I’ve always wanted to go and see my Football team, Fremantle Dockers, play in Melbourne. Melbourne is sporting capital of Australia – Victorians would argue the sporting capital of the WORLD.

We planned this trip with our good friends Gordon and Cristy. Gordon and I are Fremantle Football Club members and attend home games religiously. We decided to see an “away” game and chose Western Bulldogs v Fremantle at Marvel Stadium. We chose this game for two reasons. One being I’d never been to Marvel Stadium. The other reason was (we thought) this was a game we could win. The Dockers have a poor record playing away from home. As the date got nearer the Bulldogs were improving and the Dockers were slumping in form.

Melbourne boasts an array of sporting teams and stadiums. The two big stadiums are the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Marvel Stadium at Docklands. Both stadiums host Football (AFL) and Cricket as well as concerts and other sports. The MCG was built for the Olympic games is 1956. Marvel stadium is on the only venue in Australia with a roof that can be open and closed.

Day One: Docklands, Dinner, DFO, Drinkies

We arrived Saturday afternoon and checked into our accommodation at Sebel Residences Docklands, We booked a Luxury Escapes package for two nights and extended that for a further two nights. They offer a two bedroom apartment close to Marvel Stadium for $250 per night. Quite good value split between two couples. The Luxury Escapes package included two bottles of wine, daily breakfast for four and late check-out. The apartment was clean and modern and contained a sitting room, kitchen with large fridge and dining table. The whole hotel was decorated in purple too, which we mistakenly took as a good omen.

We strolled down to South Wharf to have dinner and check out DFO for the girls and drinking spots for the boys, We had dinner at BangPop. Some Thai curries and cocktails at happy hour. The girls had a “Ginger Boy” cocktail. There was a cocktail named “Lady Boy” but neither Gordon nor I were brave enough to order that. After dinner, DFO and drinks we ended end in Crown Casino where Jane caught up with an old friend Lhen. They hadn’t seen each other for 19 years.

After saying goodbye to Lhen, we all had a flutter at the roulette tables. I was lucky (for once) and won $50. That was good enough for me and called it a night, The others didn’t do so well though.

Day Two: Dismal Dockers

Sunday was dominated by football. Western Bulldogs were hosting the Fremantle Dockers at Marvel Stadium.

After breakfast at the hotel we strolled along the foreshore at Docklands, The weather was crisp and bright.

A short walk to Marvel Stadium to watch the game. The roof was closed and on first impression the ground looks small with dull light. My cousins Martin and Kirsty were at the ground also, but were sitting with the Fremantle cheer squad behind the goals. We went and saw them and watched most of the first quarter from their vantage point. The game was competitive and close when we returned to our allocated seats. That’s when things turned sour for the Dockers. The Bulldogs kicked three goals late in the last quarter to lead by five goals into the first break. The Dockers never recovered and lost by 47 points. Disappointing.

We trudged home and stopped at a nearby Chinese restaurant for dinner – Docklands Lotus. It was an disaster equalling the footy result with a below average meal. We should have realised when Gordon ordered the Flounder – the waitress said there’s no Flounder, but instead they have “Marrabundi”. She also asked Gordon if he wanted ice with his Scotch on the rocks.

Back at the room we drowned our sorrows with red wine and chocolate before bed.

Day 3: Catch ups with Family.

Monday was spent catching up with Gordon’s Brother, Stuart and his wife for Lunch. And dinner with my cousins Martin and Kirsty.

Lunch was at the Urban Alley Brewery located at the District Docklands shopping centre. Its a nice pub with local craft beers. Jane and I shared a very spicy prawn pasta dish and some chicken wings. They were all delicious. We also shared a sticky date pudding for dessert which was a pretty average. The restaurant was directly beneath the Melbourne Star Observation wheel. Jane and I haven’t ridden it before so we decided to try it while we were there. We soon realised the cost is $36 per adult and decided it wasn’t worth it. Kuripot!

We said out goodbyes and returned to the room for a nap.

The girls wanted to go back to DFO so Gordon and I had a couple of wines at the Melbourne Public Bar while we waited. Then onto the Highlander Bar for Dinner with Martin and Kirsty. The bar is Scottish themed and tucked away in Highlander Lane just off Flinder’s St. In Happy Hour the beer of the week was $5. I was expecting it to be a Scottish beer, but the beer of the week was Peroni. Anyway at $5 each they went down well. Gordon ordered Haggis, as he’d never had it before. It arrived and was a wanky master chef version with a round stack of neeps (mashed turnip), haggis and Tatties (mashed potato). There was little haggis and Gordon felt a little ripped off for his first haggis experience. It was a fun night nonetheless. The “specials” blackboard announced that Monday’s were “Malt Mondays” where the single malt whiskey of the week was $10. We decided to end the night with a Malt Monday. The Malt of the week was Auchentoshan

Day Four: Lazy Day

We slept in. Jane and I got up in time to catch a tram into the CBD and do some shopping.

We then met Clare for lunch at a Melbourne Institution, Pellegrinis Espresso Bar. Pellegrini’s is a tiny restaurant in Bourke St. Its very busy and has basic but delicious Italian food. They sat us in the kitchen and we watched the busy nonas as they dished out the food in what looked like confused chaos. On the way out we passed the Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews who went in for his lunch at Pellegrini’s.

I worked closely with Clare in Leyte, Philippines in our work for the Land Administration and Management Project (LAMP). We always try to catch up with her whenever we’re in Melbourne and relive those times working in Tacloban.

After saying goodbye to Clare we went back into Bourke St Mall to finish off some shopping before returning to the hotel for a nap.

We then met Gordon and Cristy back at South Wharf for a drink and Dinner again at BangPop. Gordon and Cristy spent most of the day at the casino and managed to recoup their loses and finished up even.

Gordon recalled having a drink called a B&B which is a simple 50/50 mix of Brandy and Benedictine. We decided to try it and bought the ingredients on the way home. We spent our last night getting drunk and talking bullshit. Sure enough we had hangovers the following morning.

Day Five: Home

Wednesday was just spent around the hotel in the morning and home to Perth in the afternoon. It was a fun few days even though our team got belted on Sunday. Melbourne is a great city and always enjoyable to visit. I’d like to do the same trip next year, but this time with a Dockers win!