when it's used in slogans that read "Your Neighbourhood Shop" I can't help but get ridiculously excited. For those of you that don't know the significance of this awesome font, or who can't remember that far back, it was the font that launched Neighbours back in the 80's as used in the original logo and still makes subtle appearances every now and again on the show.

Brush script aside, this place is amazing and even if you don't have any special dietary requirements, I challenge anyone to order food from this place and not think it's utterly delicious.


If you would like to get in touch or have any suggestions as to where I should visit, please email me at dagsontour@gmail.com or find me on Twitter @fiona_mclean. Equally if you would like to see some of my non Neighbours related travel pics or have a nosy at some photos of the things I sell on Etsy (I knit and sew crazy things) then feel free to follow me on Instagram too @mcpoodleshop.

An Afternoon in Frankston

It was my birthday a couple of days ago and I decided to spend it at the beach. It was a lovely sunny day and I wanted to experience Frankston for the day to pay homage to the hometown of the great and wondrous Canning family of modern day Ramsay Street fame...despite the warnings from both my friends and my cousin who all tried to persuade me to go to literally any other beach! Do they not know I have important Neighbours related research to do???

Frankston City Centre 

Frankston has a bit of a negative reputation and is allegedly "full of bogans" which, I assume is why the slightly rough and ready Cannings originate from there. So I set out on the train to discover bogan central for myself and was slightly disappointed when I discovered it was full of average normal people. In fact, it strongly reminded me of my hometown of Gloucester but with an added beach. The only difference was the fact that where I'm from, there are more seagulls (despite being an inland city) and we call bogans; chavs. Other than that, the city centre was just like any small city centre consisting of a few closed shops, a couple of nice looking coffee shops, an H&M, a Nandos, a cinema and a well maintained shopping centre. It was a bit run down but most town and small city centres are.

Enjoying every moment

I discovered a great bookshop called Robinson's and it made me very happy knowing that Paul is expanding his empire outside of the hotel and housing industry. It was full of exciting and educational books, DVDs and plushies of various ABC Kids characters (because not only am I a massive Neighbours nerd but also a children's TV one) and I had to drag myself away before I bought the whole set of Wiggles, Giggle and Hoot, Bananas in Pyjamas and Playschool toys.

Later on I found out that Robinson's is a small Victoria based family run chain of bookshops with stores all over the state but the one I stumbled across in Frankston was the founding store.

Robinson's bookshop on Station Street Mall

I was very restrained and didn't buy any of these toys. Somebody really should remind me that I'm in my mid 30's now.

There were a few cheap clothes shops on my way to the beach so I set about searching for the most Xanthe Canning looking clothing item I could find. There were a few dresses that fit the bill but were way too small for me to try on. I did however find this crop top with Brooke Butler's classic seductive phrase written on it (she's Xanthe's mum, the one who sold fake jewellery to Dr K and she's not from Frankston but she is an extended member of the Canning family so ). Unfortunately I'm terrible at posing for the camera and can't even look in the right direction so I feel I didn't do this top enough justice.

This is what real women look like...because who needs to do their hair and put on makeup when they're on the way to the beach! 

Frankston Beach

The beach itself was really lovely. Obviously I went on a weekday in autumn (but it was still 26 degrees celsius) so couldn't tell you what it's like in peak weekend summer mode but the main beach area was clean, fairly quiet and mainly consisted of families enjoying themselves. There were also some pretty cool statues next to the promenade.

Seagulls being buffeted around by the wind

Reading the Neighbours chapter in the book I got for my birthday, Small Screens: Essays on Contemporary Australian Television

Crabs at sunset 

Seagulls and chips

I'm not even sure what this one is meant to be but it's pretty cool regardless

A bit further down the beach there were some lovely sand dunes and hardly any other people except for a couple of kite surfers and dog walkers.

Kananook Creek

There's a gorgeous looking river running parallel to the shore. If I had left myself more time I would have definitely followed the trail upstream because being near water makes me happy.

