Australia Media TV

It’s All Happening In Fitzroy

So there we were, out on a sunny Saturday afternoon for a bit of a walk. we’d already been over to Brunswick Street for a bit a lunch (where there was an amusing incident with a newspaper) and then wandered up towards North Fitzroy and over to Rathdowne Street before heading back towards home. As we reached the town hall, though, we noticed that Channel 9 were there, setting up to film the series finale of their property reality show, The Block.

As we stopped to watch for a bit, we almost literally bumped into presenter Scott Cam, who was pacing up and down practising his lines:

Scott Cam learning his lines...

“Shall we get a pint and watch?” I asked Sal, and as there was a free table outside The Napier across the street, we sat down with a Mountain Goat Hightail Ale and a glass of Chardonnay and gawped for a bit as a series of cars pulled up and deposited a series of increasingly ridiculously overdressed real estate agents and their hangers on at the steps of the town hall, much to the bemusement of the hipster Fitzroy locals having a fag outside the pub.

Some of these agents were familiar faces to us: we spent the best part of a year going to open for inspections in the area before we found our piece of Collingwood, and I recognised a good few faces in the crowd from those days (including the agent who sold us our house, and who I remember having a massive phone argument with when she wouldn’t pass my offer on to the vendor…)

After the agents came the contestants, past and present, posing for photos on the steps of the town hall:

The Block Auction, Fitzroy Town

The Block Auction, Fitzroy Town

Considering how many people had apparently invaded Cameron Street for the open for inspections, there were surprisingly few members of the public hanging around: just the aforementioned bemused hipsters outside the pub, a few passers by, a couple of kids and us.

As the auction itself was held behind closed doors, we finished our drinks, wandered over to take a few photos and left them to it. As I was taking the last of my shots I turned to my left to see a Channel 9 bloke with a camera pointing it directly in my face. So should you happen to watch the show tonight keep your eyes peeled for a skinny Brit taking his photo of the day…

Josh and Jenna, The Block