Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaOh my goodness!! What a weekend we have had!! It has been awesome, amazing and a whole lot more adjectives!! The whole weekend was just so good and I am happy now. An AFL Grand Final at the MCG has been on my 'Bucket List' and now it has been 'ticked'. And to have the West Coast Eagles play in the Grand Final and to win, has definitely been the double icing on the cake for this trip around Australia.
We were encouraged to hope the West Coast Eagles would be playing in the Grand Final, when they blitzed Richmond at Optus Stadium on the 20th May. We were in Leeman playing bowls that weekend and that was when we decided to look into purchasing a package to go to the AFL Grand Final. So glad we didn't put the 'hoo doo' on them Bill and Donelle!
What a match! With so much adversity happening within the team, since Nic Nat did his knee when we were in Kununurra, it has to go down as one of the teams best wins in their 32 year history. At the Crown breakfast it was said "That in the 32 year history of the Club, they have played in 24 years of AFL Finals". That's pretty impressive. And Wikipedia has already updated their page to say; In 2018, West Coast defeated Collingwood to win its fourth Premiership, making it the most successful Non-Victorian team in the modern era. Might have to look further one day into the stats of the club, because I actually thought I heard the commentators say after the Eagles win in the Preliminary Final, that the stats of the Club in its short AFL history, made them one of the greatest teams or the greatest! We definitely think they are the greatest!
Now to blog about our three day sojourn to Melbourne........We decided not to catch a taxi, but to drive and park for the three days at the airport. The cost for all day undercover parking is very reasonable...$30.00 a day. So we left the vans at 6.30am. We were not going to be late for our flight at 8.40am. It was an easy run to the airport and I had surprised myself that I was able to do what was necessary for us all to have our boarding passes on our phones.
We had a great flight. The stewardess told Peter the pilot had taken a slightly different flight path this morning and that took us over the Alps. It was such a clear day and there was snow on the Alps. We could even see the Snowy River Hydro Electricity Scheme down below. She also said "She flies this flight quite often and she had not seen it so clear"! She was even taking photos of the snow on the Alps. There was lots of snow on the mountains near Melbourne as well.
The taxi driver did say that he probably wouldn't be able to get us too close to the hotel because of streets being closed for the parade. But they did let him through and he has able to drop us at the door of the lovely Sofitel Hotel on Collins Street. Absolutely beautiful hotel, but we had paid for it! Well like close to $600.00 a night! $593.98 to be exact. But who cares! We certainly didn't care, especially after the weekend we had! We had a 'bay window' which looked out over Port Philip Bay. To be able to book in early we had to become members of Accor. Dorothy and John have been members before, like us! But if we hadn't agreed to signing up we would have had to wait until 2.00pm for a room allocation. So we are Accor members again.
So with bags in the rooms, we met up with John and Dorothy's daughter Caroline and son in-law Bradley. Brad is a die hard Eagle member and analyses every game. He had been a very good basketball-er in his time. In fact I think he played in the State Team. So tall Brad led the way to the street where the parade was about to start, and chose a place where there was a bit of a rise on the embankment. The guys and Carolyn were happy enough there and Dorothy and I found ourselves a spot on the fence. We were about three deep, but I could get a snap or two or three between the Eagles supporters I was near. They sang and cheered, so it was a great atmosphere and I really did enjoy the parade. There was a sprinkle of rain, but the Eagles supporters around me put their brollies up and I was fine!
With the parade over we left Brad and Carolyn to do their own thing and set off to find somewhere for some lunch. Before this though, we had thought we would make our way to Yarra Park where the parade ended, but it was ridiculous the number of people that were around, so we headed back to the Hotel. And who should we run into but Lyn Passmore and Ray Sloan. I had had a couple of emails with Lyn during the week, so we both knew where each other was staying. To our surprise Lyn and Ray were dressed in black and white gear! Ray has been a Collingwood supporter for years. So we chatted for a bit before we went off to get some lunch. We did catch up again at the Crown breakfast on Saturday morning.
