30 years ago an Australian soap started and it wasn’t too long after that (maybe the Summer of 1987 as it didn’t screen in the UK until 1986) that I started watching it one afternoon in the holidays as my mum and sisters were watching it. From then on I was hooked and when I returned to school it was recorded on video before the BBC got wind of its popularity and stuck it on at tea-time as well.
Even though I no longer watch it, I still have a lot of affection for the show that I consumed regularly between 1985-1995 and 2001-2003. Unlike many people, I actually stopped watching it when I went to University but I really got back into it when I went on a years working holiday in Australia in 2001.
One of my priorities was of course to visit the street where it’s filmed which I did twice during those twelve months and again on my return to Melbourne in 2007 and 2012. One other memorable night took place in January 2002 when I went to the ‘Meet the Neighbours night’ and thanks to the journal which I kept (now available online here) at the time it is now possible to recall the events of that night.
Having popped along to St Kilda for lunch and to see which stars were going to be at that nights ‘Meet The Neighbours Night‘, I later on paid $30 at Hotel Bakpak for my ticket to this event. Richard Richard had already booked his ticket and we later got Robbie to follow suit and then at 6:45 pm a double decker bus picked us up to take us to the Elephant & Wheelbarrow pub in St Kilda.
We met a girl called Hayley on the bus who was then lucky (?) to have the pleasure of our company all night. A glass of wine was included in the price and many pints of beer soon followed and that was before the ‘Neighbours‘ stars of past and present had even arrived on stage!
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Tokyo Fox (東京狐) 