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Guest Character Profiles > Vera Punt Sally-Anne Upton

Vera Punt (nee Grundy) 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024
Lived: 34 Ramsay Street
Siblings: Valerie

The abrasive Mrs Vera Punt came to Erinsborough from Bendigo, following the death of her sister, Valerie, who had lived at 34 Ramsay Street for many years. Believing that Valerie had no family, neighbours David and Aaron had adopted her dog, a French bulldog named Regina ‘Reggie’ Grundy, but were alarmed when she went missing from the Lassiters Complex one day. After putting up posters looking for the missing dog, they were surprised to see a woman walking Reggie on Ramsay Street - she introduced herself as Mrs Vera Punt and explained that she was Valerie’s sister. She and Valerie hadn’t spoken in years, following a falling out that Mrs Punt couldn’t remember the details of, and the lawyers had taken a while to track her down, but she had been bequeathed her sister’s house and dog and wasn’t prepared to give up either of them, even when David and Aaron offered to pay her. Though David struggled badly with the idea of handing Reggie over to Mrs Punt, Aaron realised that the woman was lonely and had regrets about the way things had ended with Valerie, and so they reluctantly said goodbye to Reggie, as he headed back to Bendigo with Mrs Punt - who left David and Aaron with a bill for the vaccinations the dog had needed!

A few weeks later, Mrs Punt was back in town to arrange the sale of 34 Ramsay Street, when she was accidentally hit by a huge heart that had been part of the Lassiters Complex’s Valentine’s Day display. As Leo Tanaka had been taking down the heart when it hit Mrs Punt, she decided to take legal action against him, despite not being injured in the accident. Sheila Canning offered to have a word with Mrs Punt, persuading her that, unlike his father Paul, Leo wasn’t wealthy and she wouldn’t get very much money out of him. Believing that she’d talked Mrs Punt out of suing, Sheila was worried to learn later that day that Mrs Punt was now suing the hotel for failing to provide a safe environment for its patrons. As part of the settlement with Mrs Punt, Leo was forced to make an apology to her, but it all went badly when a resentful Leo blurted out to his gathered family that he had started seeing the much younger Piper Willis, whose mother, Terese, was married to Leo’s father, Paul. The entire incident quickly put an end to the matter, as Mrs Punt promptly left, saying that she wanted nothing to do with Paul and his ‘tawdry family’ and went with lawyer Imogen to sort out the compensation payment.

Having decided to keep 34 Ramsay Street for herself, Mrs Punt continued to be horrified by the antics of the locals when Roxy Willis took her top off in public, whilst riding a mechanical bull in the Lassiters Complex. However, it became clear that Mrs Punt had an eye for younger men when she joined the crowd at a Bachelor Auction at The Waterhole. Having failed to get the winning bid on Pierce Greyson, Mrs Punt was more successful with a $275 bid for a horrified Aaron, and made him do her gardening in a tiny pair of shorts. Over the following year, Mrs Punt continued to irritate her neighbours - making a noise complaint during a party at no. 22 - and surprise them - getting a plaster cast of her bust for an art project, and getting a dragon tattoo during the Lassiters’ Pride Festival.

In 2021, Vera attended a lip synch fundraiser for the Sonya Rebecchi Foundation at The Waterhole, where she was surprisingly impressed with David during his performance, with barman Shane Rebecchi having to remind her that it was a family event. A few months later, Mrs Punt fell victim to the seasonal decorations at Lassiters once again, when she tripped on some Easter decorations, and ended up in hospital with a sprained ankle. Mrs Punt managed to secure another big settlement from the hotel, and, at the hospital, it was revealed that new Erinsborough High teacher Curtis Perkins was her nephew, who had about as much time for her whinging as everyone else.

The following month, Mrs Punt was affronted when Karl Kennedy found dog poo on his lawn and suggested that her dog, Reggie, was responsible, then accidentally turned the hose on her. When a pile of manure was deliberately dumped outside Karl’s house later that day, he assumed that it was Mrs Punt getting her revenge and an argument broke out, before Karl got his own back by having the manure dumped on Mrs Punt’s driveway. As things got increasingly out of hand, Melanie Pearson was forced to admit that she might be responsible for the whole debacle - she’d had some manure dumped outside Angela Lane’s house, believing that she was responsible for losing a big case for Toadie Rebecchi’s law firm, where Melanie worked. Angela, who’d had an argument with Karl, had believed that he was the one who’d done it and had returned the favour. As Mrs Punt demanded an apology for the trauma she’d suffered, everyone simply walked away.

