Blogs from MCG, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Oceania - page 2

So Leahanne got us tickets to an AFL game. Her mom is a huge Carlton supporter and they were playing Collingwood on Saturday. So the three of us headed down to the MCG stadium. It was pure craziness down there. Thing Stanley cup finals crowd wise....soooo many people. These Aussies love their Aussie football. Melbourne is a city really into sports. There is something like 20 or 30 stadiums here i'm guessing haha. Anyways, we headed in and found our seats. The crowd was announced later on at 76, 980. Thats insane!!!! It's a very confusing game but everyone was really into it. I started really getting into it in the end. We were cheering for Carlton. But our team didn't really show up and we were getting our butts kicked! It's a really interesting sport, ... read more

It's seldom that a Michael Bolton gig is responsible for anything other than misery, but, for what's got to be the first time in history, good came from one of them as his show at the St Kilda Palais led to us getting invited down to Melbourne by our mate Rowena. Quite why a mostly sane 26 year old girl loves him is beyond me, but she does and God bless her for it, because it resulted in one hell of a holiday at exactly the time we needed one. Had a few dramas after her place was torn apart by a plumber looking for a leak (only 4 swimming pools worth), a few days before we left, but we managed to get a late hotel, so all was pretty peachy in the end. We tried ... read more

Day 177: Tuesday 23rd December - Staying with an old friend in Melbourne The thing that has been driving me on from place to place for the last six months is my arrangement to stay with my friend Danielle in Melbourne for Christmas. Every time I thought about staying longer somewhere or following a fellow traveller’s recommendation about a place I didn’t know about I always knew I’d have to sacrifice something later on in my trip before getting to Australia. I simply couldn’t miss the chance to spend Christmas with friends. I can’t remember her address on the plane when filling out the immigration forms so I end up having to make something up! Australian customs prove to be much easier to negotiate than their Kiwi equivalents so I have a relatively smooth exit from ... read more

To get an idea of Melbourne think of the stone buildings/churchs of Europe and modern New York thrown together. Unique city to say the least and a ton of things to do. ... read more

Hello Everyone (and Happy Memorial Day to the folks back home)! Hope you have been enjoying the nice weather we've been getting, both the fall temps here in Melbourne and the Springtime weather in the US! Yesterday, I went with Anthony, Naomi, and Nicholas to my first Footy match of the season. Here in Melbourne, Footy definitely takes precedent over Rugby (which is more popular in Sydney). If you've never seen a Footy match, it's a mixture between soccer and rugby. The field is oval in shape, but the ball which is played looks more like a rugby ball. There are all kinds of rules that make this game soooo confusing at first, but the more you watch, the more you can get into the plays and the strategies! It's also a huge part of Melbourne ... read more