Lassiters Laneways Tours - Part Deux

Last week on Neighbours we saw Leo and Therese down a deserted alleyway discussing their plans to incorporate Laneway Tours in the Lassiters experience package. As luck would have it I was also back in Melbourne again for a couple of days last week to pick my boyfriend up from the airport.

Obviously in my excitement to see him again and need to impress him with all of my Melbourne knowledge, I took him straight down the laneway which featured in my last blog post, only to find the cute purple pug that was the main feature in the bonding scenes between Leo and Therese had already been sprayed over and the same wall now hosts a rather terrifying bull (or at least I think that's what it is but it may well be some kind of evil horned monster).

Not to be one to wallow in the disappointing reality that graffiti is a non permanent form of art work,   I then dragged my poor boyfriend along to Amphlett Lane, the place where Therese wanted to start the Laneway Tours from and where she suggested hosting a photo shoot with the Sharma-Rebecchis the day before she made the executive decision to drop them as the Face of Lassiters.

Melbourne is absolutely full of graffiti clad laneways so I was a bit disheartened when I got to Amphlett Lane and discovered only one piece of street art and a small plaque in honour of Chrissy Amphlett which is nowhere near as impressive as AC/DC Lane (look it up, it's a real place and it's quite spectacular!) Sadly, as far as I'm aware, there isn't a Right Prescription Lane but I'm sure if enough people campaign for it, the Government of Victoria would be willing to rectify that!

Yes...I have had I Touch Myself permanently in my head since visiting this sight! 

The only other thing Amphlett Lane has to offer is a long line of bins which is where I assume Therese was thinking of holding the photo shoot with Dipi and family. Seeing as they'll obviously want a new person as the Face of Lassiters now that Shane has disgraced the family's good name, I think I'm in with a strong chance. 

Fiona McLean; the new Face of Lassiters???
I offer free dumpster diving for all the Daniel Robinsons of the world!

A bit further down Chinatown, I stumbled across this little street which I also think should definitely be included on the laneways tours, especially as the West Waratah Star readership numbers must be in serious decline as nobody has touched a newspaper since Dipi's football hooligan incident and there haven't been any new journalists taken on since Maddie Robinson was on the street.

West Waratah Place!

Read the original Lassiters Laneways Tours blog post here.

Lassiters Laneways Tours

It's really exciting when I watch Neighbours these days and they use locations that I've actually been to already. Yesterday's episode saw Terese and Leo on a "work date" scouting out laneways for Leo's Laneways Tours package idea that he pulled out of his arse in order to have an excuse to take Terese to a deserted alleyway. I recognised the place instantly due to the rather exciting street art in the background because I've also done my fair share of lurking around Melbourne's laneways.

Image courtesy of Fremantle Media 

I would also like to suggest these other little gems for Lassiters Laneway Tours...also if they're looking for someone to guide these tours I'm available until March 2019!

...is only a footstep away

one of Karl Kennedy's many alter egos!

Edit -  I decided later to follow this bog post up with a part II which you can read here.

Yer a Wizard Patrick!

On Tuesday night I managed to combine my love of Neighbours with my love of Harry Potter and the result involved hopping along to the Alex Theatre in St Kilda to see Puffs, a play about the Hufflepuffs that went to Hogwarts at the same time as Harry. But what does this have to do with Neighbours I hear you ask? Well the actor playing Cedric Diggory was infact none other than Rob Mills (or Millsy as everyone calls him round here) who plays Elly's ex, the dastardly Mr Finn Kelly who was so hell bent on becoming the Principal of Erinsborough High that he poisoned Susan by switching her meds with Piper's and then manipulated one of his student's, Xanthe, to fall in love with him so she could do all his dirty work. Then he had an aneurysm and went to jail but he's currently back and brought Elly's long lost sister with him and is pretending to be a paraplegic called Partick in an attempt to somehow win Elly back and I assume poison Susan all over again. Good old Neighbours and their ridiculous plots!

When I got to the theatre I was really impressed at how beautifully decorated the foyer was and at the range of merchandise that was on offer. As a proud Hufflepuff myself, I had to restrain myself from buying everything and I ended up walking away with just a t-shirt and a programme (although I very nearly bought a beanie as well). The auditorium was also vastly decorated with bunting, books, portraits all over the walls (without their subjects standing in them because they were obviously elsewhere or very shy) and two notice boards with amusing notes and posters plastered all over them.

The play itself was really well paced and hilarious and was taylored beautifully to the Australian audience. There were a lot of in jokes taken from both the Harry Potter books and films that they didn't waste time explaining. The overriding message of the play was that some people are destined to be the hero but a lot of people aren't and that you should embrace your mediocrity as long as you try your best which I think is a really lovely message to promote and it was such a perfect celebration of Harry Potter fandom.

As a Brit who has only seen Millsy in Neighbours up until now, I was eager to find out why the Aussies all love him so much (he was in Australian Idol and ever since has become a firm favourite on the telly and on the stage). He played Cedric so well and for the first time in my life I actually warmed to the character as I really can't stand Robert Pattinson...even before he became a shit vampire!

After the show, the whole cast mingled in the foyer afterwards and chatted merrily with the audience. Whilst I was waiting for my friend to come back from an urgent mission to find some abandoned knitting outside, I managed to catch Millsy briefly and gush at him about how much I loved Neighbours and Finn Kelly's dastardly ways.

