Backyard and Garage Week is officially in the dirt, and so is everyone’s bank balance. Plants arrived by the truckload, a sleep-in was had and then half-used, and a rooftop terrace notice appeared on a fence. The Gardens are shaping up; the budgets are not.
Key Moments Today
- DRAMACourtney apologises to Jolene for telling her how she should feel: “Me saying that you can’t feel a certain way is obviously really wrong.”
- DISASTERHouse Five’s SaltPod is craned in, found to be too wide for the wheelchair-access path, and craned out again.
- ARGUMENTA council notice for House Four’s rooftop terrace goes up, and Adam rallies the neighbours: “I object, Your Honour.”
- RIDICULOUS PURCHASEHouse Two’s McCafe tip jar holds $100, a band aid, some earplugs and an IOU for $1 million.
Sorry, Jolene: Last Night’s Pub Row, Part Two
The share house fallout from the pub dinner carried straight into the morning. Courtney wanted to know why nobody stuck up for the boys or Jimbo, and the answer was a lively exchange about who had stood over whom.
Then came the plot twist: Courtney tracked Jolene down to apologise for telling her how she should feel, and Jolene thanked them for it. Another voice said it “speaks volumes for people when they can come and actually own stuff”, and Courtney hoped “it just doesn’t get brought up again”. In the share house, we’ll believe that when we see it.
“I’m sort of glad that it’s all out in the open now.”
Courtney, after apologising to Jolene
Cheryoke: The Drive-In Verdict
Last night’s Cheryoke judging at Dromana Drive-In delivered the goods. Eliza and Liberty, who set the challenge, rolled up in their Cherys, auto-parked (with a crunch) and watched five original music videos about life on The Block.
- House One: Adam and Jolene went country, a bit of Dolly, and roasted the share house on the way through.
- House Two: a song that name-checked “Lil Tel” and a “Big Randy”.
- House Four: a banger with cameos, including three tradesmen talked into wearing wigs.
- House Five: Rick mostly skated in circles; one judge called it “very hard gangsta rap”.
The $10,000 went to Rick and Tayla, with the judges citing energy, movement and a willingness to leave “pride and dignity at the door”. They then fumbled a victory rap, failing to notice they were on the big screen. Cash is cash.
“They left pride and dignity at the door.”
The Cheryoke judges
Budgets: Sauna Tears and Shapes in the Bunnings
This week’s budget of $70,557.75 sounded generous until the garage quotes arrived. One garage that was meant to cost $7,000 landed at $19,500, and a plastering bill at House Three prompted the line “It doesn’t cost 20 grand to plaster a garage.”
House Three had a rough start: Rosco choked up over his dad Jimbo being sent out of the share house, and Lisa was in tears at McCafe. The good news is the Snooze prize of $10,000 in trades, which also bought them a sleep-in they mostly didn’t take.
- House Two: the McCafe tip jar for “House Two charity” is up to $100; the garage will be “a very, very, very bare garage”.
- House One: speckled epoxy floor, Grafico wallpaper, a car wash station and a secret floor-to-ceiling wine cellar.
- House Three: had to return their Revel sauna because the money was gone.
Light relief arrived via Arnott’s Shapes, which one team member had been hiding in a Bunnings. Light and Crispy, naturally.
The SaltPod Goes In, Comes Out, Goes In, Comes Out
House Five’s hero piece was meant to be a brand new wellness SaltPod, craned in with sauna, spa-to-ice-bath and gym. Then someone looked at the measurements. The pod encroached on the wheelchair-friendly path by about 400mm, leaving it non-compliant, so out it went.
The second attempt hit another snag: it blocked the view from the pool and the fire pit seat. Rick made the call himself, and the pod was lifted back out. At the walkaround, Scott asked about “that glass box on the truck”. The answer: “Let’s not talk about that.”
Youfoodz Challenge: Meatballs Beat the Curry
Scott and Shelley dropped a surprise challenge in the Youfoodz kitchen: cook a balanced meal in 45 minutes, with chef Shane Delia judging and the winning dish going into the Fuel’d range. The prize was $10,000.
Adam grabbed all seven steaks and every sausage, Chantel and Wyatt did a coconut chicken, Courtney and Sev did spiced lamb koftas, Tayla served chimichurri meatballs, and Lisa and Rosco made rigatoni with chorizo meatballs. Shane said one dish was “leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else”: Lisa and Rosco.
They won the cash, a dish with their name on it, and, as a bonus for the sauna people, the sauna itself. Scott also flew in a pair of hairdressers for Lisa, which didn’t hurt either.
A Rooftop Terrace Notice Lands on the Fence
Adam wandered round the back of House Four and found a planning notice for a rooftop terrace. He then briefed the other houses, with an eye on views and house values. Courtney and Sev said the plan is to sell with permits approved rather than build.
Not everyone is thrilled. One voice admitted they might sneak off to scan the QR code and lodge an objection once the cameras were gone.
What’s Next
Sunday is the penultimate judging, and the question on everyone’s lips is “Where’s Rick?”. A cut-price wine cellar sparks a feud, and not every backyard lives up to the hype.
