Month: July 2015

We decided to catch up with our niece, Ella, while we were there. She had only moved down to Melbourne from the Sunshine Coast for her studies at the start of the year so she was still finding her feet.

After a short walk to the rendezvous point (boy has she grown up!) we headed off to a Japanese restaurant for a meal.

It was really good to chat about what she was up to: uni, work, family, etc.

She is totally reliant on public transport as she hadn’t done all of the required hours on Ls while she was still in QLD. That’s not really a problem here in Melbourne though since the trams & buses are so good.

She works as a shop assistant at a local pharmacy to fund the life of a student. She’s sharing with 2 other students for the moment.

She’s studying an arts degree in psychology and criminology and is really enthusiastic about it.

I can understand why she loves it here. I think I could get used to Melbourne myself!

We were here to see Dockers down the Tigers at the Emma-See-Bloody-Gee on Saturday, but since we’d heard good things about this tour we started the day with a chilly walk along the Yarra down to the ground…the temp was around 7C. We’ve had colder temperatures than that of course but there’s something about it here that seems to make it worse.
The tour lasted about 45 minutes and was thoroughly worth it. If you get the chance then just do it.

There are several things we learnt about the “G”:
– it’s full of history dating back to the 1800s;
– membership is really cheap (~$600/yr), but there’s 200,000 in the waiting list;
– it’s a full-time going concern – there’s always something on;
– it seats 95,000 with room for 5,000 standing spectators;
– they shine lamps onto the playing surface every chance they get to help it grow;
– there’s not a bad seat in the house;
– there’s a ridiculous amount of space behind the seating; &
– it puts Subiaco to shame. We can’t wait for our stadium at Burswood to be ready.
…quite fascinating.
As with any attraction the tour miraculously finished at the gift shop. The usual fridge magnet was got.
We then visited the National Sports Museum, also housed in the G. This covered many sports and not just those related to the ground. Another attraction worth the visit.

Dad & Brian: you must make a similar to this – we know you’ll enjoy it immensely.
When we were done we headed back to the city via Federation Square, a little wander, & then back to the hotel for a quick rest before dinner with Ella.

Last night was Grace’s last performance of Romeo & Juliet.
This was the first time we’ve actually seen Gracie just act… most of the time is been either sing or dance and we were totally blown away with how good she was.
Very proud patents!