May 25th: Fun, Food and ‘Footie’

Day 52 (Day 27 in Australia)

A rare treat this morning - a proper breakfast in the hotel. Old fashioned too as a waitress took our order and it was cooked just for us rather than buffet style. It was good!

The video below is the view from our room.

I would have filmed it last night for the sunset but I couldn’t fine out how to unlock the door. Turns out it wasn’t locked!

Milawa is a very sleepy little place but in a famous gourmet region. As well as wineries, there is a bakery, cheesery, olivery and a mustardry. (I may have just made up some of those terms but the establishments exist). 

Milawa Mustard Shop
Mr Milawa Main Mustard Maker is from Harrogate

Our journey back to Phil & Carolyn’s in Melbourne was only 3 hours so we had plenty of time to enjoy it and arrive mid afternoon in time for this evening’s entertainment.

First stop was for coffee at a random town just off the highway. Violet Town was picked because we liked the name. Charming little place that is clearly struggling economically but, as with everywhere here, the people are very friendly and take pride in their community. Nice coffee too. Aussies do good coffee.

It was meant to be a 10 minute stop to grab a takeaway coffee but we enjoyed the sunshine and a walk for an hour.

This is the second similar such plaque we’ve seen in
Australia. My great great grandfather was a wheelwright,
coachbuilder and blacksmith at about this time.
He moved his family from Wiltshire to the new town of
Bournemouth to make a better life for them. 
He could have chosen to move to Australia…
“Sliding doors” - every day of your life.

Most of the streets are named after flowers. There are not many of them so the street naming committee were not too stretched.  

As with all these little towns they take their war memorials (or, rather, those who lost their lives in conflicts) very seriously. This one named in detail just 2 privates while honouring all who died in eight specific conflicts from the Boer War to Afghanistan.

Violet Town, Victoria War Memorial

An hour and a half later it was time for lunch. The plan was to stop anywhere, buy a sandwich and go. We picked a town called Seymour. Never heard of it. Big mistake!

We found a “well-known chain of baguette fillers” and made our choices. I couldn’t eat it and drive at the same time and didn’t want to just sit outside staring at a shop wall so I suggested we drive to a park and eat on a bench in the sunshine. They all have nice parks. 

I stumbled across the Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk. The war memorial to end all war memorials. It is quite extraordinary. My photos below don’t begin to tell the story so PLEASE click on the link and have a read and especially look at their photos.

Before coming to Australia I hadn’t even realised they were involved in such a reckless, pointless conflict. One very unusual thing about the wall is that every single person involved is named. Not just those who died. 

This had always been an issue for me that the injured and those who escaped injury are not recognised (apart from by their fellow servicemen). I saw four Lines’, 57 Hendersons (and quite a few Willoughby’s!).

Stand back and look at the photo; go close to read the names.
Very clever and impressive.

A tiny portion of brick floor

RAAF and Army on 2 other sides

View of the whole wall. All in glass.
Subtly lit at night too.

Even the benches are extraordinary.
I ate my baguette on this one in quiet contemplation.

If you should find yourself in this part of the country it is worth a visit just for this memorial. I can’t speak for the town as I didn’t explore it. We were now running late!

Up against the clock now we pressed on at 110kph most of the way. Driving through Melbourne City at peak times on 6 lane highways with more signage than any out-of-towner could possibly cope with was a heart-rate raiser but we got there in one piece. 

As well as running a bit later than planned we needed to get the car washed. Not cheap here but. surprisingly, they were open to negotiating and we got a hybrid offer without doing the inside as it was full of luggage. And a refuel. Always a refuel!

We got back to Phil & Carolyn’s in time for a very quick cuppa, grab our coats and then for the four of us to get a lift from Sophia to the suburb of Richmond for our trip to Melbourne Cricket Ground (or MCG or just “the ‘G” locally). 

First up, though, was a pub for a “pint” (60% of a pint actually) of Guinness and some ‘normal’ pub grub (battered calamari and hot wings) and then a walk to the ground.

Phil got us tickets for round 11 (of 34) of AFL Aussie Rules Football, Richmond Tigers v Essendon Bombers. It’s a huge thing in this city. You HAVE to have a team. There are 18 teams in the national league, 9 of them in Melbourne. I chose to support Essendon as they play in red and black!

Round 11 is a special one dedicated to ‘Dreamtime’ which recognises the origins of the indigenous Aboriginal population. As this was the Saturday night TV game it was a big deal so we had a major entertainment display before the game. A bit like the Olympics Opening Ceremony. 

Fantastic view from near the back at the top

Photographic tip: don’t take snaps at night while walking!

Bradman. He was quite good.

Our view. It’s OK but it’s no Dean Court!!

A tiny, tiny glimpse of the pre-game entertainment

Kick-off, or “The Bounce” as it is called

I have seen clips of Aussie Rules on TV in the UK and always thought it was rather silly. After witnessing it I’m a little more educated and can now say…

• it is DEFINITELY a game that is appreciated more live at the ground (and from on high) to fully understand and enjoy. The playing surface (an entire cricket ground) is huge! My guess is it’s 3 times the area of a football pitch.
• very few rules so not much to do wrong so the game keeps flowing. I don’t know much about rugby but my main criticism of that is it keeps stopping. AFL doesn’t!
• 17 a side and constant rolling subs while the game continues. You barely notice the subs.
• no crowd segregation; crowd trouble is unheard of.
• it is really good fun! I would definitely go again. I would particularly like to see England win the Ashes there!

Afterwards we walked a few kilometres through the crowd (just shy of 80,000) before meeting Sophia who came and collected us rather than try and use a very crowded city train.

My eticket 

Back in Glen Iris there was still time for tea and toast. We watched a little of the Monaco Grand Prix qualifying and then the first half of the FA Cup Final. Bed at 1am.