There is also an interesting sand sculpture installation near the beach that I didn't go to but looked pretty impressive from afar. You can find out more about it here.

All in all, I very much enjoyed my birthday afternoon in Frankston. I'm not going to lie and say it's now my preferred beach of choice because there are many many beautiful beeches around Melbourne. The city centre, as I said previously, was perfectly ok but nothing special. It was however a good day out overall and the sand dunes and the gorgeous views down Cananook Creek really made the experience stand out from the other beach days I've had so far.


If you would like to get in touch or have any suggestions as to where I should visit, please email me at dagsontour@gmail.com or find me on Twitter @fiona_mclean. Equally if you would like to see some of my non Neighbours related travel pics or have a nosy at some photos of the things I sell on Etsy (I knit and sew crazy things) then feel free to follow me on Instagram too @mcpoodleshop.

Dags do Birthdays

Today is my 32nd birthday. I woke up to discover my very dear friend from the UK has written a song about my current adventure. I don't think anyone has ever written a song for me before and it's spiggin' awesome, very funny and shamefully accurate. Have a listen to it for yourself in the player below.

nb. for context, I'm a freelance Art Department person who makes television sets look pretty for a living so please do bear this in mind when you listen.

Fiona's Birthday Song, written and performed by the fabulous Liz Day

A few days ago a mysterious Amazon parcel arrived for me. Knowing I hadn't ordered anything and that my boyfriend only buys presents from that website, I decided to be good and wait until today before I opened it. Inside a very spangly green bag (it turns out Amazon are quite good at gift wrapping) there was a book made up of essays about contemporary Australian television (published in 2016) and yes, there is an essay about the 30 years of Neighbours in there as well as some other really interesting topics. I'll write a little review once I've finished.

Small Screens: Essays on Contemporary Australian Television

In the meantime I'm off to the beach in Frankston for the day because the weather is blummin' gorgeous and I'm taking my book with me. Hopefully I'll run into some Cannings while I'm there.

Dags in Melbourne

Dear Internet,

Welcome to my little Neighbours infused travel blog.

My name is Fiona and I am a 30 something novice Travel Wanker from the UK who decided, as so many others have done before me, to drop everything for a year in search of inner harmony and go on my long overdue extended pilgrimage to Ramsay Street.

Initially I wasn't planning to engage in any travel blogging because there are so many other Travel Wankers that do that already but I landed in Melbourne two weeks ago and there are lots of little things that remind me of Neighbors all the time and I spend most of my time wandering around amusing myself with all of this. For example, I nearly wet myself with excitement the first time I used a top loading washing machine and I got super excited when my friend told me that there had been loads of hot air balloon crashes in the last year around the city just like in the great balloon crash of 2016 on the show.

I was a bit dismayed by the fact that there aren't nearly enough resources online for the die hard Neighbours fan who wants more out of their pilgrimage other than just standing in Pin Oak Court holding a Ramsay Street sign in front of a camera and paying $60 for the privileged. Before I arrived in Melbourne, I had an image in my mind that there would be street sellers everywhere selling knock off Neighbours merchandise on every street corner and was very disappointed when I found out that doesn't happen in real life so I'm making it my mission to hunt out the places that do offer little pockets of Neighbours related awesomeness and share this with you all as well as giving you an insight into my daggy little obsessive mind.

Here are a few photos to get you started.

This is the most Ramsay Street-esque road I've seen so far. I can just imagine a mulleted  Jason Donovan skate boarding down the street whilst the rest of the residents are smashing windows whilst playing street cricket.

The Salvation Army shops are ACTUALLY called the Salvos in real life. I really hope there is a volunteer in each shop called Ted who plays the tuba for some ambient shopping music.

If you would like to get in touch or have any suggestions as to where I should visit, please email me at dagsontour@gmail.com or find me on Twitter @fiona_mclean. Equally if you would like to see some of my non Neighbours related travel pics or have a nosy at some photos of the things I sell on Etsy (I knit and sew crazy things) then feel free to follow me on Instagram too @mcpoodleshop.