The Search for Merch

One of the first things I did when I arrived in Melbourne was to scope out the Bunyip Tours office, the home of the Official Neighbours Tour, to see what kind of Neighbours merchandise they had to offer and I felt hugely underwhelmed with their range.

They had one type of postcard, one type of fridge magnet which had the same image as the one on the postcard and a badge with “I ❤️ Ramsay Street” on it. There was also a little display with Kym Valentine's Arbonne cards (she played Libby Kennedy). I got super excited when I saw an old Erinsborough High backpack two shelves down from the rest of the merchandise but then nearly cried when I was told they weren't actually for sale.

What really did excite me however, was the vast array of beautiful things hanging from their walls. The Scarlet Bar sign, the abstract portrait Helen Daniels painted of Lou Carpenter during his mayoral rein of Erinsborough and my personal favourite, a cast photo featuring Lance and Amy, Billy and Anne and Libby and Drew all dressed in white. All things considering, it was by no means a wasted trip.

nb. If anyone can remember the story behind the last picture below please do let me know. If I had to guess it looks like Sky Mangel floating down the river in the style of Elisa Day so maybe it was painted by her art teacher (I think his name was JP or something???)

Somebody should tell them their sign is out of date.

Why not purchase a magnet or some makeup from Libby Kennedy?

I thought she was teaching in China...it's all lies!

Gutted that these backpacks aren't for sale.

Lance Wilkinson...be still my beating heart!

Mayor Carpenter

The Scarlet Bar sign

I cannot for the life of me remember the backstory to this painting.

I also asked if the Neighbours Night was still a thing (it used to be held in the Elephant and Wheelbarrow in St Kilda and it was a legendary Neighbours quiz night with Dr Karl singing and meet and greats with other cast members) and I was told that they stopped doing them about three years ago.

It genuinely saddens me that the love for this great Australian institution in it's home city is harder to find than I imagined it would be. I honestly thought before I got here that I would find street sellers on every corner selling knock off Neighbours t-shirts to tourists but I haven't even come across any souvenier shops with Ramsay Street related goodies yet.

Thank goodness for the Official Neighbours Tour is all can say, fighting the good fight for all the other people who come here to do their own Ramsay Street pilgrimage. I do plan to go on the tour at some point but I might wait until my boyfriend comes out to visit me in August because I'm sure he will appreciate being reminded of how awesome Neighbours is after months of not being forced to watch it. Until then I will continue my fruitless quest to find merchandise in this barren city.


If you have any suggestions of places to visit, future blog post subjects or know of anywhere else that sells Neighbours merchandise you can 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.