September in Melbourne

Pies, Scarves, Footy and Beer - Yep it's Grand Final Time!!

Considering my last couple of posts have been on the negative side, there actually have been a couple of more positive moments in the now 2 weeks i've been home. For anyone that doesn't know Melbourne is the sporting capital of the universe. Anyone who tries to tell me otherwise will be getting a tsunami of sporting events this city holds back in their face.

Last Monday night was Brownlow Medal night. For anyone outside of this country, the Brownlow Medal is the highest individual honour in Australian Rules Football. Our family had some friends of the family over that i hadn't seen since i got back so it was wonderful to catch up with them. One of the major features of "Brownlow Night" is to sit and listen to the C.E.O of the A.F.L. to read out the votes for each of the 168 games played that year. For anyone that isn't passionate about AFL, it would seem that the guy was reading out numbers from the dewey decimal system. So instead of "T. Richards 1 Vote, R.Robertson 2 Votes, T. Barker 3 votes" after 14 rounds it may start to sound like "Ancient Indian History 687.98 Olympic Games 796.48."

This year the deciding votes came to the last round where by Sydney's Adam Goodes outvoted crowd favourite Scott West by three votes. I'm sure this sentence means nothing to most people reading this. Due to the popularity of this site this comment may only affect Candace and Kate.

Last Saturday, Sab came over to watch the Grand Final. It was lovely to see her again as it is starting to feel a bit wierd not seeing her everyday. We had a little chat about life which included a lot of shrugging and grunts but we are trying to make the most of it. Sab is feeling the same and with only her mum trying to comprehend whats going on in her head, she isn't exactly settling in as well as she thought she could. Still that wouldn't dampen the spirits as i received a gift saturday morning. Dad "No. 2" Mick came with 12 bottles of...Beerlao!!!

Yeah it seems that Reshelle (the yougest daughter) has a squeeze who works at a bottle shop. I'd only met him for the first time on Monday night and hes a genuine good bloke so to my surprise i had Beerlao to drinnk with the game. sab was so excited that she nearly drank one bottle by herself! The game was a cliffhanger and it was an amazing afternoon.

Teddy in front of the Show's landmark - A Pie in the Sky

Also during last week, I ventured down to the Royal Melbourne Show. It's been a long time since i went down to the "Show" to soak up the smell of cow shit and buttered popcorn. I made my way down thanks to "mum no. 2" Bev. You see, Bev has 3 daughters and I have my brother. During the 80's Chris and their middle daughter Shona were in primary school together and became freinds. Yep even back then he was turning on the charm. So with that the familes became close and now i have three "sisters" and Bev has two "sons." Anyways i made my way down to the Show with Bev to meet her youngest daughter Rechelle and her squeeze, Dave.

When i was a kid i used to go down with Dad and Chris usually after Dad slaved his way through another day at work only to be met at home by two eager kids wanting their dad to drag them in the back of the Mitsubishi Magna and wrap them up in their duffle coats. The only reason i wanted to go to the show every year was for the Bridgestone Precision Driving Team and the fireworks. Chris liked the rides where i just preferred to be part of the crowd.

Markey and Shell doing what they do best - destroying food.

I met up with my Aunty Di who works at the show. It was the first time i saw her and it was lovely to see her. We had a bit of a chat and she showed me around the new offices of the showgrounds. In fact the whole place has changed. It's more open and even though the size of the place is smaller you feel a lot more comfortable being in the crowd of kiddies clutching Cadbury Showbags and teenagers finally getting away from their parents and allowed to hang out by themselves.

By the way in the above picture, i'm eating a roast lamb roll.Ohh it was sooo goood!!

The great thing about Melbourne this time of year is that the events just keep on coming. After the football, the Spring Racing Carnival takes over and that's madness. For the past few years our house has hosted a Melbourne Cup Day which according to my parents has grown bigger and better since i left. Then the crickets in town so Chris and I will be heading to the MCG on Boxing Day for the Ashes rematch between Australia and "Ingerland." Add to the fact the Australian Open Tennis starts in Jan and we also have the A-League soccer as well, it seems sports will comfort me whilst being back in Melbourne.

I like that.