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Have they gone?

Good. Now me serve you this delicious day of test match cricket.

We have already got to Lords and we’ve taken our seats early to witness the Ruth Strauss Foundation day ceremonies. Ruth Strauss, the wife of former England captain Andrew died of a rare form of lung cancer. This day was a fund raiser for her foundation. Patrons were asked to wear red for the day. Players entered the field and presented their caps to Andrew Strauss to be auctioned later. Andrew Strauss rang the bell and everyone stood holding up their red 4/6 cards.

Joe Root tossed the coin and Tim Paine called called “tails”. Tails it was and Australia chose to bowl first. This took many “experts” by surprise, but I though it was the right decision on a test that is sure to be cut short by the weather. Australia, already 1-0 up in the series could not afford to bat and get skittled for a small score.

The teams took the field and at 11 am the cricket started – at last!

Pat Cummins took the first over from the members end and bowled to Rory Burns.

First over was a maiden.

Josh Hazlewood took the new ball from the Nursery end. Bowling to Jason Roy he beat the bat a number of times. I saw the fourth ball thought my camera lens. It caught the edge and was gleefully accepted by Tim Paine behind the stumps – England 1-0 – dream Start for the Aussies!

Roy c Paine b Hazlewood 0. England 1/0

This brought Joe Root to the wicket. Root is England’s best batsman and the Australians would be keen to get him early.

Hazlewood was bowling beautifully. right on the spot moving the ball both ways off the seam. Root was looking quite solid, playing the ball very late in his customary manner. In Hazlewood’s fourth over he beat the bat again, but this time it thumped into Root’s pad plumb in front. Root considers reviewing the decision but turns and walks slowly back to the members. Got him!

Root lbw b Hazlewood 14. England 26/2

Joe Denly come to the crease.

Burns was surviving. Missing the ball on numerous occasions, even taking a few on the body. His technique is very unusual and doesn’t allow easy evasion of the short balls.

Peter Siddle replaced Cummins at the Members end but looked out of sorts. His usual accuracy not there in his opening spell. Nathan Lyon was also tried quite early without success.

England go to Lunch 76/2. Session to Australia.

During lunch we caught up with Rendel, Rob and his wife for a drink at the Nursery.

After lunch Hazlewood was brought on back at the Nursery end and removed Denly caught behind.

Denly c Paine b Hazlewood 30. England 92/3

Jos Buttler replaced Denly.

Burns was still there and brought up his 50 in 199 balls. His luck ran out however and was brilliantly caught by Bancroft at short leg off Cummins for 53. What a catch by Bancroft! Diving full stretch to his left this ball seemed to bobble in hand before clutching it tight. It happened so quick the umpires referred it to the 3rd umpire for verification. The slow motion replay showed what a great catch it really was.

Burns c Bancroft b Cummins 53. England 116/4

Ben Stokes comes to the crease. another danger man for the Aussies.

Drinks in the middle session it was my shout for the beer. I made my way down the grandstand and to the Gents. While I was doing my business a big cheer went up from the crowd. Other guys in the toilet asked “what happened – boundary or wicket?”. Another guy said “sounded like a few groans in that”. Sure enough Buttler was out caught behind off Siddle.

Buttler c Paine b Siddle 12. England 136/5

Out comes Jonny Bairstow.  England were teetering on the brink here. Will he rescue England yet again?

Stokes looked ominous cracking 3 boundaries, but only lasted 22 balls succumbing to Lyon, trapped in front of the wicket.

Stokes lbw Lyon 13. England 138/6

Australia are into the tail with Chris Woakes striding to the crease.

Bairstow and Woakes safely guided England to Tea at 201/6

Shortly after Tea the fine partnership between Bairstow and Woakes was broken with Woakes gloving a ball down the leg side to be caught by the Australian captain. Woakes reviewed the decision but the replays show a clear touch on his glove. Bairstow and Woakes put on 63 runs and pulled England out of a dangerous position.

Woakes c Paine b Cummins 32. England 210/7

New kid Jofra Archer came to the crease with a huge cheer from the crowd. This was Archer’s test debut and English fans had great expectations for the 24 yo Barbados born speedster. England fans were waiting on his bowling debut rather than his batting however. Can he stick around with Bairstow to take England to a decent score?

Short answer: “no”. He took the long handle and scored a couple of boundaries before getting himself tangled up and spooning a leading edge off Cummins to Khawaja  at Gully.

Archer c Khawaja b Cummins 12. England 230/8

Stuart Broad came in. Broad has an annoying habit of hanging around and scoring a few runs when Australia least need it. We were hoping he wouldn’t do it again. He followed Archer’s template with a couple of boundaries of 15 balls before being bowled by Lyon.

Broad b Lyon 11. England 251/9

Bairstow was batting well. England are lucky to have such a reliable batsman at number 7. He brought his 50 off 82 balls with 7 boundaries. He looked in control from his very first ball. Running out of partners he looked to score runs quickly and mistimed a slog-sweep off Lyon to pick out Khawaja at deep square leg. That’s the end of the English innings. Jack Leach remained not out 0.

Bairstow c Khawaja b Lyon 52. England 258 all out

A great effort from all the Aussie bowlers sharing the wickets. Cummins, Hazlewood and Lyon getting 3 each and Siddle with 1. The standout bowler was Hazlewood with a brilliant opening spell in the first session. His first two wickets set up a difficult day for the home side.

As for the batting, only Jonny Bairstow impressed with his 52. Burns scored 53 but never looked comfortable and was lucky to survive as long as he did. Chris Woakes provided great support to Bairstow with 32.

Is 258 enough? A tricky hour of play remained for the Australian openers. David Warner and Cameron Bancroft strode to the pitch to the boos of the English “fans”.

The booing of Warner, Bancroft and Steve Smith saddened me. I expected more from the Lords crowd. Warner, Bancroft and Smith served their sentences. They are very good players and don’t deserve booing.

Smith has proven the booing hasn’t affected his batting with two brilliant centuries in the first test. He’s such a talented batsman and showed tremendous mental strength to block out the crowd’s hostility. Warner on the other hand has struggled on this tour. Again an extremely talented batsman, but his mental game is yet to be proven. Broad has had his measure in recent times. The crowd were perched on the edge of their seats in anticipation.

Stuart Broad took the opening over from the Members end, while Jofra Archer made his much anticipated bowling debut into the breeze from the Nursery end. Both bowled well moving the ball off the seam beating the batsmen on numerous occasions. When Archer took the ball for the second over the English fans cheered loudly. Was he the one to bring the Ashes back to England?

The opening stand lasted 4.2 overs and 11 runs before Broad did it again with a ball sharply nipping back through Warner’s “gate” to clip the leg stump. It was the continuance of a disappointing Ashes campaign for Warner. Perhaps the demons are still in his head.

Warner b Broad 3. Australia 11/1

Archer bowled fast and did beat the bat, but he’d have to wait another day to claim his first wicket. Bancroft and Khawaja steered Australia through to Stumps without further loss.

Australia 30/1 (13.0 overs) (Bancroft 5, Khawaja 18)

Father time removed the bails to end a marvellous day of test cricket. What a thrill for me personally to witness this. It will live forever in my memory – Ashes test at Lords.

The Rest of the match

I didn’t have tickets for the rest of the match and we made our way back to Perth on Friday. The weather forecast for the remaining days wasn’t good.

Day 3

Australia resumed their innings at the start of play. Bancroft, Khwaha and Travis Head all fell before rain forced an Early Lunch. Steve Smith 13 and Matthew Wade yet to score were the not out batsman. Bancroft was Archer’s first test wicket. The Lunch score of 80/4 became the stumps score as the rain persisted.

Australia  80/4 (37.1 overs) (Smith 13, Wade 0)

Day 4

Australia resumed their innings at the start of play. Wade was out for 6 early in the session. Smith was solid as ever and was provided good support from Tim Paine to take the partnership to Lunch at 155/5. Smith brought up his 50 in 107 balls.

Paine fell shortly after Lunch for 23 when the score was 162. Cummins also provided a useful partnership with Smith and took the score passed 200. With the new ball 5 or so overs away, Archer was cut loose and gave one of the most fiery spells of bowling ever seen. He struck Smith on the forearm which caused a great deal of discomfort. After a short delay Smith resumed the battle. This was followed up by even more hostile bowling with Archer hitting Smith in the neck just below his helmet. Smith immediately fell flat to the ground and the cricket world held it’s breath. Medical staff rushed to his assistance. Smith got to his feet while the doctor assessed him for concussion. The right decision was made and Smith left the ground Retired Hurt 80 no. Further concussion tests would be carried out in the dressing room.

Siddle came out as the replacement to face the heat of Archer. He fell to Woakes for 6 after taking the score to 218. Still 40 runs behind.

Steve Smith returned to the crease to great applause and some booing. Such a shame to hear the booing – especially for such a courageous act to come out and face Archer and take Australia to a first inning lead. Smith showed his intent and hit Archer for consecutive boundaries. Fantastic stuff! Smith appeared to have no effects from being struck in the head – until he offered no shot to a Woakes off-cutter and was caught plumb in front for 92. Very un-Smith like – perhaps the knock on the head did indeed have some effect.

Lyon, Hazlewood and Cummins took the score to 250 to trail by 8 runs on the first innings. Tea was taken

Australia 250 All out

The last session was going to be tricky for the English openers. Jason Roy again proving that he’s probably not a test player was out in the 5 over c&b Cummins. This brought the English captain to the crease. He lasted just one ball nicking Cummins through to the ‘keeper. Australia had their tails up having England 9/2.

Joe Denly and Rory Burns restored some order with a 55 run partnership, but both fell in the 19th and 21st overs to be 71/4. Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes took England to stumps at 96/4. This set up Day 5 for a possible result. Both sides have a sniff – but a draw still seemed the most likely result.

England 96/4 (32.2 overs) (Stokes 16, Buttler 10)

Day 5

Rain again delayed the start of play.

Marnus Labuschagne replaces Steve Smith under the new concussion law. Smith would play no more part in the game and Labuschagne would bat in his place.

Stokes (115 no) , Buttler (31) and Bairstow 30 no) batted well and took England to 258/8 before they declared setting Australia 267 to win with around 50 overs remaining in the day. Either side could still win.

England 258/5d (71 overs) (Stokes 115 no, Bairstow 30 no)

Would Australia risk going for the win? To go 2-0 would be almost an Ashes saver. Risking handing over the game to England however would undo all the great work in the 1st test.

Warner and Bancroft took the field to begin the climax to this enthralling game. Again Warner failed to impress and was caught in the gully by Burns off Archer for 5. Khawaja falls 2 overs later to Archer again – perhaps Archer is one to turn the Ashes for England!

In comes Smith’s replacement Marnus Labuschagne. How nervous would this young man be?

Bancroft lasts to the 14th over and is LBW to the spin of Jack Leach. Australia 47/3 and beginning to get anxious.  Travis Head joins Labuschagne and together bring Australia out of trouble with a 85 run stand. Labuschagne is eventually out for 59 – a gutsy innings and probably saved Australia’s bacon along with Travis Head’s 42 no. Wade and Paine fell cheaply but the match was saved and ended in a draw.

Australia 154/6 (47.3 overs) (Head 32 no, Cummins 1 no)

Match Drawn

Player of the match: Ben Stokes

Points: England 8: Australia 8

How can a game go for five days – end in a draw – and be super exciting? Don’t know – just is.

ESPN Match Scorecard

Lords here we come?? Lords here we ARE!! The sun is shining – OMG its happening.

Cummins bowls to Burns. Burns defends straight… ok ok before you fall asleep its not going to be a post for cricket nerds. I will do a separate post for that.

