Still in Australia, only a few days to go and I'm off. I have been busy organising things, not much time for blog reading or writing.
I watched the grand final at a mates place on Saturday, was going for the Saints, but it was so evenly matched. The best team won on the day.
I will miss my brother and family by hours, they get back from 6 month around Australia trip the day I am leaving. Well it's really a half Australia trip as they went up west coast and down the middle. Still sounds great. I guess a few weeks won't make much difference after all that time away.
I Don't know how they will cope living in a house again after 6 months in the caravan. Mum went up to Darwin a few weeks ago to meet up with them and they took her to Kakadu and Lichfield national park. They continued on their trip and left mum in a hotel in Darwin for a few nights. Mum reckons sister in law flipped out when she saw all the space mum had in her hotel room.
Showing posts with label football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label football. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, October 13, 2008
Perth Notes
I wrote this over a month ago but never actually posted it. I might post some of the more interesting photos latter. We left for Perth and on the 29th of September and came back on the 1st of September, a really quick trip. What follows is my account of the trip...
It was a quick trip: we left on Friday and returned on Monday. The purpose was for a few mates and me to see Collingwood play Fremantle on Friday night. If you follow the footy you'll know what happened and know that that was the lowlight of the trip. The rest of the trip was fantastic.
One thing you notice is the amount money over there. A fairly basic house, perhaps a bit run down, goes for over $500,000. Most of the main footpaths are paved with brick pavers, and there is much new development. The area surrounding the Subiaco railway station reminded me of a utopian city.
The public transport system (Transperth) is clean, fast, safe and frequent. There is an overwhelming presence of transit police and revenue protection staff, and yet they are friendly, courteous and non threatening. I don't think we waited more than about 10 minutes for a train ever, and when they did come they were clean. The only signs of vandalism were scratched windows.
The public transport ticketing system is an interesting one. They have a smartcard system that works. We didn't use those though and just bought cash tickets. From what I can tell the ticket machines are the same ones that will be installed here when the Myki system finally gets underway. The fares themselves were fairly reasonable, $3.50 bought a 2 zone ticket that was valid for 2 hours, that is what we used to get to Fremantle.
On Saturday we caught the train to Fremantle and visited the Fremantle Gaol and the Little Creatures Brewery. We did two tours of the gaol, a basic one, and the great escapes tour. We learned a bit about prison conditions through the years and various riots and escapes, and basic prison life. It was an interesting way to spend the afternoon.
Little Creatures Brewery is fantastic, if not a bit pricey. Basically it's a beer hall in the middle of a brewery with pipes and vats and things all around the seating area. Being a Saturday afternoon it was packed too. It's not dark in dingy, very open and light, right on the foreshore of the Indian Ocean. I recommend a visit when in Fremantle. This was the most "Melbourne" thing I saw over there, apparently they have a place in Brunswick Street Fitzroy.
One of my friends suggested we find a Sizzler restaurant for dinner. And so we did. We took a train to the northern suburbs and walked about 1-2 KM through deserted streets until walking into the entertainment hub of Innaloo. Yes I ate at a place called Innaloo. We lined up for about 15 minutes before being seated and began to raid the salad bar. Brought back old memories, except this time I was able to have some self discipline unlike my visits to Sizzler as a kid.
On Sunday the plan was to go to Cottesloe beach and join the famous (it only registered vuguely for me) Sunday session at the pub. I think we were a bit early, but we got see a capoeira demonstration and had fish and chips for lunch. Back in Perth we walked from the Mount Lawley train station to our hostel (instead of walking from the city) and hung around there before returning to Mount Lawley for dinner. We went to the Flying Scottsman hotel for their $10 Pizza and Pint night. The freshly made pizzas were great and the pints were crisp and cold. Sitting near us were Muph or Plutonic from the hip hop duo Muph & Plutonic.
Monday we flew back. At check in we were told that the in flight entertainment wasn't working. Two of my mates managed to score a $10 newsagent voucher as compensation. Somehow they managed to play a movie anyway, which was good, a shame it was Indiana Jones which I had already seen. On this flight I managed to fly on a type of aircraft I've never been on before, the Airbus A330. This aircraft, an A330-200 registration VH-EBJ "Margaret River" was only delivered in May so it still had that new plane feel about it.
That's it really
It was a quick trip: we left on Friday and returned on Monday. The purpose was for a few mates and me to see Collingwood play Fremantle on Friday night. If you follow the footy you'll know what happened and know that that was the lowlight of the trip. The rest of the trip was fantastic.
