A slow start this morning, got up a bit later than usual and went for a walk, ended up at Maccas and had a surf online. Meandered back to the hostel, got my bits and pieces together and collected Andrew for our afternoon walk to Brunswick Street.
It was a fair walk away from the hostel and meant we got to walk past the Melbourne Museum which is quite a pretty looking building. Brunswick Street is in an area of Melbourne known for being quite ‘boho’ because of its unusual shops, coffee shops and music/art scene. It was indeed quirky, but nothing that exciting, just good for a wander about really.
We stopped for a coffee and cake in a rather quaint coffee/chocolate shop and then continued mooching down the street and some of the other surrounding streets, before heading back to the hostel in a bit of a rush, so as not to miss our 5.45pm pick up.
Sure enough, at the given time, the Neighbours bus was waiting for us outside the hostel, it was very exciting! We hopped on the bus (Andrew in some form of disbelief at what he was about to do!) and the driver, Gerry, took us on a micro tour of the nearby hostels, picking up other patrons, before heading to St Kilda, to the Elephant & Wheelbarrow pub for the legendary Neighbours Trivia Night! Woohoo!
We all headed to the bar and grabbed a drink before queuing up expectantly outside the function room door and being seated. We were put on a table with two girls from Cornwall (Vicky and Mel), a girl from Oxford (Tammy), a guy from Ireland (whose name – alongside everything else he said – I couldn’t understand as his accent was waaaaay too thick!) and two guys from York (Tony and Biffo). We chatted about Neighbours and our different Oz experiences, we got on really well and were all very excited about the evening (even the guys were super excited!). We had to come up with a name for our quiz team and this took absolutely ages. I really showed my age (*cough*) when I suggested ‘Home James’ (the name of Helen Daniels’ limousine company) and all I got was a load of blank faces looking back at me – I don’t think the people on my table were even born when Helen Daniels was in the show! In the end we decided it had to be a name that ended in ‘fish’ (as in Toadfish, Stonefish etc), so we went with Buttonfish, as homage to Jenson’s win!
Eventually the host of the evening, Safari Pete, came out and got everyone all stirred up for Neighbours related fun. He then welcomed the special guests – Stu Parker (the really hot policeman who lived in the ‘House of Trouser’ with Toadie and Connor a few years ago), Janelle Timmins (a mum of a relatively recent family that I can hardly remember) and DR KARL KENNEDY!!!!! Very very exciting indeed! They answered some questions from the crowd and then Safari Pete got on with hosting the quiz (general knowledge with a few Neighbours questions thrown in for good measure!), whilst the stars floated around the room, meeting people, signing autographs and being photographed!
Our table was uber excited about meeting the stars (well none of us were that fussed about Janelle – it was all about Stu and Dr Karl! We did manage to answer the questions on the sheet whilst we were waiting, but then we all swooned when Dr Karl came to our table. It was very exciting! We all got our photos taken and also got autographs, we almost melted with excitement so then had to calm ourselves down! (I am aware that I have used the word excited a lot here, but it really was that exciting!) When Janelle came over, we all got her autograph and had photos with her, although we didn’t really want to, but thought it might hurt her feelings if we had not done so! Then Stu Parker (mega-swoon!) came over to our table, I think all the girls at the table dissolved into gibbering wrecks, only just about having the ability to say hello and smile for the camera!
After the quiz (which we didn’t win!), Safari Pete hosted some competitions and then it was time for the next part of the show – the one and only Paul Robinson singing live with Dr Karl’s band, Waiting Room! He was surprisingly good, much better than when he released that terrible single all those years ago! Again, I showed my age when the girls at my table asked what he was talking about (when he mentioned that song) and I explained about his somewhat major flop of a pop career – they couldn’t believe it and had absolutely no idea! Anyway, he sang some covers of rock and indie songs (no cheesy pop music!) and really got the crowd moving!
Once his set was over, it was time or Dr Karl to take to the stage! They were excellent and did a mixture of covers (including Kaiser Chiefs, Killers, Zutons) and some of their own material (including a song about Susan!). Again, everyone was really into the music and dancing about, they put on a really great show and Alan Fletcher (Dr Karl) is a genuine showman, giving it his all and seeming to enjoy every minute of the show. It really was a highly entertaining evening and everyone really enjoyed it, even those who might not be the biggest Neighbours fans.
When the show was over, I suddenly realised how utterly tired I was – dancing about like a loon really takes it out of you (once again showing my age!) so we said our goodbyes to the people from our table and then got a tram back, finding an interesting sculpture along the way and stopping at Maccas for a bit of late night wifi before heading back to the hostel.
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