Things To Do In Melbourne When You're Skint

Arrived: 25/06/06
I Will Be Leaving: 02/07/06
Emma Will Be Staying

We've mainly been doing sensible things during our time in Melbourne such as shopping for protective gear for the vine pruning job I start on Monday and using the internet for evil (looking for work) for Emma online but we did manage to get a few obligatory tourist photos before reality set in.

Rialto Tower

View From Rialto Tower

Rialto Tower is Melbourne's observation deck, it's a high rise building with over 50 floors and you get to go right to the top for a 360 degree view of the city although we did spend most of the time watching the crazy Chinese guy who was wandering round and round, clutching a CD walkman and occassionally bursting into song.

And I use the word "song" loosely.

He ordered a cappucino and we sat there and watched him empty 15 sticks of sugar into it before he sat and ate it all with a spoon and continued his wandering and wailing.

We quickly left before he went mental with a machete or a sawn off shotgun or something.

Neeeiiiiiibours...

God I Hope No One Saw Me

Pin Oak Court is Ramsay Street. It's a real street in a suburb of Melbourne called Vermont with real people who have real jobs and lives and it's tiny. Seriously, there are like 100s of other streets just like it in the area but this one was chosen for the outdoor scenes in Neighbours so this is the one that attracts hoards of tourists on the offical tour and tight arses like us who just get their mates to drive them up there for a photo op.

I don't even watch Neighbours unless I'm brutally forced by the majority but even I found myself clapping like a spastic and running round like a small child shouting "Oh my god, Harold lives there thisissocool!" before climbing sheepishly back into the car and wondering if anyone saw me.

AFL At The MCG

AT The MCG

On arrival into Australia I dutifully picked an Aussie Rules Football team to support, making sure I ignored trivial factors such as league position, performance and indeed who my girlfriend supports and carefully basing my decision on who had the prettiest strip.
After much soul searching and veging out in front of the TV with beer I proudly announced that I would henceforth follow Port Adelaide (nicknamed Power for reasons I have yet to fathom, especially after seeing them play). Emma is a West Coast Eagles fan. There will be fighting.

The MCG

Adam and Natalie (Emma's mates who we're staying with) both support Melbourne and today their team faced my team at the Melbourne Cricket Ground which is apparently the biggest staduim in Australia and the second biggest in the Southern Hemisphere. It's impressive, you have to give it that although the crowd was too small to do it justice.

Once you get over the fact that it's only $20 to get in and you get your head round the fact that the pitch is round (Or oval. Whatever, it doesn't have corners and that's just weird) you have to deal with the mixed fans. There's no home stand or away stand, the fans from each team just pile in together and no one gets stabbed. How cool is that?
Aussie rules is fast paced and high scoring (mainly because there's four goal posts and you get 6 points if you kick it through the middle which just seems like cheating to me), I'm surprised it's not played in other parts of the world because it really is a fun game to watch.

Aaanyway, Power got thrashed and I'm writing at the bottom in the hope that no one reads it so that I might maintain some shred of dignity. The chances of seeing Power play at home in Adelaide are slim, by the time we get there the season will be finished but it doesn't mean I can't watch them on the telly with my head in my hands wondering if turquoise really was the best deciding factor in my choice of team.

written by

Koala Bear on July 1, 2006 from Melbourne, Australia

from the travel blog: Sod Off Great Big Mission Round Oz

tagged LovinIt

Send a Compliment

comment on this...