I do hope that Melbourne residents will not take this personally, as I always have a good time when I go there, no matter what, but after spending three days there, I make the following observations:
1 People appear to have an affection for wearing the colour black.
2 Ladies of Melbourne have a propensity to wear outlandish replica flowers on their left breast
3 The equivalent of ICAC should hunt down the person who decided that ticket machines should be installed on trams, as they either are (a) ignored by the travelling public or (b) donÅft work.
4 ÅgHook TurnsÅh are hilarious, but life threatening experiences for pedestrians
5 Parts of the suburb of Sunshine resemble a Taliban training camp
6 St Kilda beach will not figure in an episode of Baywatch
7 The young ladies who dress up to go to the races are quite magnificent creatures, and should be encouraged at all times.
8 DonÅft mention the weather
And other than the weather I had a good time!
As luck had it Forza Jnr and I had booked on the same flight as the Marconi squad to fly to Melbourne departing Sydney at 0900.
This meant that we could cadge a lift on the Marconi bus from Melbourne airport, and to and back from Somers Street.
[account of Marconi game deleted ... we return on the night after Marconi beat the Knights...-TE]
Must have been about 11pm when we bumped into three guys in Australia tracksuit sitting having a lemonade in one of the Crown offshootsÅcDavid Zrillic, Danny Tiatto..and I still don't know who the third guy wasÅcÅc.but anyway, we had a quick chat, and the obligatory photo was taken of Forza Jnr with the three of them..and they were very nice and friendly chappies.
Back home to our flea pit, and the next day was spent, voting, visiting what I am assured is a beach at St Kilda and then into the company of friends, quaffing beer and talking a lot of tosh in the Charles Dickens pub until midnight..
One of my Scottish friends laughed when I told him about my belief that if Oz qualify for the world cup theyÅfll go close to winning itÅcand his prediction for the France game was 0-3Åcwhere I suggested that we would draw.
Come midnight I thought IÅfd better take Forza Jnr back to the hotel, as there is only so much coca cola one can drinkÅcand we successfully managed to avoid the lunatics who turn right from the kerbside lane at 80 km an hour and narrowly miss you as you walk with the green man.
Next day was the day of the France game and we set off at about 12 to make our way to the pub where we were meeting up with a few friends.
Now it was about a 15 minute walk..and we set off in sunshineÅc.two blocks later it was rainingÅc..then when we hit Southbank heavy hail was falling and we took shelter until the hailstorm had eased off, and all we were faced then was with torrential rain.
No problem..and we made it to the pub, where more beer was quaffed, and more outrageous stories were told.
Someone obviously threw the magic boomerang, and it was time to grab a tram to the MCG.
By this time, I felt I had been in Melbourne long enough to do exactly as the locals appear to do, and not even go through the pretence of paying for a ticketÅc. So to the sound of Tom Anderson and I informing the gathered audience that..ÅhWeÅfre No Paying YÅfer Tram Fare/Poll TaxÅcÅh off we went through the rain and wind.
Another beer just near the MCG and into the ground, passing someone I recognised as Trumper attempting to sell something outside the ground.
Inside in the el cheapo $40 tickets, we were delighted to find that we in fact were under cover, where my friends who had bought a batch of $60 tickets were notÅcÅc.8-)
A group of people who were wearing French colours but appeared to have got no nearer France than Footscray, were in the row in front, and as happens sometimes with visiting supporters, appeared to think that it was more imperative that they stand up, display their flags etcÅc.impervious to the fact that they were blocking the view of others just behind them.
I canÅft speak much French, (neither could they) but I managed to communicate sufficiently and effectively enough to them in the universal language where words are of little more than one syllable, what would become of their tricolour, and where it would be hanging from if they did not sit down, that from that point we managed to have an uninterrupted view of the game.
Uninterrupted of course, except for the monsoon like rain that blew horizontally , diagonally and vertically across, up, down etcÅc the pitch.
Thought at the start that we were never going to get the ball off the French, and must be something of a clairvoyant, cos I remember saying to Forza jnr. ÅgThe only way weÅfre going to get a kick at the ball is if Muscat takes somebody outÅcÅh
Enjoyable game, despite the rain.
Full time, and after wearily trekking through just about every suburb of Melbourne before a taxi rescued us and took us back to our digs, where the fleas were warm,Åc and happy to see us.
A bus trip to Melbourne airport next morning revealed huge queues waiting to check in for flights to flee the cityÅcand IÅfm sorry but I couldnÅft blame them after experiencing the weather of the past few days.
Quite a few French accents in the queue to escape to sunnier climes.
Arrived back to sunshine after experiencing a fair bit of turbulence.
Now I donÅft want to hark on about MelbourneÅfs weather, but already at least one of my Melbourne friends who has paid for a ticket, has said that if it is raining, he doesnÅft care, he isnÅft going to go to the game, and I assume that at least 15,000 people decided on the night that it just wasnÅft worth the bother.
I'll be supporting the Socceroos on the 20th, but I'll be doing it form the comfort and warmth of my Sydney lounge room thank you very much!
Oh, and the ÅgGreen and Gold ArmyÅf may well have been there, but if they were I didn't hear/see them, but I did notice a lot of people dressed in white, resembling members of the KKKÅc..