The popular Australian soap opera based in the fictitious beachside town of Summer Bay began in 1988 on Channel Seven.

And over the past 30 years, Home And Away has catapulted many of the show’s alumni to fame and successful media careers.

However, some of the 90s stars have branched off into other fascinating career choices, with a lawyer, real estate agent, bookkeeper and natural therapist among the former cast.

The soap is the second longest-running series in Australia, behind Neighbours which began in 1985.

The series initially focused on the Fletcher family, debuting with a ninety-minute pilot ‘movie’ episode which was later converted into weeknight episodes.

Many of the outdoor scenes have been filmed in Sydney’s Palm Beach since its launch in 1988.

Home And Away is the most awarded program at the Logie Awards, with the soap being inducted into the Logie Hall Of Fame in 2015.

The successful alumni include the likes of Isla Fisher, Chris Hemsworth, Guy Pearce, Naomi Watts, Simon Baker, Tammin Sursock, Danni Minogue, Ryan Kwanten and Isabel Lucas.

So where are some of the 90s screen favourites now? 

Nicolle Dickson: Roberta ‘Bobby’ Simpson (1988-1993 , 1995)

Nicolle played Bobby Simpson, one of the original characters on the soap, who was known for being a rebellious trouble-making teen.

It’s been reported she competed against 400 hopeful actresses for the role when she was 18.

The tempered child was known for her feud with Roo Stewart, her constant search for her biological parents and her marriage to foster brother Frank Morgan.

She left the show in 1993 by being killed off in a boating accident. She returned for cameos in 1995 as a ghost.

Now living in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Nicolle left her showbiz career behind and completed a masters in accountancy to become an accountant and bookkeeper.

Norman Coburn: Donald ‘Flathead ‘Fisher (1988-2003, 2004, 2005, 2007)

Norman was portrayed as the snappy and vile headmaster of Summer Bay High School, who was nicknamed by his students as ‘Flathead’.

Mr Fisher’s villainous and devious traits at the beginning of the series included insulting foster father Tom Fletcher’s army past, and doing anything he could do remove pupils he disliked, including trying to get delinquent Bobby jailed.

He later found out Bobby was his daughter from a former fling.

Norman, who wrapped up on the show in 2003 now lives on Tasmania’s Bruny Island, near the funnily-named Hell Bay.

He’s admitted in the past that he still catches up with Home and Away veteran Ray Meagher, who is still on the long-running soap as household favourite Alf Stewart.

Sharyn Hodgson: Carly Lucini (1988-1991, 2008)

Carly was another troubled foster child in the Fletcher clan, with Sharyn joining the cast at just 17.

The actress also later starred as her own twin sister Samantha on the soap.

Over her three years on the show, the trouble character Carly’s narrative arch included rape, alcoholism, an array of relationship and family problems.

Like many of the stars, she returned to Summer Bay to made brief cameo appearances in 2008.

The 47-year-old is now making a living as a natural therapist and qualified counselor and ironically has become a foster mother in the years since her acting days.

Vanessa Downing: Pippa Fletcher (1988-1990, 2002, 2003, 2008)

Vanessa played the kind-hearted foster mother Pippa, who took many children under her wing in her short two-year stint on the show.

When her on-screen husband was killed off, Vanessa left soon after to pursue her love of the theater and a career in law.

She graduated as a solicitor in 2006 and now happily balances a law career with her acting roles.

Pippa has returned to Summer Bay for milestone moments over the years, including in 2002 for Home And Away’s anniversary and foster daughter Sally’s (Kate Ritchie) wedding to Flynn Saunders in 2003.

Roger Oakley: Tom Fletcher (1988-1990, 2008)

Roger played the foster father Tom Fletcher from the soap’s pilot episode in 1988.

He previously told New Idea that one of his fondest memories on the show was spent with the young Kate Ritchie: ‘There was always a fruit bowl brimming with apples and bananas and adorable Katie and I would pass the time pretending the bananas were telephones and have amazing conversations.’