There was so much blue and gold on those walking the streets of Melbourne as we came in from the airport. Even the taxi driver mentioned that he thought there was more blue and gold! I'm going to say this in 'No 1 Good Feeling' for the result on Saturday. Whilst eating our lunch, there was a couple with Eagles scarves on sitting alongside. So we started chatting. Turned out they came from Bunbury and they had just met a lovely couple from Geraldton, whilst watching the parade. Their names were Coral and Tony. Yes it was Tony and Coral Kupsch and they had become that friendly, this lady even had a photo on her phone to show us. This is 'No 2 Good Feeling'. John rang Tony and we filled him in with the details after the couple left us. Tony told us Eagle supporters were meeting at the bridge at 12.15pm on Saturday and walking together as one to the stadium.
We decided on a rest for an hour after lunch. Peter needed to put that leg up for a bit, and then we walked the streets of Melbourne. The weather had become quite chilly. It had rained a little whilst we were resting, but we didn't need to use the brolly whilst walking. We walked for over two hours and as Dorothy registered 16,500 steps for the day, we all had a good work-out. We visited Hosier Lane, Federation Square and then wandered down Southbanks to the Crown Casino. We checked out where we thought the breakfast would be in the morning and then it was a long walk back up the rise of Collins Street to the Sofitel Hotel.
After showering and getting into some clothes that were slightly better than we have been wearing for weeks, we went out to dinner with Carolyn and Brad to a very nice Chinese Restaurant. Carolyn had booked it months ago. The trip to Melbourne was Brad's 50th birthday present and Carolyn was adamant that she was paying. It was lovely to be included in the family dinner and Peter was not successful in paying Carolyn something towards the cost!
Day One done! What would Day Two bring? Well we all now know that the West Coast Eagles won by just five points and the media are now saying it will go down in history as being one of the best AFL Grand Finals ever! The whole day for us was fantastic!
These are the great things that happened for us during the day. We had thought on Friday evening after walking to the Crown, that we could walk on Saturday morning, but on the day we decided the taxi was a better option. Our taxi drivers name just happened to be 'Lucky'! He had told us he was going for the Eagles! He thought it was so good to see so many Eagles fans in Melbourne for the weekend when everyone puts their prices up by double! We decided 'Lucky' was a good omen for us and we booked him to pick us up to take us to the airport on Sunday. Peter even gave him a tip and that doesn't happen often! So Lucky became 'No 3 Good Feeling'!
We really enjoyed the breakfast, particularly the session with the panel of Wayne Carey, Luke Darcy and Matthew Richardson. There was another panel session which was compered by James Brayshaw. Bill Bownless was one of the panel and I didn't know the other two, but the young footballer that we thought played for Melbourne, spoke very well. Josh Gibson was the player chosen to look after the AFL Cup for the week prior to the Grand Final and it was his responsibility to take it to events. So he brought it to the Crown breakfast and was interviewed. He picked Collingwood to win!
Mike Brady was the last to provide entertainment at the breakfast. Mike told us he first sung 'Up there Cazaly' at the WAFL Grand Final in Perth, before he sung it at the 1979 AFL Grand Final. Mike also sang 'One Day in September'. That was 'No 4 Good Feeling' for me. Mike actually sang 'Up there Cazaly', assisted by someone on the organ, before the start of the Grand Final match.
We decided to take our time walking to the MCG after the breakfast. There was nothing better to do than to wander along the Yarra and the sun was shining. We crossed the bridge, as there was plenty happening on Federation Square side of the river. We could not believe how much blue and gold there was along the bank of the river. Of course Tony had said "Everyone was meeting there". And Yes....The first people we came across were Tony and Coral. I had actually taken a photo of the mass of blue and gold and when I looked back, Coral and Tony were in the middle of the photo! Coral told us the story of how they had been notified on Monday that their name had come out in the Eagles ballot. It had cost them a lot of money to get to Melbourne. Coral had given someone on the plane her Eagles scarf. She had packed her old one as well and showed us that it had the old logo on it and still had her lucky safety pin attached to the tag. The pin was even going a little rusty! 'No 5 Good Feeling'. Coral also said "It was the year for the Eagles to win. They had won in 1992,1994, 2006 and now 2018 was the right year.