I slept in – until 6am – far too late to join Gordon’s walk. We had breakfast at home, even though Rendel has been talking up a local cafe, Grind that sells “Afghan” biscuits. These are a chocolate, Cornflake biscuit, New Zealand in origin. Rendel has been talking about these for days, so we took a walk by the river for a coffee and an Afghan. To Rendel’s great relief they had some in stock. Gordon and I were well primed to pay out on him if the cupboard was bare. They were not too bad. This part of the Thames is where Oxford and Cambridge universities have their famous “Boat Race” rowing battles.

Back at the house time to get ready for the cricket. Rendel managed to secure a ticket for day 2 so he joined us on the route… even though Gordon and I were expert tube travelers now. With no rain in sight the excitement was building. At the ground we bought a rubber bracelet for the Ruth Strauss foundation. This was the foundation’s flagship day, similar to the McGrath Foundation Sydney Test day. Instead of pink the Ruth Strauss day was red. I was wearing my red jumper to join in the spirit. There were quite a few people wearing red (not Gordon and Rendel).

We took our seats and soaked in the atmosphere … and a few pints.

The sun was shining – I’m at Lords – watching Ashes cricket – with my great mate Gordon – a few beers in our belly – I cannot think what could be better.

As I said earlier, I will be giving a much more detailed account (and photos) of the cricket later, but here’s a quick summary.

The cricket was fantastic. Australia won the toss and bowled, much to the surprise of most of the “experts”. I thought it was the right decision. An early wicket for Hazlewood and the game was on. Hazlewood bowled beautifully and was rewarded with three wickets. England eventually bowled out for 258 – a great effort by all the Aussie bowlers sharing the wickets. This left a tricky hour’s play for the Australian openers to survive before the stumps. England fans were excited to see their new kid, Jofra Archer in action. Both Broad and Archer bowled well with the new ball. Unfortunately Warner was bowled by Broad much to the jubilation of the English fans – sadly he was boooed off the ground. Bancroft and Khawaja managed to survive the rest of the day for Australia to be 30/1 at stumps. WOW what a day!

On the way home we decided to take in some of the touristy sights of London. From St John’s Wood we caught a double-decker London bus to Baker St. We transferred to the tube to go to Westminster. Our expert guide however took us on the wrong train and we found ourselves back at St John’s Wood. An appropriate amount of sh*t was then hung on Rendel – hahaha – all good fun. Eventually we got to Westminster and exited the station right in front of Big Ben. Unfortunately the clock was getting renovated and covered in scaffolding. We walked up the Westminster Bridge to get a good view of the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye. Then around the corner to Westminster Abbey. There were other sites around the area, but Rendel was getting tired and we decided to head home to Putney to find some fish and chips for dinner.

We ate in the Prince of Wales pub. The fish and chips were good and rounded out a perfect day! Such a privilege to experience this – many thanks to Gordon for sharing this with me – it was very special.

Back home to Perth tomorrow.

Tragedy!

I went to Lords – play abandoned without a ball bowled by the weather – end of post – shutup – go away!

Okay okay it wasn’t all that bad.

Rewind one day.

Stalbridge to Putney

We arrived in Putney Tuesday afternoon catching the Train from Templecombe (not Temple of Doom). Rendel accompanied us so the trip was straightforward and very pleasant. Two Gin and Tonics went down nicely as we watched the English countryside roll by.

We arrived in Putney about 4pm and made our way to out hosts Mandy’s cousins , Hugh and Colleen, They have a nice big house with 6 bedrooms and 1000 stairs. Gordon and were up on the top floor. Colleen made scones and we had tea and scones in a lovely English garden – it felt like we were in a movie. Later on tea and scones turned into Gin and Tonics.

Rendel, Gordon and I went out for dinner at the Rocket pub. We had the steak special with included a bottle of wine. Not bad (not great). We ordered beers as well but Gordon and I couldn’t finish them – they were too warm and flat. Rendel ordered a Guinness – I guess he knew better. Gordon and I brought the wine home and knocked it off in the back garden.

Test Day 1

I woke up early about 5am and joined Gordon for a walk over the Putney bridge to Starbucks in Fulham. I had to buy my customary “You are here” mug for London. The weather was cool but clear.