One thing you notice is the amount money over there. A fairly basic house, perhaps a bit run down, goes for over $500,000. Most of the main footpaths are paved with brick pavers, and there is much new development. The area surrounding the Subiaco railway station reminded me of a utopian city.
The public transport system (Transperth) is clean, fast, safe and frequent. There is an overwhelming presence of transit police and revenue protection staff, and yet they are friendly, courteous and non threatening. I don't think we waited more than about 10 minutes for a train ever, and when they did come they were clean. The only signs of vandalism were scratched windows.
The public transport ticketing system is an interesting one. They have a smartcard system that works. We didn't use those though and just bought cash tickets. From what I can tell the ticket machines are the same ones that will be installed here when the Myki system finally gets underway. The fares themselves were fairly reasonable, $3.50 bought a 2 zone ticket that was valid for 2 hours, that is what we used to get to Fremantle.
On Saturday we caught the train to Fremantle and visited the Fremantle Gaol and the Little Creatures Brewery. We did two tours of the gaol, a basic one, and the great escapes tour. We learned a bit about prison conditions through the years and various riots and escapes, and basic prison life. It was an interesting way to spend the afternoon.
Little Creatures Brewery is fantastic, if not a bit pricey. Basically it's a beer hall in the middle of a brewery with pipes and vats and things all around the seating area. Being a Saturday afternoon it was packed too. It's not dark in dingy, very open and light, right on the foreshore of the Indian Ocean. I recommend a visit when in Fremantle. This was the most "Melbourne" thing I saw over there, apparently they have a place in Brunswick Street Fitzroy.
One of my friends suggested we find a Sizzler restaurant for dinner. And so we did. We took a train to the northern suburbs and walked about 1-2 KM through deserted streets until walking into the entertainment hub of Innaloo. Yes I ate at a place called Innaloo. We lined up for about 15 minutes before being seated and began to raid the salad bar. Brought back old memories, except this time I was able to have some self discipline unlike my visits to Sizzler as a kid.
On Sunday the plan was to go to Cottesloe beach and join the famous (it only registered vuguely for me) Sunday session at the pub. I think we were a bit early, but we got see a capoeira demonstration and had fish and chips for lunch. Back in Perth we walked from the Mount Lawley train station to our hostel (instead of walking from the city) and hung around there before returning to Mount Lawley for dinner. We went to the Flying Scottsman hotel for their $10 Pizza and Pint night. The freshly made pizzas were great and the pints were crisp and cold. Sitting near us were Muph or Plutonic from the hip hop duo Muph & Plutonic.
Monday we flew back. At check in we were told that the in flight entertainment wasn't working. Two of my mates managed to score a $10 newsagent voucher as compensation. Somehow they managed to play a movie anyway, which was good, a shame it was Indiana Jones which I had already seen. On this flight I managed to fly on a type of aircraft I've never been on before, the Airbus A330. This aircraft, an A330-200 registration VH-EBJ "Margaret River" was only delivered in May so it still had that new plane feel about it.
That's it really
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Saturday. Another winner another loser and a whole lot of apathy
Another grand final has come and gone. Geelong reign supreme, while Port Adelaide can hang their heads in shame at the absolute drubbing they received. As for me I didn't watch the game at all, I just was not interested. Instead I spent the day out and about in town. I bought some DVD's ,Star Wars Episode VI The Return of the Jedi and Police Story. I now own 5 Star Wars movies. I'm reluctant to buy the abortion that is The Phantom menace, but I guess for completeness I should, and I suppose it does have some good points. Police Story is a Jackie Chan film set in Hong Kong with the dialogue in Chinese (the DVD also has the English dubbed version), no Chris Tucker in sight. I think I've seen it, or maybe it was one of the sequels? I'm looking forward to seeing it anyway.
For lunch I went to Burger Edge at QV, and had a "feel the cheese". Not bad for an $8 Hamburger, could have done without the fries though, as the burger was so huge. After lunch I decided to hit the rails and went to Melbourne Central and decided to get whatever the first train on platform 3 was. The lucky winner was Upfield. I only made it as far as Brunswick, before deciding I'd had enough. I walked down to Sydney Road for a bit, the place was dead, and decided to head back to the City. I'd just missed a tram back to the city so went back to the station just in time for the next train.