Later in the year, Mrs Punt attended a fancy dress Christmas party at The Waterhole, dressed as a Christmas pudding. There, she asked Melanie, who was dressed as Mystic Mel, if she could contact Val with her crystal ball. Though sceptical, Mrs Punt was impressed when Mel mentioned that Val had loved the beach, then asked if she could find out where in the house Val had hidden her money!

A few weeks later, Mrs Punt attended a pitch at Leo’s vineyard, where he was hoping to find investors for his plans to create his own whisky. There, she continually rubbed the other women of Ramsay Street the wrong way, tiring of their conversation and wanting the gossip on Terese almost falling from the roof of Lassiters recently. Unfortunately, when Mrs Punt insulted Nicolette Stone - unimpressed with the way she’d treated David and Aaron in their co-parenting arrangement - she ended up with a drink thrown in her face. As Leo feared that Mrs Punt might ruin his business before it had even gotten started, Nicolette tried to apologise, but Mrs Punt walked out, telling Leo that he could stuff his investment.

The following month, Mrs Punt heard that Zara Selwyn had been accused of starting fires in the area and, as she lived at no. 30, she confronted her mum, Amy, as well as Toadie, for letting them live with him. The next week, Mrs Punt was delighted to be asked to a party being held at no. 24, unaware that she’d only been asked to stop her from calling the police with a noise complaint. At the party, Mrs Punt continued to make her feelings clear about Zara, blaming Amy’s poor parenting for the situation. A few months later, Mrs Punt attended another party, a huge street gathering to celebrate the marriage of Toadie and Melanie.

At the end of 2023, Vera went to Europe, on the holiday of a lifetime, with Curtis, returning a few weeks later with tales of her travels that nobody wanted to hear. She then met a man named Santo Oliveira on a dating app and they met up at The Waterhole that evening. Santo and Vera got on well, chatting away and going on to arrange to meet up again. Vera then went over to Terese Willis, who'd been sitting and listening from a table nearby, and who had been led to believe that Santo was already dating Melanie Pearson. Not wanting to cause trouble, Terese subtly tried to confirm with Vera whether Santo was looking for a relationship or just a hook-up, and Vera said that she'd been upfront with him before they met - she didn't want to meet someone who was seeing other people, and Santo agreed. Terese was then left with the dilemma of whether to tell Melanie - her husband's ex - that she was being cheated on, unaware that Melanie had actually lied about the whole thing to stop people from feeling sorry for her.

A few weeks later, Vera attended the Lassiters Longest Lie-In. The event was designed by Krista Sinclair to improve hotel business, and involved people signing up to see who could spend the longest in a bed in the Lassiters complex, with the winners receiving an all-expenses paid stay at Lassiters New York. Although she hadn't formally entered, Vera decided to just turn up anyway, taking an empty bed and making herself at home. Fortunately, someone had dropped out, so she was able to stay, but she quickly irritated Holly Hoyland, who was working at the event, by making constant demands. Having had enough, Holly decided that the best course of action was to get rid of Vera by putting itching powder in her bed. Soon enough, Vera was unable to stop scratching and leapt out of the bed, getting herself disqualified from the competition.

Later that year, Vera was one of many locals who turned against Leo Tanaka's Yorokobi brand, after a bottle of wine from his vineyard was randomly poisoned. Although she rejected the Yorokobi gin she was offered at the Waterhole, she was only too happy to make a different offer to Leo, whose financial problems had led to him putting 32 Ramsay Street on the market. Though delighted to hear that their new landlord was happy to keep them on as tenants, Mackenzie Hargreaves and Haz Devkar were shocked to return home and find that new landlord - Vera - using their swimming pool.

After learning of Vera's plans to put a gate in the fence joining number 32 and her house, number 34, and she also mentioned that she'd be regularly using the pool and attending their parties, the housemates realised that they had to do something. When a charm offensive failed, Mackenzie snapped and told Vera that she wasn't welcome and that if she tried to evict them, they would take her to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal - and they would win. Deeply insulted, Vera agreed to leave, but warned Mackenzie and Haz on her way out that they would be receiving a rent increase.