About 11.45am about eight musicians arrived dressed in black. We thought perhaps they were a Collingwood band. But they had been commissioned by the Eagles to play the theme song all the way to the MCG. Eagles officials hung West Coast Eagles capes from their shoulders and put a cap on their heads. At 12.15pm a guy with a megaphone stood on the seat Coral had been sitting on, and started the 'Fans Brigade' walk to the stadium. It was such an amazing atmosphere. Just as well we did get a bit faster walking. We were beginning to think we wouldn't get there until half time! We sang our hearts out as we made out way to the MCG.
And there was one more good feeling.......When that Collingwood banner flew to bits, it was definitely 'No 6 Good Feeling'. How devastating for the fans that made it. But they put it up far too soon, or Collingwood took too long to come out. What ever, it certainly was extra entertainment and we were looking directly across to there.
Well I might have had all those 'Good Feelings' before the match, but I can't say there were too many 'Good Feelings' until the last two minutes of the match! But they did it and we celebrated with a beer and a wine or two at 'Clocks at Flinders', before dinner at one of the Restaurants on Southbanks.
Thank you to everyone who sent us a text message after the match and during the day. Sorry my replies were a little delayed, but I had put my phone away as I had flattened it! Too many videos taken! Sorry also to Pauline re me ringing you at such an ungodly hour on Saturday morning! But you did post those fantastic Eagles photos on your Facebook page. I was sure you must have been in Melbourne! And it was nice for Peter to get yet another text from Colin Ramsay in Kununurra. The week before Col sent a text saying that it looked like us guys had got our wish with the Eagles in the grand final. Then on Saturday his text said "Talk about a fairy tale ending! Enjoy guys". And we did enjoy Col!
We flew back to Canberra on a 1.30pm flight and went back to EPIC, via the National Carillon which was a gift from the British Government to the people of Australia in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Capital in 1970. The National Carillon sits on Aspen Island in Lake Burley Griffin and has 55 bells. It is supposed to chime every 15 minutes and play a short tune every hour. We were there by 3.00pm, but all it did was strike three times like a clock. We waited 15 minutes and there was just the tiniest of a tune. So the visit was a bit of a fizza. Nothing like when we visited in 2014.
Our fantastic weekend was over. Time to unpack the case and get organised for the next week of this 'Around Australia Adventure'.
Heather
2018-10-02
This trip will be remembered for this weekend for sure as the highlight.
Maureen
2018-10-02
What an amazing weekend
Jenny
2018-10-02
Gotta love a good final. As you know, I don't follow much football, but I do always watch the finals and this one in particular. Heard the numbers 2,4,6,8 recently and thought that was a good enough omen and playing on the weekend of mainy's passing, he would have been urging them on. A huge bucket list tick for that one. Weather warming up here, pennants starting Thursday and I'm in Div 1 this week. Didn't expect that!
Wendy
2018-10-02
Gotta love the Eagles when they can win in the last minutes, a heart stopper but great excitement.What a great game & win!
Neighbour
2018-10-03
Jack Redden is the fellow
Neighbour’s wife
2018-10-03
How awesome......my name for your ? Is Mark Hutchings. We are still on cloud nine with Eagles stuff displayed around. That bucket list is getting less isn’t it......Canberra is on ours. All good here. Keep on having loads of fun. Cheers
pamandpete
2018-10-03
Who is on the ute with Dom Sheed 'Neighbour'? Good to hear from you and now I do know who it was that commented on the Maryborough blog. LOL. You did have me guessing!!!
The wife
2018-10-04
Neighbour was wrong! Mark Hutchings with Darling & Tom Barrass with Sheed. Those Tulip Gardens looked amazing.