Today has been a good day, but let me start with the weekly video which is now live (and has been since this morning and already spotted and commented on!). It can be found here.
I woke up a tad late this morning (well after 07:00) and my main thoughts were dental. I checked Google Maps, and there were a few dentists supposedly open this morning, so I made my way out into the city to find one. Google Maps lied to me and all were shut, so I returned to the hotel and tried to give Mum a call; no answer so I guess I was too late for her.
I felt that I was on a bit of a fools errand trying to find a dentist, but I did spot one more that was supposedly open, so I phoned and have an appointment at 10:10 tomorrow; Easter Sunday. I did check with them, and yes, they are open on Easter Sunday, so I have a 10 minute walk tomorrow to see a dentist.
I then considered this afternoon, and decided that I was going to go to the AFL game at Marvel Stadium after all, so after a bit of a pfaff (Ticketmaster didn't want to accept my Paypal credentials) I managed to get a ticket for today's game.
I had absolutely no plans for today, so started to wander down the street, and spotted the MCG in the distance (the Melbourne Cricket Ground; one of the iconic grounds in the world). I wondered whether I could do a tour, so walked on, arriving at 10:55 and managing to get on an 11:00 tour.
This lasted an hour and a half, and we made it down to the field level (even though we weren't allowed on the grass). It's currently set up for the AFL game here tomorrow, so I commented that the groundsman must hate this over his wicket. I was informed that the pitch lifts out and is replaced for the AFL games, and the wickets are looked after just outside.
We then had an explore of the changing rooms used by both cricket and AFL, the long room, and learned a good bit about the history of the ground. It's one thing to see it empty, but I'd live to see it full with a great atmosphere.
We also had a look from the stadium back to the city, and it's remarkable how close to the city centre the ground is ..... I guess that's one of the benefits of the ground being founded shortly after Melbourne was established. We also saw the Don Bradman statue; the man who is statistically the best batsman ever to have ever played the game by a country mile. We also saw the wall of MCG records, and it was satisfying to see Alastair Cook there as the record individual test score at the ground; how that must have hurt to put up there!
Tour over, I made my way back to the city and my hotel to charge the battery on my phone in readiness for this evenings AFL game. So, AFL is the Aussie Rules football, and I had tickets to see Essendon vs St Kilda .... team names I remember well from the TV coverage we had in the UK back in the 1980's.
Away from the hotel at around 14:30, and onto the tram to Marvel Stadium which is within the free tram travel zone. I alighted and entered the ground at just after 15:00, well in advance of the 16:20 bounce up. I had some food and a beer while I enjoyed watching the ground fill.
The game itself was fantastic; I sat a bit perplexed about the intricacies of the game, but understood enough to know that the home team, Essendon, had started appallingly and gifted St Kilda a significant lead in the first couple of minutes. I had no idea about how long a game was, and had a chat with the Aussie next to me about this; four quarters of 30 minutes each.
Before I knew it, the first quarter was over with St Kilda leading 19 points to 28. (well, the way they score it Essendon <goals.behinds(points)> 3.1(16) to 4.4(28) ..... 6 points for a goal through the centre posts, 1 point for a behind for when the goal is missed but it's close enough to go through the smaller set of poles.
The natives were restless; I was sat amongst the Essendon fans, and they weren't happy. Things didn't improve much in the second quarter, and at the half St Kilda still lead 5.3(33) to 6.8(44). The game kept swinging; each time Essendon started to show signs of coming back into the game, they did something stupid to put themselves back into trouble.
Quarter three was more of the same; Essendon looked like they had equalised with a goal, but it was disallowed by the officials to howls of derision from the fans; St Kilda went straight up the other end and scored a goal to make things worse, and the quarter ended 8.5.(53) to 8.12(60).
Somehow quite inexplicably Essendon were still in the game, and then the fourth quarter bought what I think nobody saw coming; I certainly didn't. Essendon had looked out on their feet, but from somewhere they found a second wind and started to link consecutive scores together. With just nine and a half minutes left, Essendon scored a goal from more than 50 metres out; a few behinds to finish the game, and the place just erupted when the final hooter sounded. Essendon somehow managed to win a fantastic game, and the place was rocking.
Out of the stadium, and the sun was setting as I caught the tram back to Flinders Street and my accommodation here at the Rendezvous. That game was so good I think I may have to go to the one at the MCG tomorrow; the locals were telling me it should be a good game between two good teams.
So today all done, and plans to make for tomorrow that can probably wait until the morning.
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