Day One in Melbourne

Brendan Goddard (St Kilda) and the boys at Avalon airport last night.


We've been in Melbourne for just under 24 hours and it's been a busy time already.
The flight from Perth was delayed about 45 minutes. That combined with luggage retrieval, bus loading, and a "mandatory" stop at the Little River BP Roadhouse for food of the takeaway variety, meant we didn't get to Box Forest until close to 2.00 and the last kid fell asleep just before 3.00 (Melbourne time)
Sleeping would have been easier but for the snoring of a certain nameless individual (Josh)! Just as he went quiet, his mate Justin piped up, talking in his sleep.
"Stand up. 2 eggs. 2 eggs, they're in your pocket"

This morning there were a few hassles and delays with a lack of hot water in the showers. Sam and Sean bravely took cold showers, which on a bracing winter's morning in Melbourne, is an act of some courage!

We headed off to the supermarket to do our first lot of food shopping. We spent $320 on food for the next couple of days, and the kids spent only a little bit less than that on snack and junk food!!
They haven't quite grasped the concept that food is included in the trip!!

Chicken ham and salad rolls for lunch, on Vietnamese rolls, a local specialty, met with general acclaim and Chris said, "This is the healthiest lunch I've ever eaten"!! Hopefully an exaggeration!

After lunch we headed for Glenroy station to catch the train into Southern Cross. The group discount tickets I found on the internet saved us about 50% of the fares if we'd paid them individually.

The boys, and Dana, were suitably impressed with Telstra Dome/Docklands, stopping to take pictures on the bridge from the railway station.

Entry to the NAB U/18 National Championships was free but it wasn't simple!
We tried to go up to the 2nd level and sit on the wing, but only half of us were successful. A hyper-vigilant doorman stopped the rest of the group, saying general public were restricted to level 1. After some to-ing and fro-ing I managed to get the group past security and the boys began to appreciate the almost magical powers of our ID cards. Names, photos, and the AFL logo on professional looking ID tags open many doors as we discovered at the Commonwealth Games.

Sadly WA were out-classed by Vic Metro in the grand final of the championships but we had fun spotting the rising talent of Australian Football, the kids names as potential top 10 draft picks such as Nick Nattanui, Daniel Rich and Jack Watts.
The footy spotting was not confined to the action on the ground either.

It started last night when a couple of the boys sat next to Brendan Goddard's girlfriend on the plane then went to say g'day to him at the airport.

Today they saw or spoke to Matthew Lappin, Justin Kreuzer, Trent Cotchin, Nathan Buckley, Cale Morton, Chris Grant and David King.

I sat and had a chat to Geelong Football Manager Neil Balme about the ticket situation for the Cats V Bulldogs game next weekend. That's him with the glasses and red trimmed jacket.

Once the game was over we took a tram into the city, walked down Swanston St, had a look at Federation Square and the Yarra, then caught the train home to Glenroy. In peak hour! A very squishy affair.

Spaghetti bolognese for dinner was followed by the intro to the Sgt-at-arms fines session.
Then it was down to the gym for a footy kicking game I invented a few years ago. The kids loved it but finally it was time for bed and a chance for me to blog.
We've got an early start in the morning and have to be at the MCG by 10.30 for our tour.

All going very well so far, the odd headache or sore neck here and there but otherwise everyone is well and having a good time.