I alighted at Southern Cross Station (it really does sound like Southern Crustacean sometimes) and had a quick look at all the VLocities (propaganda here and here) waiting for the post grand final/Saturday evening rush hour while making my way to DFO. I didn't intend buying anything but I bought a pair of jeans at regular retail price despite the fact that it's meant to be a "Direct Factory Outlet".
Uming and aring, I got on a Frankston bound train to Flinders Street, but ended up staying on as far as Malvern, where I decided to hang around for the empty Football specials returning to Richmond to pick up spectators on their way back to Geelong. No disappointment there, I managed to see three push-pull P's with H sets and an N class loco (propaganda) hauling a massive N set (see V/LineCars.com for the H and N sets). I did take some photos, but the light was failing so they are a bit dodgy.
Getting on for 6pm it was time to go home, as quite frankly I was stuffed.
For lunch I went to Burger Edge at QV, and had a "feel the cheese". Not bad for an $8 Hamburger, could have done without the fries though, as the burger was so huge. After lunch I decided to hit the rails and went to Melbourne Central and decided to get whatever the first train on platform 3 was. The lucky winner was Upfield. I only made it as far as Brunswick, before deciding I'd had enough. I walked down to Sydney Road for a bit, the place was dead, and decided to head back to the City. I'd just missed a tram back to the city so went back to the station just in time for the next train.
I alighted at Southern Cross Station (it really does sound like Southern Crustacean sometimes) and had a quick look at all the VLocities (propaganda here and here) waiting for the post grand final/Saturday evening rush hour while making my way to DFO. I didn't intend buying anything but I bought a pair of jeans at regular retail price despite the fact that it's meant to be a "Direct Factory Outlet".
Uming and aring, I got on a Frankston bound train to Flinders Street, but ended up staying on as far as Malvern, where I decided to hang around for the empty Football specials returning to Richmond to pick up spectators on their way back to Geelong. No disappointment there, I managed to see three push-pull P's with H sets and an N class loco (propaganda) hauling a massive N set (see V/LineCars.com for the H and N sets). I did take some photos, but the light was failing so they are a bit dodgy.
Getting on for 6pm it was time to go home, as quite frankly I was stuffed.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Updates Updates Updates
I've been fairly busy over the past few weeks. Last week was my mum's birthday, it was a big one that ends in zero. On Saturday night we had a gathering of family and her friends at the Ivanhoe Hotel. Everyone enjoyed themselves, and the food was pretty good. We all chipped in and got her a balloon flight, which I thought she'd like, but her reaction was more terrified than anything else. Her sister will probably go with her. On Mum's last big "something zero" birthday they went for flights in Tiger Moths at Torquay, they are both daredevils! My brother from rural NSW even flew down for the night. He flew in at 4:30 pm on the Saturday and flew out again at 9:00 am on Sunday morning.
On Wednesday night I went to Across the Great Divide, Silverchair and Powderfinger concert at Rod Laver Arena. It was pretty good, I've never really been a huge Silverchair fan, and I've really gone off Powderfinger in the last few years, but it was a good opportunity to see these iconic Aussie bands together. Silverchair were a bit disappointing, as they played a lot of songs off their new album Straight Lines, but ended on a high note with Freak. Throughout their performance they were accompanied by Paul Mac on keyboard. Powderfinger didn't disappoint, playing a selection of songs from throughout their career. Bernard Fanning even sang Black Tears, which was subject of some controversy earlier in the year, and received probably the biggest round of applause for any song on the night. My faith in Powderfinger has been restored and I'm going to buy the new album, Dream Days at the Hotel Existence sometime soon. At the end of the concert both bands returned to the stage to play Substitute by The Who, apparently it was one of The Who's birthday (there was a running gag throughout the show about it being several peoples birthday, it wasn't I checked)
Powederfinger
Powederfinger and Silverchair playing 'Substitute' by The Who
On Friday night I went to a mates place to watch Collingwood play Geelong in the AFL Preliminary final, it was just as big a nail biter as last weeks win over West Coast. Even though Collingwood lost, I think we played very well, no one thought we'd make it this far. Geelong was however the better team, continuing their solid run from throughout the season. I hope they win next weeks Grand Final against Port Adelaide. Magpies for Premiers in 2008!
