There’s nothing that screams Australian high school life like eshays, formals (not "prom") and a nice sprinkling of the c-word in casual schoolyard vocabulary. Netflix's breakout hit series Heartbreak High has it all, and while Aussie adolescents (well, anyone who’s ever been to high school, for that matter) finally have a teen drama they can relate to – well, aside from the daggy school uniforms being replaced by a parade of designer outfits – the reboot of Heartbreak High is making waves for much bigger reasons.
Season 2 of the show debuted at Number 1 on Netflix in Australia earlier this year (no surprises there) and No. 7 worldwide. It turns out that while dramas about getting your P's, bush camp, and PE class on the oval in those baggy sports uniforms resonate well with Aussies, there are much deeper narratives at play that hit home for viewers around the world. Season 2, which was released in April this year, deals with a whole new ball game of hit-you-right-in-the-guts topics (spoiler alert!) – Harper (Asher Yasbincek) is navigating the complexities of the Australian legal system, Amerie (Ayesha Madon) must deal with a pregnancy scare, Malakai (Thomas Weatherall) struggles to understand his sexuality, and we haven't even talked about Darren (James Majoos) and Ca$h (Will McDonald) navigating their mismatched sex drives within their blossoming relationship.
But next to the charismatic cast, we reckon that Sydney is the real star of this bingeable series, with the whole thing being filmed here in the Harbour City. You'll actually find that a lot of the places featured in the show are not what they seem, with made-up train stations and the like, and while a lot of the drama takes place at Hartley High, you’ll be disappointed to know that the school doesn’t really exist. However, a lot of the show is filmed at Maroubra High School – so rest assured that the oval, hallways and classrooms are bonafide Australian public school environments – and the rest of the show is mainly filmed around Maroubra and the Eastern Suburbs.
Whether you’re a Sydney local who just can’t put your finger on those familiar scenes, or you’re a global fan sussing out what life is like Down Under, here's where all the most iconic Heartbreak High Season 2 scenes were shot.
Major Sydney filming locations from Heartbreak High Season 2
The Bunker Party (Bare Island, La Perouse)
Ok, look. Considering the only way to get to Bare Island is by a guided tour, it’s not quite the place to host a rager like they do in the Hartley High kids do in the first episode of Season 2. That being said, when there’s no parent who wants to hold a party for underaged kids to drink booze and drop caps, Aussie high schoolers are no stranger to ‘gathos’ on Sydney’s beaches at night.
Cash’s Music Video (Sydney Park)
Before everyone was streaming on Spotify and YouTube, the way you listened to new and music and caught up on iconic music videos was on Rage. Late at night and early on Saturday mornings, the ABC's (Australian Broadcasting Corporation's) music channel pumped out hit after hit, and the best underground music videos weren’t pretty far off what Ca$h gets up to at Sydney Park. Located in Sydney’s Inner West at the intersection of Newtown, St Peters and Alexandria, the locals hit up the green to cycle, play at the park, explore the wetlands, let the kids loose in the skate park, and let their pooches have a sniff and a run around in the shadow of the towering heritage-listed retired brickworks while they sip on something from Sydney Park Kiosk.
We also cannot neglect to mention that the nice gentleman wearing the sandwich board in Ca$h's fantasy is none other than Sydney icon Danny Lim (@dannyboylimdl), a local activist and one-time politician who can often be seen spreading smiles and mischief on the city's streets. Danny has been popping up as an extra in a few movies recently as well, including Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Three Thousand Years of Longing.
Camp (Ingleside/Pennant Hills/Waterfall)
The Hartley High "student bonding" experience in the bush (and Quinni’s scary run-in with some native Australian wildlife) actually takes place over a couple of filming regions around Sydney. While Ingleside and Pennant Hills are way up in Northern Sydney, Waterfall is further down south. Waterfall is located in the picturesque Royal National Park and is a super common location for high school hikes and camps.
Quinni’s Day at the Zoo (Taronga Zoo)
Taronga Zoo is somewhat of a Sydney institution. Not only is it the largest zoo in the country, but it has stunning views over Sydney Harbour including the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Given Quinni’s love for her pet frog, it totally makes sense that the gang would try and cheer her up at the zoo’s amphibian enclosures, even if they were a little off in meeting her needs.
Ca$h and Chook’s Boat Ride (Manly Dam)
While Cash and Chook were getting up to some risky business, Manly Dam is more commonly (and wholesomely) known as a perfect picnic spot. On a sunny Sunday, you’ll find mountain bikers, kayakers and water skiers all enjoying the scenery.
The Skate Park (Maroubra Skate Park)
Young and old skaters and bikers alike flock to Maroubra Skate Park for its impressive double bowl, and views of the water. On a weekend in summer, the area is packed with beachgoers and people carving it up – plus onlookers like Amerie and Harper.
Harry's Cafe de Wheels (Tempe)
In reality, Darren might as well be schlepping to the other side of the country to make it to their after-school job, that's how far apart Maroubra is from Tempe (pronounced temp-ee, it's a suburb on the outer edge of the Inner West). But we digress, you haven't been out in Sydney unless you've eaten a pie floater at Harry's Café de Wheels in the wee hours. There's a few branches of this hallowed purveyor of hot pies and hotdogs around the city, the Tempe one is definitely the biggest though (we're not sure how the crew managed to film between the deafening noise of planes taking off from the nearby airport and trucks blaring down the highway, but we commend them).
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