1st Test - Barmy Army!!!

Ok, so the 1st Test in Brisbane is over. Not exactly the perfect start but it was good fun anyways. Having said that, the Brisbane Fun Police were a pain in the backside. I didn't realise it was illegal to start mexican waves!

Ave it

Brisbane is a nice little city of what we've seen (although that isn't too much). We went to walk to the Botanical Gardens on our first day, but only made it to the Pig'n'Whistle English pub in town! On the way, we were stood next to Michael Vaughan at the traffic lights. I waned to get a picture but thought it would be silly whilst crossing the road! Then, when we were at the pub in Queens Street, Freddie walked past with his wife, pram and kid on his shoulders. Noone gave him any hassle, which was good to see!

Eeva and Mirka

The hostel we are in is... ermmmm... horrible. It is filthy so we try our best not to spend much time there. We are sharing with a couple of other cricket fans - Tom & Tractor (she's from Suffolk) - who have been on other tours too. We have spend a bit of time discussing the perils of selecting Giles ahead of Monty!!

The days are obviously spent watching cricket and drinking their 3% beer. It tastes of water. I can't bite my tongue when the Aussies get mouthy either so we've had plenty of banter. The stadium itself is awesome, although the atmosphere could have been better if the Brits weren't spead out everywhere.

In the evening we've actually slept a fair bit - drinking in the sun is hard work. I'm sure you all feel really sorry for us!! One night I went out with these two Finnish girls from our room - Eeva and Mirka - for a couple of drinks. That was all I could last as I felt so tired!

Freddie and Nasser

The last day of the test was short but brilliant. The stadium has full of English people and the Barmy Army was in full voice. Simon had come up for the day too, which was cool. Not sure if we made it on TV but we were sat next to the Barmy Army! After the game we went to the Chalk Hotel, a massive pub where the Barmy Army has adopted on match day. Singing continued for hours, with the help of a few stronger beers, and 2 Oz TV channels filmed the antics. The Chalk Bar is also the venue of one of my fave pics so far... you will see why!

Next stop is Noosa for some more beach time. hopefully we will make it to Oz Zoo to see Steve Irwins legacy too.

Jimmy at Chalk Bar

KP and Nasser

Not all Aussies are bad...

The Gabba