Day 202 We kicked off the day with an unusual first thing in the morning grocery run. Even before coffee (out of milk)!! We then headed back to the Strand to make bacon and hash browns on the barbie. We wondered if all the people running and trying to keep in shape minded the delightful smell of sizzling bacon. This was around 9 in the morning and it was already scorching hot out. The sun was reflecting off the stainless steel BBQ making it just a bit hotter for the cook. Whilst at the grocery store we picked up a free local paper and as we were reading it during breakfast we found an ad for a caravan and outdoor show.
We made our way over to the entertainment complex by the marina and after a small entry fee we were free to roam. We started with the trailers. They fold out into 3 or 4 room tents, some of them even automatically with the push of a button. It was hard to believe all that was packed into such small trailers, pull out sinks and stoves came with even a base model. Next were the caravans and motor homes. Honestly, what enginuity. All the ideas to fill every nook and cranny with useful things and still make it look appealing. From office spaces, swiveling TVs, indoor or outdoor kitchens and washing machines any option you can think of was available. As with any show there were tons of exhibitors selling or promoting their lines. We got talking to of all people an OZ army recruiter, who after finding out we had no intention of joining was still nice enough to chat and ask us if we were going to the game. What game we queried. The North Queensland Cowboys were playing the Brisbane Broncos in a first round NRL playoff game. We said no, assuming there were no tickets left the day of. He told us to go downtown to the Cowboys official headquarters only minutes away and check.
After seeing the rest of the show, we made our way to the Cowboys Club and indeed they had tickets left. Dirt cheap too for a playoff game just $22 per ticket. Steal!! We had lunch and naps at the lagoon before we headed to Dairy Farmer's Stadium. We got general admission tickets and were advised to show up when the gates opened at five, well before the start time of 7:45. We took the advise seriously and after a two person tailgate party made our way to the entrance. It was a good thing we did. General admission is a grass area behind each end zone. And in no time it was full. The stadium seating is comparable to BMO field in Toronto, it seats a bit over 20 thousand (including the grass). The building not very new, has no real colour scheme, all the seats were all different colours, none the same as the team uniforms. It had more of a college or uni stadium feel. A few things stood out to us. The beer was pretty cheap for an event. The scoreboard reflected something a high school would have in its simplicity, team names, score, time, nothing extra on it. There was very few security for what I'd say I would see at a usual event of this magnitude. And the big one, all the food and beer was cash only and they only had ONE ATM in the place. When I got in line I stopped counting at twenty people in front of me. The line up was longer than the one at the beer stand! When I got to the front, it wasn't even an ATM, just 2 girls with a huge box of cash, it was like getting cash back when paying with debit but you didn't buy anything just your money.   
People watching and the energy filled atmosphere (and waiting at the "ATM") made the time to kick off go by pretty quickly. When the game did start it was loud and crazy. It was easy to get caught up in a sport we only watched a handful of times and frankly only knew half the rules. The biggest difference between Rugby and the Grid Iron is these guys get 5 downs to try and go the whole field as opposed to the 4 downs per 10 yards. The scoring is relatively the same but rugby is a much faster paced game. There are two 40 minute halves and with halftime included the game was over in well under two hours. The home team Cowboys got off to a great start scoring twice very quickly and had an 18-0 halftime lead. The Broncos came out in the second half firing on all cylinders closing the gap within the first few minutes and then making it even closer with 10 minutes left. The Cowboys held them off however and moved on to the next round.