To all of you who have been so kind enough to yell at me (via email and otherwise) lately about my lack of posts...I'm sorry. I'm a delinquent. I know.
A couple of weeks ago we went to the Manly Sea Eagles Rugby League match against arch rival Paramatta Eels. Our friends, Paul and Amber are big Manly supporters (not "fans" - "supporters" here) and Paul told Clarice he was going with his mate who was a Eels supporter. We got tickets as well, and we all sat together on the "hill" side of Brookvale Oval - home of the Eagles and just down the main drag from our apartment. National Rugby League (NRL) is like the New South Wales equivalent of NFL football in the states - except that it is mainly confined to the states of NSW and Queensland. A few teams are located outside of NSW and Queensland, and more are planned, but the home of NRL is Sydney and Brisbane.
Anyway, I have pics, but they are on the camera so I'll have to add them later. We had a great time and Manly won going away. Paramatta scored first, but Manly are the better team and it showed mid-way through the second half with a series of impressive tries (touchdowns). If the Eagles make it, we are going to try and go to the Grand Final - the NRL SuperBowl.
Last weekend we went the other way with rugby going to the big Australia v New Zealand Rugby Union match. This is the big international match between the two nations. We saw them play Rugby League the day I arrived, but Rugby Union is much bigger in New Zealand and this is the versions they dominate. We packed into the ANZ Stadium (the Olympic Stadium) with 79,000 other screaming people, 20,000 of which were NZ supporters. It was a lot like and NFL game except there was no tailgating for hours outside the stadium and the match was over in 1 hour 45 minutes! Because rugby plays with 2 40 minute halves and the clock keeps rolling continuously, the game went much faster than I anticipated. AUSTRALIA WON!!! That brings them up to around a .333 winning percentage (I told you NZ usually dominates). People all over said that it was the best, most exciting match they have ever scene, and we really enjoyed it as well. Being sports fans in general, we are quick to pick up rules, tactics and nuances, and that continually surprises our Aussie friends. Every time we told someone we went to the match their first 2 questions were 1) did you like it? and 2) did you understand it? Yes to both, thank you very much.
Last part of this quick up date - I travelled thousands of miles to see my favorite music act of all time! Billy Joel is coming to Australia and we got tickets to see him in Sydney in December! How weird is that? He has not come to Australia in over a decade and then comes while I am living here. I tell you, the man loves me. Now if he would shock the world with a new rock album I could be really happy. Tickets cost an arm and a leg, apparently for any big name act, but it will be well worth it. I have not seen him live since the Storm Front tour when I was in high school. I'm pumped!
Ok, that should tide you over for a little. I have an new Livin' the Aussie Life to post on Friday, and I hope to have some recent pics up soon as well. Hope everyone is having as good a time where you are as we are here!
Jon
Showing posts with label Rugby Union. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rugby Union. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
Canberra 2
UPDATE: I wanted a blog format that was wider and allowed more to be seen with less scrolling. Hope you like the change!
This could be a long post - there is so much to talk about. I think I'll break it into Saturday and Sunday. Lots more pictures in the slideshow to the right->
Saturday:
We started off on the north side of Lake Burley Griffen (names after Walter Burley Griffen who won the contest to design the capital). The first stop was the Canberra Exhibit for a quick "what do we need to see" and a bit of breakfast.
We walked all along the north bank of the water taking lots of pictures and enjoying the scenery. This one is of the National Carillion. A carillion is a musical instrument consisting of at least 22 bells. The National Carillion has 54 and is played about 2x a week.
Next we went back to the lakefront and walked down to the National Carillion to see it up close. They had a recital on Sunday, but we were inside Old Parliament so we missed it. Oh well. The Carillion is on an island easily accessible by a foot bridge. The whole lakefront is all open parks with trails and play areas for families. Because Canberra is less than 100 years old, it only has 300,000 people, but eventually it will look a lot like Washington DC and be a lot larger. Washington is, after all, over 200 years old - bit of a head start.