Two specky gits!

I think everybody on Ramsay Street will concur that he is 100% a Snake!

Puffs is on at the Alex Theatre in St Kilda until the end of July. There is a lot of adult humour in this play but the weekend matinees are suitable for all ages. Go to the website for more details and ticket bookings.

Toad-ally Excited for this Little Find

I was browsing a few shops today in Melbourne when I stumbled across this little beauty of a greetings card in Mag Nation and then got really really excited and bought two of them!

This is the first whiff I've got of Neighboursness in the wilds of Melbourne since I arrived over three months ago...and believe me I have searched very hard (unless you count the minimalistic attempt at merchandise in the Bunyip Tours office that constitutes of just one postcard and one magnet). Needless to say I was over the moon at my small find and it has given me hope that I'll find more Neighbours related goodies elsewhere!

This card is also available to buy online from the AHD Paper Co website.

Werribee Mansion

At the weekend I went to Werribee Mansion. My family, who I'm currently staying with at the moment, were going to a three day horse event in the beautiful grounds of this beautiful house over the bank holiday weekend (Australian's have a bank holiday to celebrate the Queen's birthday!!!) so I tagged along for a wholesome family fun day out, not really knowing what to expect other than lots of horses.

However, as we walked up the drive through some amazing monkey puzzle trees towards the house, I realised instantly that I had seen this building before and started getting very excited because unbeknownst to me, I had unexpectedly ended up at the place where Toadie and Dee got married, just hours before they decided to launch their car off a cliff (don't pash and drive kids!) and Dee got washed away to into the ocean, never to been seen again...well maybe....nobody's sure at the time of writing this what craziness the writers have planned for the Fake Dee/Andrea storyline.

So this is now the second Neighbours wedding venue I've visited since being in Melbourne, the first being the iconic church Scott and Charlene tied the knot in. The mansion itself was locked up on the day I visited due to all the horse related things happening around it but the grounds on their own were absolutely stunning.

Oh and just incase you were worried...nobody died or got paralysed due to horse related injuries!

Secret Neighbours Related Mission

I set myself a secret mission when I first arrived in Melbourne two months ago to track down a Neighbours cast member and ask them to record a little message for my really good friend from the UK who, unbeknownst to her, was going to be proposed to by her boyfriend whilst on holiday. The friend in question is also a huge fan of the show (this isn't the only reason why we're friends but I think it played a big part in how we ended up becoming pals in the first place) so it seemed only right that I should do something Neighbours related as an engagement present for her.

I wasn't having much success up until now but on Tuesday morning I just happened to be walking past Federation Square in the CBD and noticed a small TV crew set up at the bottom of the steps and someone who looked suspiciously like Mishti Sharma from Neighbours fame (played by Scarlet Vas) huddled in a grey dressing gown waiting for the sun to emerge from behind a cloud.

After circling round the square a few times to make sure it definitely was her, I let my inner fan girl take over and approached very sheepishly. Scarlet was absolutely lovely and more than willing to play along.

I wasn't exactly sure when the proposal was going to take place although I did know it was going to be in June at some point. The very next evening I received a message from my friend with a photo of her ring on her finger and so I sent her the video in response. Mission accomplished...and just in time! 

Suddenly, Will Ye Go Lassie Go...to the church that has hosted some of the most influential weddings of our time!

Whilst everyone else was gearing up for the Royal Wedding in Royal Windsor last week, I was getting ready to do my very own wedding related sightseeing by paying homage to some Neighbours Royalty instead.

The Holy Trinity Church in the suburb of Doncaster was the filming location where Libby and Drew, Lucas and Vanessa, Harold and Madge and most notoriously, Scott and Charlene all tied the knot. Seeing as I'm currently in the midst of my own spiritual pilgrimage, I felt it was only right to include this place of worship as part of it.

Not being one to do things by halves, I decided to actually sit in on one of their services instead of just having a nosy around the church and I'm very glad I did.

I went to the midweek afternoon service and it was filled with the most delightful elderly congregation. Around the other side of the church they have a modern extension which is where the service was held. Unlike more traditional churches this extension had one big glass wall to let in copious amounts of daylight. It also had lots of heat lamps dotted around the place which made it super toasty inside and it was probably the warmest I have ever been whilst sat inside a church.

It was one of the congregation's 99th birthday so we all sang Happy Birthday to her in the middle of the service which I thought was absolutely delightful. The service itself was very friendly, inclusive and upbeat and afterwards I was shown around the older part of the church by the lady who was sat next to me. She proudly told me that the original church was 170 years old!

This is the very same door that Kylie stepped through whilst Angry Anderson was singing his little heart out.

The aisle of dreams...only without Jason Donovan and Guy Pearce standing at the end of it!

After my little tour (I took loads more photos but due to the rubbish camera on my phone they were either too dark or too over exposed), it was insisted that I stay and have tea and birthday cake with everyone else. I got chatting to a lady who told me that she had gone over to Britain when she was young and it took six weeks to get there by boat. However the main topic of conversation was the royal wedding, which I assume was mainly for my benefit as the British guest. I really didn't have the heart to tell them that the only weddings I was interested in were the ones that have happened in their very own church.




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) feel free to follow me on Instagram too @mcpoodleshop.

Lost in the Bush

Last week Susan Kennedy and Kirsha Rebecchi got lost in the bush at school camp...this time it's my turn!

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.

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!

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.