When no. 32's hot water system then needed to be replaced, Vera tried to claim that the share house residents had damaged it themselves, so she wasn't responsible for buying the new one. In order to get her to reconsider, Haz gave her a pedicure, but when Mackenzie found out, she warned Vera that, if she didn't get it replaced herself, then they would hire an expensive plumber to put in an expensive new hot water system, and they'd take Vera to a tribunal if she didn't pay for it. Vera quickly backed down, but warned that she wasn't going to be doing anything else for them. Having realised that Vera was just lonely and looking for excuses to be around other people, Mack then offered a compromise - Vera would continue to look after her tenants, and she could use their pool once a fortnight and join them for dinner once a month.

A few months later, Vera learnt about some changes coming to 32 Ramsay Street, with Haz and Mackenzie about to get married and move to Paris. She met with the housemates, offering to help out Byron and Krista with their search for some new people to share the rent, but Byron made it clear that she didn't need to be involved in that particular decision. As she left, Vera told them to push her wedding invitation under her front door, as a horrified Haz and Mackenzie realised that she thought she was invited. Byron then came up with a plan to put her off, sending her an invitation with the date as September 18th, when the wedding was actually taking place the day before, on the 17th.

The following week, as Vera prepared to attend the wedding, she was surprised to find Aaron out for a run rather than getting ready himself. When she told him where she was going, she was shocked to learn that the wedding had already taken place the previous day and, after being led to believe that it was an error on the invitation, she rushed off to confront the printers. However, after learning that her invitation was a special request by Byron, she tracked him down, furious that he'd gone to such lengths to stop her from attending, telling him that she'd spent hours getting ready and that he'd have to pay for her wax and blow as compensation. She added that she was going to take a closer look at no. 32's living arrangements, having heard that they were breaking the terms of the lease by allowing Byron's sister, Nicolette, to stay. As Krista and Byron arrived home to find Vera using her leaf blower on their driveway, despite the fact that there were no leaves to blow, he tried to placate her by offering to get Nicolette's name added to the lease and agreeing to reinstate Vera's weekly dinners at the house.

As Krista then decided to move out too, Nicolette and Byron realised that they would need to find another housemate, taking the advice of real estate agent Rhett Norman, who suggested holding an open house to weed out the people they weren't going to gel with. As they discussed this at the Waterhole, Vera turned up and, not wanting her to interfere in the open house process, they decided not to tell her about it, quickly changing the subject and introducing her to Rhett. The following day, as the open house took place, Rhett turned up, claiming that he was interested in renting a room for himself, and Byron and Nicolette were relieved that they'd manage to hold the event without Vera finding out. However, when Rhett met up with Vera later that day, it appeared that he'd actually been at the house on a covert mission for her.

When Vera was invited to a Halloween party at no. 32 the following week, the truth came out as she suddenly suggested that she could move in with Byron and Nicolette. They were perplexed and completely opposed to the idea, until Vera mentioned that she was homeless, having had to sell her house. She explained that she'd tasked Rhett with looking over no. 32 and no. 34 to work out which one would be best for his buyer and would get her a quick sale. Having now sold her house, she had nowhere to go. With Byron and Nicolette still confused about why Vera needed to move in with them, she explained that she had a gambling problem and that the sale of no. 34 was going towards paying off her considerable debts. She also told them that she wasn't going to throw them out of the house, as she now needed their rent money to cover the mortgage. Though Nicolette was still reluctant to let her stay, Byron was more sympathetic, still feeling bad about not inviting her to Mack and Haz's wedding and pointing that it she seemed to have nowhere else to go. Nicolette then agreed, though insisted that it would only be a short-term thing and a delighted Vera immediately started to move in her belongings, including a selection of cat ornaments and declared that they should all have dinner together each evening. As Vera then went for a skinny dip, Byron and Nicolette were left wondering if they'd made a horrible mistake.

With Nicolette and Byron trying to make the situation work, Vera surprised them when she announced that she wanted to find another housemate for the fourth bedroom, giving her more guarantees of getting the rent money she needed. Vera quickly put up an ad for the room and ignored Byron's requests to help with the interviews, as she offered the room to new arrival Max Ramsay. Max, the son of Shane Ramsay, who'd grown up on the street four decades earlier, had already clashed with Byron and Holly and they were horrified to find him in the spa. Vera, however, felt that he was a lovely young man and ignored their misgivings as she arranged to have his name added to the lease.