Melbourne
Trip Start
Jan 2003
1
117
200
Trip End
Dec 2003
Melbourne,
Australia
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Despite putting up 'for sale' notices in all of Melbourne city's hostels and internet cafes we haven't received a single phone call on our new mobile phone. Well, we've received two but tragically they've both been us testing that the line works. Desperation beckons!
Day 184 - Melbourne
Still no phone calls but at least we managed to do something. We visited the MCG to see for ourselves why so many Australians follow a game played nowhere else in the world (as far as I'm aware) - Aussie Rules Football. The match was Collingwood v Carlton, a traditionally fierce derby and while Carlton are currently languishing near the foot of the table, fireworks were promised
Aussie Rules
. Now there are not many sports I don't enjoy watching, particularly live and although I went in with a completely open mind, I've come out thinking it's just a stupid game. Anyone, when devising a new sport, who comes up with the ideas of for "kick-off" getting a referee to bounce an oval ball as high as they can and when the ball leaves the field of play, getting another referee to throw it backwards over their head has got to have been pissed. While I can appreciate the limited skill required to kick a ball accurately and catch it, the reality of the matter is that for the majority of the game, the ball is bobbling along the ground and twenty grown men are trying to jump on top of it or on top of each other. Yes, the players are undoubtedly very fit (the game lasts for two hours) but I've seen better exhibitions of catching a ball in a paraplegic game of 'One arm, one leg' - please excuse the sick joke.In hindsight, the fortunate thing was that it was over as a contest by the end of the first quarter (Collingwood leading by 47 points to 3) as this meant both the Carlton players and fans could concentrate on being violent. I don't condone this kind of behaviour, on the stands anyway, but it proved a much better spectacle, especially the Carlton number 10 who broke the nose of an opponent with a particularly vicious and unprovoked head-butt. It's certainly not cricket!
Aussie Rules - unsurprisingly a fight
Day 185 - Melbourne
It appears that the fiasco we watched yesterday was a nastier than average affair. Five players have been cited for dangerous activity while both teams have been referred to some commission for the 30 man brawl that ensued at the half-time whistle. We obviously got lucky!
We've also had our first phone call about Roland, as well as a couple of wrong numbers. I refuse to get my hopes up but at least it's a move in the right direction. Fingers crossed.