After breakfast we made our way to Lords, catching the train and tube to St John’s Wood. Rendel guided us the way, catching the train from Putney and changing to the tube at Waterloo. Just before we arrived at Waterloo Rendel discovered he’s left his cricket ticket back at the house. Generously he continued to escort us to St Johns Wood before heading home to retrieve his ticket. He got back to the ground before the “start of play”.

We were to meet Mike outside the ground to get our tickets. We got there too early so we went to a nearby cafe for a coffee and cake. It started to rain.

We got to the ground, met Mike, got our tickets and entered the ground. It was still raining.

We visited the Lords shop and bought some souvenirs. Then had a few beers. Still raining.

At about 1pm we decided to go out of the ground for lunch at the Eagle pub. Food was nice with a glass of red. As we were sitting having lunch the rain stopped. Reports from the ground said the covers were coming off and the umpires would do a pitch inspection. We got excited and quickly went back to the ground. By the time we got to the ground – yep the rain started again.

We sat in the rain and watched the covers for 15 minutes before calling stumps and went home. Disappointing, but I went to Lords and even though there was no cricket I actually did enjoy the day.

Meeting Mr Hansen

I caught up with an old mate, Chris for dinner. Chris and I worked together about 18 years ago. He moved to London with is Girlfriend in 2002 and have been living in England ever since. I catch up with him when he visits Perth. He caught the train in from Cholsey and asked where I was staying. I gave him the address and we were stunned to discover that he lived in the house across the street when he first came to London in 2002. What are the odds? But wait… when he arrived and met everyone we were even more stunned to find out Chris had actually played in the same village cricket team, Henstridge, as Rendel in Somerset. What are those odds?

Gordon and Rendel joined us for a curry dinner at Ma Goa. The curry was great and the reminiscing was fun. Chris joined us back at the house for a few wines after. It was great to see Chris again. Hopefully we can visit his home town one day.

Tomorrow Day 2 at the cricket. Hopefully the weather forecast is right.

As mentioned before I’m staying with Gordon’s Brother, Rendel and his wife, Mandy in Stalbridge in the English county of Dorset. Stalbridge is a small town just inside Dorset’s border with Somerset.

I woke early Monday morning about 5 am and joined Gordon on his morning constitutional walk. The sun was just up and the town was still sleeping apart from a few people walking their dogs (and one silly jogger). We walked at a brisk pace (as usual I was trying to keep up with Gordon) taking some photos of the local architecture. We walked down a dead end road with a couple of very nice houses at the end. Gordon took a couple of snaps and as were coming back out of the road a gentleman was standing in the road with hands on hips. I expected him to say “well well, whats all this then?“. But he asked who are we and why were we talking photos. Gordon explained we’re just tourists taking photos of the architecture of the area – “don’t worry nothing sinister mate“. He seemed to accept this and (to my disappointment) didn’t call the local bobbies. I guess we’re the first tourists Stalbridge ever had. We pushed on trying to find a coffee shop. The local supermarket, Dike and Sons had a coffee shop but it was yet to open. I guess our body clocks are not aligned with Stalbridge time yet.

Back to the house Rendel had prepared breakfast of cereal, fruit and toast. Some of the fruit was grown in Rendel’s garden. We then took a walk back to Dike and Sons to pick up the paper and have that coffee. Coffee was average – maybe we should be English and just drink tea.

Rendel and Mandy promised to show us the sights of Dorset. We took off on our road trip down to the seaside.

Sherborne

First stop was Sherborne where they have a impressive Abbey. The Abbey is a Church of England church and reminded me of the cathedrals of Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. We walked around inside the church and then outside around the grounds to the school. The school has been used in a couple of movies including “Goodbye Mr Chips (1969)”.

Cerne Abbas Giant

The second stop was the Cerne Abbas Giant, This is a 50 metre image of a naked man holding a large club outlined on the side of a hill. The outline was a bit overgrown but you could still make out his giant erection – which I suspect is the main attraction. Quite cool nonetheless.

