England Win.....at last!

On Friday evening, Lucy & I went to the SCG to watch the Australia v England ODI. One of Lucy's colleagues had kindly lent us tickets in the Member's Pavilion for the evening (I guess he thought it would be a stroll). I have to admit that I thought we were in for another drubbing and since England had yet to beat Australia in 9 games on tour it's hardly surprising I was so pessimistic.
However, it was great to see England finally play up to potential & a good century from Joyce gave our bowlers a good target to defend. It might have been different if Symonds hadn't retired hurt (he will be a big loss for Australia in the World Cup as for my money he is one of the best players around in limited overs cricket). A well deserved win I thought on the night......and about time too!

Sitting in the Pavilion was an enjoyable experience too - we were right by where the Australian team emerged to bat - and we had a good nose around the gallery & the museum which had an eclectic array of items from games & events held at the SCG (including a drum from the Military Tattoo held there in 2001).

The one bad thing about the game was that with England looking likely winners, from an early stage in the Australian innings, the crowd started to drift out early and the atmosphere sagged as a result. However, this was made up for to some extent by the 'beer glass snake' competition. Basically, sections of the crowd put together their empty plastic glasses and held them above their heads like a snake. This started in the Doug Walters stand & virtually every area of the crowd had a go until the Bill O'Reilly stand emerged the winner with a snake which almost ran the length of the stand.... the stewards were a little perplexed as to what to do to spoil the fun. The member's stand managed 5-6 glasses....very average!

The Barmy Army should be praised for their continued support and many of them left the ground singing "9-1, We've only lost 9-1....". Amazing what drinking in the sun does to the brain!

Getting out of the car park was a nightmare too.... took 45 mins.... piece of advice number 23: Never park in the Entertainment Quarter if you're not willing to leave before the end of an event, or not willing to have a post-event drink. It's just not worth the hassle of sitting in a queue for so long.

On Saturday morning we went for a kayak tour in Middle Harbour. An excellent time was had by all, and as well as getting some advice on technique, seeing some interesting wildlife (birds diving under water for a start) and some fantastic houses (including one that looked like it was straight out of the Jetsons - designed by Jorn Utzon who also designed the Sydney Opera House), we also were given lots of ideas as to where we could paddle on our own. Our guide was called Kate & she was extremely helpful throughout the tour - we even had cheese and biscuits along with a cup of tea at the half-way stage - and managed to paddle about 9km in the 4hr session. Would thoroughly recommend it to anyone visiting Sydney. We enjoyed it so much that the plan is to go out on a little adventure paddle ourselves this coming Saturday....maybe even take a picnic with us.

After the paddle we had a nice lunch overlooking the harbour at a place called 'Plonk' .... amusing sign outside 'Plonk a Pooch' where you could tie your dog to a pole, with some shade & some water...very good idea. On the evening we treated ourselves to a selection of cheese & bread from the 4 Seasons Deli in Manly & sipped some of the wine & port we'd brought back from the Hunter Valley....awfully civilized!!

On Sunday we continued our hectic weekend with a bit of a 'circuit session' which only served to get us VERY hot & make us realize just how out of condition we are. Then jogged to the beach and went for a swim in the rock-pool at Queenscliff. It's amazing how cold the water can be, even in this sun! We had to brace ourselves to jump in!

On the way back, we waded through Manly lagoon...which was lovely. Made us stop and think that even though things haven't gone 100% our way so far on this adventure they are still pretty good and we are VERY fortunate to live where we do. We could basically wade across the lagoon for some way, with some of the many fish circling around us (some of them can jump several feet into the air), before we made the error of getting out and walking along a path filled with small spikes (some form of seed) which dug into our feet! (Lucy was still digging them out tonight!)

Sunday evening we went for drinks in the Manly Wharf Hotel to celebrate the 22nd Birthday of Sarah - one of our house-guests - and then had a bit of pizza on the way home before hitting the sack at the end of what was a really good weekend. Shame to spoil it by going back to work! At least I've got a trip to NZ to look forward to in a couple of weeks....and that is going to be excellent!