On Wednesday night I went to Across the Great Divide, Silverchair and Powderfinger concert at Rod Laver Arena. It was pretty good, I've never really been a huge Silverchair fan, and I've really gone off Powderfinger in the last few years, but it was a good opportunity to see these iconic Aussie bands together. Silverchair were a bit disappointing, as they played a lot of songs off their new album Straight Lines, but ended on a high note with Freak. Throughout their performance they were accompanied by Paul Mac on keyboard. Powderfinger didn't disappoint, playing a selection of songs from throughout their career. Bernard Fanning even sang Black Tears, which was subject of some controversy earlier in the year, and received probably the biggest round of applause for any song on the night. My faith in Powderfinger has been restored and I'm going to buy the new album, Dream Days at the Hotel Existence sometime soon. At the end of the concert both bands returned to the stage to play Substitute by The Who, apparently it was one of The Who's birthday (there was a running gag throughout the show about it being several peoples birthday, it wasn't I checked)
Powederfinger
Powederfinger and Silverchair playing 'Substitute' by The Who
On Friday night I went to a mates place to watch Collingwood play Geelong in the AFL Preliminary final, it was just as big a nail biter as last weeks win over West Coast. Even though Collingwood lost, I think we played very well, no one thought we'd make it this far. Geelong was however the better team, continuing their solid run from throughout the season. I hope they win next weeks Grand Final against Port Adelaide. Magpies for Premiers in 2008!
Sunday, April 01, 2007
That time of the year again.
The footy season has begun. Now before I go too far I'd better state my alegences. I'm one of the most hated of all football supporters. Yes, that's right, I barrack for Collingwood, and damn proud of it. I was born into it, and grew up in an area where most, well every second person at least, barracks for Collingwood. Although I say I barrack for them, but I'm just not that into footy, I've never played (never will), and I definitely don't know all the ins and outs of the game as well as some of my friends do, and I'm a bit hopeless at players names and numbers. Never the less I enjoy watching my team play.
This brings us to yesterday. Earlier in the week we arranged to go to the footy, after meeting under the clocks we made out way to Transport for a quick drink and one of their semi famous $10 over the bar steak sandwiches, yum. Having satisfied our hunger we made our way to the 'G' via Barak Bridge to watch the Magpies take on the Kangaroos.
What an utterly boring game that was, the only redeeming feature being that Collingwood had a bit of a resurgence in the fourth quarter to win by 3 points. The game was a comedy of errors, both teams making stupid mistakes, overall the Kangaroos were the better team, but their cause wasn't helped by hitting the post from 15 meters out, straight in front of the goals. I daydreamed through the whole 3rd quarter. zZZ...
We started the game in the new "Ponsford" stand but it too cold so we moved over the Great Southern Stand at half time, whereI got sunburnt. It was interesting to note how cramped the southern stand feels in comparison to the new stand. I prefer the new one even if it doesn't get the sun.
After the game we retired to the Imperial Tavern on the corner of Bourke and Spring for a few drinks. It was interesting watching all the bridal parties come and go on the steps of Parliament over the road. We came to the conclusion that bridesmaids dresses really are designed to make the bride look good, even if she does look like a marang. We had a few beers and before we knew it, it was 7pm and time to go our separate ways.
It was a good day all up, and one thing I learned was never to knock back a win, no matter how bad your team plays.
This brings us to yesterday. Earlier in the week we arranged to go to the footy, after meeting under the clocks we made out way to Transport for a quick drink and one of their semi famous $10 over the bar steak sandwiches, yum. Having satisfied our hunger we made our way to the 'G' via Barak Bridge to watch the Magpies take on the Kangaroos.
What an utterly boring game that was, the only redeeming feature being that Collingwood had a bit of a resurgence in the fourth quarter to win by 3 points. The game was a comedy of errors, both teams making stupid mistakes, overall the Kangaroos were the better team, but their cause wasn't helped by
We started the game in the new "Ponsford" stand but it too cold so we moved over the Great Southern Stand at half time, whereI got sunburnt. It was interesting to note how cramped the southern stand feels in comparison to the new stand. I prefer the new one even if it doesn't get the sun.
After the game we retired to the Imperial Tavern on the corner of Bourke and Spring for a few drinks. It was interesting watching all the bridal parties come and go on the steps of Parliament over the road. We came to the conclusion that bridesmaids dresses really are designed to make the bride look good, even if she does look like a marang. We had a few beers and before we knew it, it was 7pm and time to go our separate ways.
It was a good day all up, and one thing I learned was never to knock back a win, no matter how bad your team plays.
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