Tom was killed off the series in 1990 after losing control of his car suffering a heart attack at the wheel.

He was revived in 2008 as a ghost, appearing in a scene where foster daughter Sally (Kate Ritchie) experienced a near-death experience.

The New Zealand-born actor, 73, has now notched up almost 50 years in showbiz, with his last on-screen appearance being for the show Winners And Losers in 2013.

Dieter Brummer: Shane Parrish (1992-1996)

Dieter played the reformed bad boy Shane, who was known for stealing cars and setting fire to things.

Despite surviving a horrific motorcycle accident, coma and splenectomy, his character’s death was the result of cutting himself on a rusty nail.

At the height of his fame, The Daily Telegraph reported he was caught in possession of five bags of cannabis (23.6g) in 1995. He pleaded guilty to possession, but later avoided conviction.  He was also charged with drink driving in 2007.

The Daily Telegraph reported in 2012 that Dieter had avoided a criminal conviction and was placed on a court diversion program over a Logies night scuffle as he was previously allegedly charged with intentionally causing injury, recklessly causing injury, unlawful assault, behaving in a riotous manner and being drunk in a public place on the night in question.

His mother told an Australian radio station in 2007 that he worked as a window cleaner between gigs.

Dieter is still acting, with recent roles on Neighbours, Winners And Losers and Underbelly: The Golden Mile.

Bruce Samazan: Brad Cooper (1989-1997)

The Australian actor played Summer Bay rapist Brad Cooper.

Bruce is the only actor to have been cast in regular roles in Australia’s biggest three soaps of the 90s: Home And Away, Neighbours and E Street.

He was awarded a TV Week Silver Logie for most popular actor on Australian TV in 1992, but later retired from showbiz in 2004 after four minor acting roles since ending up on the soap.

Bruce chose to begin his formal corporate career as a Real Estate agent in the year 2000 and is now a realtor on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

Kate Ritchie: Sally Fletcher (1988-2008, 2013)

She grew up on our screens from a fresh-faced nine-year-old playing the original foster child Sally Fletcher to one of the longest female leads on the show, leaving the show in 2008 as a 29-year-old actress.

Kate Ritchie, now 38, appears to have put acting behind her after welcoming daughter Mae Webb in 2014, becoming a radio host on Nova’s Kate, Tim and Marty drive show the same year after being on-air on numerous radio shows from 2007.

The multiple Gold Logie winner had many memorable scenes as Sally on Home And Away, including being shot in the stomach during a siege at The Diner, getting cancer and having a hysterectomy, having an imaginary friend who turned out to be her long-lost brother Milco and Alf running over his child Pippa (who survived the ordeal).

Sally also experienced a near-death stabbing experience in a 2008 episode, which saw her reunited with a cameo by her dead foster father as she flat-lined on the operating table.

Kate has openly spoken about her time on the soap and has returned to Summer Bay in episodes in 2013.

Judy Nunn: Ailsa Stewart (1988-2000)

Ailsa was Alf Stewart’s headstrong wife who ran the Hogan’s General Store with him in the first season. She then took over the Bayside Diner and helped the troubled Bobby by giving her a job, and later making her a business partner.

The business owner had killed her abusive first husband before finding love again with the no-nonsense Alf.

After marrying in a low-key ceremony, they suffered marital tensions when they fostered Bobby and endured another setback when Ailsa suffered from severe post-natal depression after giving birth to their son Duncan.

She left the soap in 2000, when her character died of a massive heart attack moving boxes, and became a full-time writer, with the publication of novels Territory, Floodtide, Maralinga, Heritage, Pacific and Tiger Men.

Following her long TV career, Stewart moved from Sydney’s Bondi Beach to the New South Wales Central Coast with her husband Bruce Venables, a former police officer who is also a published author and actor.