After all that walking around we were pretty pooped and hungry. We punched in "pizza" into the GPS and found Clarice's home away from home - Pizza Hut. We actually tried a local place, but one look inside and we said, "how about NO on this one." We ate in the car and then headed off to the Telstra Tower. Telstra is a big telecommunications company here in OZ, and they bought this tower that is situated on top of Black Mountain and overlooks Canberra. During the day I'm sure the views are spectacular, but it was dark when we got there. We saved it for late in the day because 1) it was open late - remember most things close by 5:00 and 2) I thought the city would be all lit up an beautiful at night. Well, it was...but the government buildings were not nearly as lit up as I thought they would be. We enjoyed it, but if I had to do over again I would go during the day.
After that we headed back to the hotel for some rest (my poor feet!) and to watch Australia play France in Rugby Union. Well, that and Wimbleton. We have 4-5 channels at our place and the hotel had more sports channels than that. I was a happy camper!
Day 2 tomorrow...or more likely when I get to it. Today is July 4th so HAPPY INDEPENDANCE DAY! Clarice should be home in a bit (had to work! Ha! Wait, so did I...) and we are going to the movies tonight. Better be good, costs about $30 just for the tickets every time we go...
Jon
This could be a long post - there is so much to talk about. I think I'll break it into Saturday and Sunday. Lots more pictures in the slideshow to the right->
Saturday:
We started off on the north side of Lake Burley Griffen (names after Walter Burley Griffen who won the contest to design the capital). The first stop was the Canberra Exhibit for a quick "what do we need to see" and a bit of breakfast.
We walked all along the north bank of the water taking lots of pictures and enjoying the scenery. This one is of the National Carillion. A carillion is a musical instrument consisting of at least 22 bells. The National Carillion has 54 and is played about 2x a week.
Next we crossed Constitution Ave and walked up the Anzac Parade. Anzac stood originally for Australian and New Zealand Army Corp, but now is more of a "spirit" or "sense of Anzac pride". I bought a book about the Anzac landing in WWI - the first Australian battle ever, and I'll tell you more about it when I learn it myself. There are lots of memorials and monuments along either side of the parade all leading to the Australian War Memorial.
Next we went back to the lakefront and walked down to the National Carillion to see it up close. They had a recital on Sunday, but we were inside Old Parliament so we missed it. Oh well. The Carillion is on an island easily accessible by a foot bridge. The whole lakefront is all open parks with trails and play areas for families. Because Canberra is less than 100 years old, it only has 300,000 people, but eventually it will look a lot like Washington DC and be a lot larger. Washington is, after all, over 200 years old - bit of a head start.
After all that walking around we were pretty pooped and hungry. We punched in "pizza" into the GPS and found Clarice's home away from home - Pizza Hut. We actually tried a local place, but one look inside and we said, "how about NO on this one." We ate in the car and then headed off to the Telstra Tower. Telstra is a big telecommunications company here in OZ, and they bought this tower that is situated on top of Black Mountain and overlooks Canberra. During the day I'm sure the views are spectacular, but it was dark when we got there. We saved it for late in the day because 1) it was open late - remember most things close by 5:00 and 2) I thought the city would be all lit up an beautiful at night. Well, it was...but the government buildings were not nearly as lit up as I thought they would be. We enjoyed it, but if I had to do over again I would go during the day.
After that we headed back to the hotel for some rest (my poor feet!) and to watch Australia play France in Rugby Union. Well, that and Wimbleton. We have 4-5 channels at our place and the hotel had more sports channels than that. I was a happy camper!
Day 2 tomorrow...or more likely when I get to it. Today is July 4th so HAPPY INDEPENDANCE DAY! Clarice should be home in a bit (had to work! Ha! Wait, so did I...) and we are going to the movies tonight. Better be good, costs about $30 just for the tickets every time we go...
Jon
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