A trip to Summer Bay while we were in Sydney? Yes please!
It was inevitable that we would visit the set of Home and Away during our trip to Sydney! I can’t even begin to count the number of college lunchtimes I spent watching the residents of Summer Bay in action and wishing my school uniform was even half as cool as the Summer Bay High version! The draw of Palm Beach was too strong and so off we set from Sydney for a day trip to the real life Summer Bay!
You can now book the official tour which leaves from central Sydney!
Palm Beach
We hopped off the bus in Palm Beach and a little piece of paradise! The town is instantly recognisable as Summer Bay from the Australian television series Home and Away and caused us to break into a rendition of the theme tune. ‘Closer each day, Home and Awaaayyyy…’, you know the drill! The excitement levels were very high!
There was no filming the day we visited and we had the place pretty much to ourselves sharing the beach with only a few local runners and dog walkers. Apparently a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday in the Winter months are the most popular filming times.
Home and Away!
The Surf Club!
Our first stop was the Summer Bay Surf Club which listed the Club Official as a certain Mr Alf Stewart! We spotted some Summer Bay surf buggies out the back and pretended we were life guards (I was always a very strong swimmer don’t you know!) while chatting to the real life heroes. The locals were really friendly and seemed a little bemused by the presence of two Irish tourists who knew all about a show filmed 10,000 miles away!
Is that you Alf? Flaming galah!!
Hanging out at the Surf Club!
I’ve always wanted to be a lifeguard!
Best leave it to the professionals!
The Beach
Our next stop was the beach which is widely regarded as one of the best in Sydney. Palm Beach is an exclusive Sydney suburb and we spied some incredible houses peeking out of the trees overlooking the bay. The setting is idyllic and we enjoyed some ice creams from the Surf Club kiosk as we took it all in!
The infamous path to the beach:
The Diner!
As we made our way down the bay the Home and Away Diner and Alf’s bait shop came into view. The Diner is actually an upmarket fish restaurant and was filled with glamorous local lunch patrons but, unfortunately, not a single Home and Away character!
Sydney Bound!
It was getting late and the sea air had tired us out so we headed back to Sydney indulging in some people watching along the way as we passed through the suburbs. Even though it’s been a while since we watched the show, the day we spent in Summer Bay was an amazing trip down my teenage memory lane and Palm Beach is a beautiful destination in its own right. For a AUS $10 return trip from Sydney it was a fantastic day out and a great way to relax outside of the city!
Getting to Palm Beach and the Home and Away set
Bus: We took the L90 bus from Stand C at Wynyard Station on Carrington Street directly to Palm Beach and the journey took around 90 minutes each way. The buses are frequent, leaving every 10 to 15 minutes and our tickets were around AUS $5 per person each way.
You can also book a tour which departs from central Sydney and has expert guides to show you around.
Love the post Elaine. Maybe I should start watching Home & Away again
If only lunchtimes were as much fun these days Majella! 🙂
WOULD LOVE TO SEE
Hi Elaine
Loved your little blog. After getting bored of watching the depressing news at teatime. Myself and my family started watching H&A, after years of not. We are hooked again…. So seeing your pics is a real treat. I’d live to visit there one day. I think its great that all the familiar sights are still the same. Many thanks and happy travelling
Hi Julie, really glad you liked the post! It was so much fun seeing such familiar sights and Palm Beach was incredibly beautiful. Hope you get to visit!
Loved the blog. Me & my partner are in Australia at the moment. I’m a big fan of the show & we are going to stop at Palm Beach on the way back to Sydney. So looking forward to it. Just hoping they are filming at the time.
Julie
Really glad you liked it Julie! It’s still fab to see all the locations and Palm Beach is stunning but filming would be a bonus! Hope you have fun!
Elaine
Hi I visited home and away set the beach was amazing and they was filming while I was there I got to meet Irene
Amazing! Irene is classic Home and Away!