Royalty sees our first ever Rugby match in Melbourne, Australia!‏

When the King & I decided to go Down Under, we wanted to see more than just baseball there, sports wise that is. We also wanted to see a sport that was popular in Australia. They have Australian rules football & a few different kinds of rugby. We wound up going to a Super Rugby fixture. It's also known as Rugby Union. There's another kind that's called Rugby League. When I looked at the schedule this match was the best fit for us. In addition, the King told me he preferred to see that over footy if you will. He didn't realize how popular footy was in Melbourne. Since I didn't realize that they had nine AFL teams in Melbourne, I didn't know there was a game when we were going to be there. I was informed the week before by Paul Tyson who we met at the Light Brigade before game one of the MLB Opening Series at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Paul & his wife Sue came from Melbourne where they live to see the baseball game. He told us we need to see footy. 

However, we decided to stick with our original plan of going to the rugby match. When I was planning out the trip, I got in touch with a young man named Xavier Player who lives in Melbourne & he's a ballpark chaser too. He told me he's a member of the Melbourne Rebels. They were home against the Brumbies of Canberra which is the capital of Australia. I told him I plan to meet him when I go there. As it got closer, we arranged to met up. As it turned out, he wound up meeting the King & I at Young & Jackson Pub by Federation Square. When I was there I got in contact with him thanks to Ken Liu who had service on his phone. He wrote Xavier & he told him where were sitting. Shortly after 6PM, Xavier showed up with his Rebel hoodie ‎ & scarf on.  We all introduced ourselves. He lead the way once we left the Pub. We took a short walk over to AAMI Park where the Rebels play their home matches. Ken decided to join us. He wanted his lady friend Nat to go but she decided not to. Ken was willing to pay her way. She was concerned about getting home on her own. With that being said, we said goodbye to her & we went on our way to the match.
 

Outside of AAMI Park

AAMI Park

Melbourne Rebels & Brumbies

AAMI Park - home of Rugby League, Rugby Union & Football

I'm glad we met Xavier because he was very knowledgeable about the sport of rugby. To be perfectly honest, I only read up briefly about it online. When we arrived at the stadium, we went to the box office ‎& we purchased tickets for the game. We wound up going inside & we sat with Xavier who likes to sit in the end zone. 
 

My ticket for the match

View from where we sat at the fixture

It turned out to be a different experience for us. As the match went on, Xavier explained the rules to us. The match was comprised of two forty minute halves which like soccer are running time. ‎With that being said, the match would last around two hours.

 

As for the match we saw, the Rebels got off to a slow start. They fell behind, 7-0 as the Brumbies got a try which is worth five points ‎& a conversion which is good for two more points. The Rebels broke the shutout with a penalty goal which is worth three points to make it a 7-3 score. The Brumbies added a penalty goal of their own to go up, 10-3. The Rebels closed the gap again by adding another penalty goal to make it 10-6 at halftime. The Brumbies extended their lead to 17-6 early in the second half. All of a sudden, the Rebels roared back. They wound up of scoring 23 unanswered points as Jason Woodward was a one man show as he was responsible for majority of their points. He scored on six penalty  goals, he also had a try & two conversions as the Rebels held off the the Brumbies, 32-24. It was a great comeback for the home team who look sluggish for the first 50 minutes of the match. As the saying goes, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. The Rebels who haven't played well accordingly to Xavier in previous games  decided to wake up in the second half to emerge victorious. It was fun to be part of the celebration which culminated with the Rebels fight song after the match.
 

Live action opposite end from us

Live action right in front of us

Aftermath of a scrum

Rebels win, 32-24!

Afterwards, we all walked back to Federation Square together. When we got there, we said goodbye ‎& we all thanked Xavier for joining us & being such a good host & teacher. I hope our paths cross somewhere down the road. In the meantime, Xavier is going to graduate school in hopes of landing a decent paying job so he can pursue his dreams in life. I want to wish him only the very best.

As for the King, Ken & I we walked around with Ken who knew the area better than us since he was there for a few days. He wound up taking us to a tram that wound up getting within a few blocks from our motel in St. Kilda. ‎ 

When we finally got to the motel, we got our bags that were in the room we left them in earlier in the day. We checked in & we got the keys to the room. We proceeded to go to the room so we could get some sleep. We didn't get a whole lot because we had to get the Airport Bus back to the Airport so we could catch our flight eventually back home.

Stay tuned for a special post that will wrap up this memorable journey.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is opening the 2014 baseball season in Australia!

On June 12, 2013, Major League Baseball announced that the 2014 baseball season was opening Down Under. When it became official, I knew I was going. As time went by, I kept that thought in the back of my mind. In October, I requested the necessary time off from work which was approved.  When the New Year came, I took the next step in backing up what I said. On January 8th, I booked flights for the King & I to go to Sydney, Australia. 

Here's the game plan:

Thursday, March 20th we have a flight booked on Virgin Australia Airlines that departs John F. Kennedy Airport at 4:45PM Eastern Time & we're scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles, California at 8:12PM Pacific Time. We then depart LA at 9:10PM Pacific Time & we finally arrive in Sydney, Australia at 6:20AM Saturday morning. This occurs because we cross the international dateline.

Upon arrival, we'll probably be exhausted from all the flying. I hope we can check into our hotel early so we can get some sleep if we need to. In addition, we'll need to get situated & cleaned up. Once we do, the fun will begin.

Saturday March 22nd Dodgers at Diamondbacks 7:15PM Local Time Opening Night at Sydney Cricket Ground
                                                 
Sunday March 23rd Dodgers at Diamondbacks 1:15PM Local Time at Sydney Cricket Ground

Monday-Thursday March 24th-27th We plan to take in the sights which I hear are beyond belief. From the kangaroos to the Outback, we're in for a real treat.  

Friday, March 28th we have a flight booked to fly from Sydney to Melbourne on Virgin Australia. We depart at 6:30AM & we arrive at 8:05AM. We'll spend the day looking around there.

That night we have our first ever rugby match as we plan to see the Melbourne Rebels host the Brumbies at 7:40PM Local Time.

Saturday March 29th We fly home from Melbourne. We leave there at 8AM. We arrive in Sydney at 9:25AM on Virgin Australia. We connect with a flight that leaves at 11:20AM on Delta Airlines that stops in Los Angeles. After a layover there, we finally land at JFK in New York at 4:56PM Saturday night.
                                           
Please feel free to check back for all the details of how this getaway played out. It's going to be an once in a lifetime trip for both of us.

If you want to join and/or meet up with us while we're there, please let me know so I can arrange to make it happen.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman