This week on Home and Away in Australia, Alf finds a new home for the Bait Shop, but Roo is convinced she’s got a better idea…
Alf’s (Ray Meagher) famous Bait Shop has been housed in its current location since July 2008, when Alf moved into a small unit in the same building as Leah (Ada Nicodemou) and Irene’s (Lynne McGranger) Pier Diner.
However, that’s all about to change. A few weeks ago, Alf was shocked to receive an email from his landlord, explaining that with the current lease coming to an end, he was hiking up the rent.
Alf, who had been down in the dumps since his recent heart scare, sprang into action as he headed to the Surf Club office to dig out the lease, hoping that the landlord didn’t have a leg to stand on.
Unfortunately, Alf discovered that the landlord in fact had every right to increase the rent, and there was nothing he could do about it. After trying unsuccessfully to talk the real estate agents around, he was forced to accept that the rent increase would spell the end of his business.
With fishing bait not exactly a huge money maker, he simply couldn’t afford to agree to stay – the rent hike had made the Bait Shop unsustainable.
Roo (Georgie Parker) and Marilyn (Emily Simons) were surprised by Alf’s relaxed demeanour as he told them that perhaps it was time for him to close the shop for good.
“All good things have to come to an end,” he told them, after revealing he was calling all of his clients to tell them he was shutting up shop. “And let’s face it, we’ve had a pretty good run.”
While Marilyn described the decision as “heartbreaking,” Roo was furious, and went behind her dad’s back, writing a heartfelt letter to the Coastal News, explaining the positive impact the shop had had on the bay for nearly twenty years.
While Alf was touched by the surprise gesture, especially his daughter’s kind words, the letter had the opposite effect.
The online edition received countless negative comments – including one exclaiming “Out with the old, in with the new. It’s called ‘progress’”.
“Someone buy that man a violin,” said another, while a third claimed that it was “time for a change.”
Roo’s plan had been for the article to convince the real estate agent and landlord to do the right thing, but Alf soon realised that half the town wanted him gone.
Roo suggested they launch a petition or hold a protest, but Alf quipped that it would just end up with the town throwing rotten fruit at him.
Instead, he doubled down on his decision, telling Roo and Justin that he’d “close up the shop and sail into the sunset, like these social media people want me to.”
Thankfully, with some encouragement from John (Shane Withington) and Mali (Kyle Shilling), Alf was talked around, and last week’s episodes saw him begin searching for a new home for his business elsewhere in Summer Bay.
This week, he struggles to find somewhere appropriate and affordable, and Roo is worried.
“Alf’s major health scare has taken the wind out of his sails,” Georgie Parker tells TV Week about her on-screen father’s nonchalant attitude. “It’s compounded by the Bait Shop closing. He has a sense of being helpless to do anything about it.”
Finally, Alf thinks he’s stumbled upon the perfect location – an unused shed on the grounds of his other business, the Summer Bay Caravan Park.
Yet despite Alf’s enthusiasm, TV Week reports that Roo isn’t keen about her dad’s brainwave, thinking that he can do a lot better than a small, grotty old shed.
“Roo doesn’t want Alf to use the old shed,” Georgie continues. “It’s incredibly small, dirty and very old – frankly, he deserves better. She’s pretty determined to get her dad the best bait shop built that she can.”
Instead, she comes up with a better idea – they should use some of the empty land on the caravan park site, and construct a brand new bait shop. She rallies Maz, Leah and Justin (James Stewart), as they try to convince Alf that a bespoke building is the best plan of action to save his business.
However, Alf isn’t convinced. A new building means having to raise funds and get council approval for the development. For someone who’s just had a heart scare, it all sounds like too much work…
Can Roo talk Alf around, or are we about to say goodbye to the much-loved Bait Shop forever?
The Bait Shop’s move comes as a result of a major change at Palm Beach, the real-life home of Home and Away’s Summer Bay.
Palm Beach’s Barrenjoey Boathouse, which has been used as the exterior of the Pier Diner and Alf’s Bait Shop since 2008, was demolished in 2022 to make way for a complete rebuild.
Built in 1947, and with several renovations and additions over the decades since it first opened as a boat and seaplane shed, the building was deemed no longer fit for purpose.
First reported to have a predicted cost of $4 million, but now stated to be $7 million, the rebuild has seen an almost identical building constructed with a few key differences.
The whole structure has been raised to comply with required flood level regulations, and a 1.7m increase to the height of the building itself will allow better utilisation of the upper storey for office space.
Along with the noticeable visual change to the upper storey, an additional exterior staircase has also been added to the southern side of the building.
While it was previously confirmed that the building’s new owners were in talks with Seven to have Home and Away continue filming there, the newly rebuilt building hasn’t yet been seen on screen.
The show has instead used existing stock shots and carefully framed any scenes shot on Station Beach to hide the construction work and subsequent new building. Whilst interior scenes at the diner are filmed in the studio, the show introduced the coffee cart to to make up for a lack of exterior scenes outside the diner.
With the Bait Shop now looking set to move to a new location, it seems that Home and Away may be abandoning plans to film at the building it has used since 2008.
The cast and crew are continuing to use the Coffee Cart for external coffee-related scenes. However, it seems that the location is seemingly not too popular with the cast who have to man it!
Commenting on Georgie Parker’s Instagram when production resumed after Christmas 2022, Emily Symons joked: “So happy to see beautiful you and lovely Lynne today darling. Unfortunately no one torched the coffee cart over the holidays so here we are?”