Next we headed to the coast. The roads we very narrow sometimes with enough room for only one car. When meeting another vehicle head on, one has to back up to find a embayment to allow the other to pass. The locals drive a a furious pace even on these roads. I surprised we didn’t see any head-on accidents.

The roads did however provided some beautiful scenery of rolling farmland coming up the coast.

Burton Bradstock (Hive Beach)

We reached the English Channel at Burton Bradstock also known as Hive Beach. Rendel has a favourite restaurant right on the beach, Hive Beach Cafe. Nick and his wife, Angie joined us for a seafood lunch. The place is very popular and we were lucky to get a table inside, as the rain was coming in fast. Gordon and I sampled the local lager from the Piddle brewery which was just average. The lunch was very nice, company was good and the view was great.

After lunch we drove east along the coast stopping to take in the view at Chesil Beach.

Hardy Monument

Then inland heading home we stopped at the Hardy Monument. This is a large “Spyglass” shaped monument built in 1844 in memory of Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, Flag Captain of HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.

We zoomed home through the narrow country roads stopping in Sherborne to pick up some steaks for dinner.

Somerset

Nick and Angie invited us to their place for a pre-dinner drink where we met Mandy’s other brother Hugo and his partner Lizzie. Rendel was a little tired after the trip and didn’t join us. Their house is just ten minutes away, but over the border in Somerset. We had a few champagnes and laughs before heading home where Rendel had the barbecue going. The steaks were great and after dinner we finished the day with a couple of scotches.

My blog posts over the past few years represent my bucket list items slowly getting checked off. It started with the USA trip with Yosemite, Grand Canyon and New York.  More recently Japan and Paris. My number 1 bucket list item, however is watching an Ashes test at Lords, the home of cricket…. Lords here we come!

I was lucky enough to secure tickets to the first two days of the second Ashes test 14 August 2019. Many thanks again to Mike and his contacts in the England and Wales Cricket Board. This is a boys trip with Gordon and I travelling together. We’re spending a few days with Gordon’s brother, Rendel before joining up with Mike and his partner Rob in London for the cricket. Rendel is terminally ill and this was a good opportunity for Gordon to visit him.

Our adventure started Saturday night with our Qatar Airways flight to Doha, an eleven hour flight on an airbus A380. This was a first for me flying on the Airbus A380. I tried to be clever and selected seats for Gordon and I with a spare seat in between us, hoping that it will remain empty. Bus it wasn’t empty as it turned out because the flight was full. The “middle guy” was happy to take the window seat to allow Gordon and I to sit together. We managed to get some sleep and arrived in Doha relatively fresh.

Doha Hamad Airport is a massive airport servicing mostly Qatar Airways flights. We arrived at 6am local time and found somewhere to get wifi and a coffee. Gordon bought the coffee at $17(AUD). The wifi was pretty flaky but it was good enough to check in loved ones back in Perth. On the way to the gate for the next leg we spotted a Porsche and Aston Martin being raffled off. Gordon asked about it and at $200 per ticket and a limit of 1200 tickets Gordon couldn’t resist and bought a ticket for the Porsche. The young Filipina girl selling the tickets make a special effort to find ticket #1111 for Gordon. It must be noted here that if Gordon wins said Porsche and his wheeling and dealing comes off he promised to give me the Porsche!

I tried my clever trick with the empty middle seat again and missed out for the second time. The seven hour flight to London was again a bit squeezy. Gordon and I had a G&T up the back and chatted with the flight attendants. Interestingly none of the crew were Qataris. The captain was Australian. The Airbus A350 had cameras mounted at the front, underneath and on the tail, so you could watch the journey. It was very interesting watching the approach into London.

We were met at Heathrow by Rendel and his Brother-in-law Nick. Nick drove us to Stalbridge showing off his new Tesla S. The two hour trip through the English countryside took us right passed Stonehenge. The traffic always slows passing it so I managed to snap a few shots out of the car window.

We got settled in Rendel and his wife Mandy’s house before dinner and a few drinks where Gordon and Rendel reminisced. At about 9pm we hit the wall and retired to bed after a long day. Tomorrow Rendel and Mandy promised us a tour of Dorset.

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!