The AFL Grand Final ~ Melbourne

Published 7 October 2013, by Jess

AFL is the Australian Football League, our countrys National sport and one I happen to absolutely love! The AFL Grand Final is the equalivant to the NFL Super Bowl in terms of it is the final game that decides who is the champion of AFL for that year.  In comparison to the Super Bowl it is on a much much smaller scale, however this was the best example I could give to provide a better understanding.

Flights

$1000 each return with Qantas from Perth.

The earlier you book flights, the cheaper they are.  I know of people who flew via Bali, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore & Hong Kong to Melbourne and their flights were cheaper than a direct flight to Melbourne.

Last minute tickets, if you could get on the flights were around $1500 return.

I also know people who paid approximately $800 return to Adelaide and then drove a car to Melbourne.

The Week Lead Up for 2014

There is a lot on in Melbourne in the lead up to the AFL Grandfinal, never a dull moment.

Federation Square during Grand Final week

Sunday – 21^st September 2014

VFL Grandfinal at Ethihad Stadium

Monday – 22nd September 2014
10am – The Brownlow Medal panel and fashion parade at Federation Square.

5pm – Red carpet presentation at Crown followed by the Brownlow Medal Count

Tuesday – 23^rd September 2014

10am – Auskick where the kids enjoy activities at Federation Square, meet players and stars from the NAB AFL Rising Star program.

Wednesday – 24^th September 2014

Live Music in Federation Square at Noon

Variety Great Grandfinal Luncheon at Crown Palladium

Thursday – 25^th September 2014

12.30pm – AFL Premiership Cup on display at Federation Square

Noon – 9pm – Grand Final experience at Crown Riverside

The AFL Footy Show spectacular at Rod Laver Arena

Friday – 26^th September 2014

Players and coaches.
Noon – Parade makes its way through the city from Victorian Arts Centre (St Kilda Road) travelling along Swanston and Collins Streets before finishing at the OldTreasuryBuilding (Spring and Collins)

Jarrad Roughead – Hawthorn

Paul Duffield – Fremantle

Lance “Buddy” Franklin – Hawthorn

Luke McPharlin – Fremantle

 Saturday – 27^th September 2014

Grandfinal at the MCG

2:30pm Live on the Big Screen at Federation Square the AFL Grandfinal

The Home of the AFL Grandfinal – the MCG

AFL Grand Final Breakfast/Ticket Package

$1795 + credit card fees & postage fees = $1826 (Silver seating at the game)

The breakfast was sponsored by CGU and ran for approximately 2 hours.

Hosted by Tim Watson

Entertainment included Daryl Braithwaite, Mike Brady, Rusty and the Other Guy & Vince Sorrenti.

Panel of footy experts including; Brian Taylor, Billy Brownless, Jobe Watson, Matthew Lloyd, Matthew Richardson, Jonathan Brown, Cameron Ling, Luke Darcy and Danny Frawley.

Tables of 10 were set up with beer and champagne all inclusive. The actual breakfast included fruit, danishes, croissants, muffins and Eggs Benedict.

Other breakfasts of interest are the North Melbourne Breakfast held at Etihad Stadium.  I’m told this is extremely well done & one of the better breakfasts.

Each of the football clubs hold breakfast for anyone to attend.  Contact the individual clubs for details.

AFL Tickets

8000 tickets are released and sold on the day of the AFL Grandfinal.

Tickets can also be sold through ballot systems from each team playing in the Grand Final.

AFL Members and other members can also buy tickets.

The AFL Grandfinal

What a spectacular experience, and now I can finally say I’ve seen one.

I attended the 2013 AFL Grandfinal where the Hawthorn Hawks were victorious over the Fremantle Dockers.

This was the Dockers first appearance in a Grand Final since entering the competition 19 years ago.

The ground was filled with each of the teams colours, wherever you looked yellow & purple were everywhere and the atmosphere was electric.  Being somewhat of a neutral supporter it was fantastic to see these two teams battle it out.

I was cheering on the Fremantle Dockers for two reasons;

1.  My Dad was a Fremantle Dockers member since the club joined the competition in 1995 attending every home game and even a few games in Melbourne.  Unfortunately in 2008 he passed away and never lived to see Fremantle make a Grand Final.  My family & I always said that if Fremantle ever made the Grand Final, we would make the trip in my Dads honour (hopefully next time they can come away with the win for him).

2.  Being a proud West Australian, when my team The West Coast Eagles aren’t playing, I always support the Fremantle Dockers.  I grew up in a house of Fremantle supporters and that’s just the way our family is, support WA before other clubs.

The players lined up for the National Anthem

Pre-game entertainment at the 2013 AFL Grand Final was ‘The Birds of Tokyo’, a well known Australian band from Perth, Western Australia.  All players who retire from the game that season are also given a lap of honour along with the Winner of the Brownlow Medal and the Winner of the Rising Star for that year.

Half-time entertainment included ‘The Hunters and Collectors’ and ‘Mike Brady’.

The MCG is a fantastic venue, lines for drinks and food were minimal and quick and exiting the arena was relatively fast and flowed.  The MCG is also the place where the line for the mens bathroom was bigger than the womens line, there’s a first for everything!

Whether your team is at the AFL Grand Final or not, it’s well worth the experience.

Another thing to ticket off my bucket list!

Melbourne, Australia ~ Part Two

Published 1 July 2013, by Jess

Getting To and From the Airport.

A taxi from the Melbourne airport into the CBD will set you back approximately $70-80 AUD including the toll fare. This depends on the time of day, as traffic will obviously play a big part.

The Skybus runs to and from the Airport to the Southern Cross Station on Spencer Street in the CBD and costs approximately $17AUD for an Adult one way and takes approximately 20 minutes.  See the link below for schedule times.

 http://www.skybus.com.au/fares/

 The CBD

 Melbourne’s CBD is energetic, fast paced and quite beautiful, with a mixture of historic and modern architecture co-existing in close proximity.

Flinders Street Station is the CBD’s hub for the train network. A truly beautiful building, and a perfect centrepiece for the city. 

Federation Square is located opposite Flinders Street Station, it is the culture precinct of the city and civic centre and opened not long ago in 2002.  A strange building I must say, but somehow it works and marries the mix of modern and historic architecture that I spoke of earlier being so closely built to Flinder Street Station.

Queen Victoria Markets opened as a small market in the 1850’s, it is now the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere located on 17 hectares. A major tourist attraction, the markets offer fresh fruit and vegetables, hand made arts and crafts, clothing and shoes. The markets have a great variety of products.

Laneways – Melbourne have some really cute laneways that they have made excellent use of, including for Shopping, Restaurants and Bars.  During Christmas, the Royal Laneway in the CBD is beautifully decorated and a great place to walk through to get into the festive spirit.  Hardware Lane is a fantastic option for bars and food.  Do yourself a favour and checkout Hardware Lane, you won’t be disappointed.

Royal Arcade Laneway

Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

Built in 1853, and known to locals as ‘The G’ – The MCG hosts Test Cricket and is home to the Australian Football League (AFL) hosting games throughout the year and the Grandfinal each year. 

In 1956 it also hosted the Olympic Games for track and field events. Besides sporting events, the MCG also holds music concerts including U2, The Rolling Stones and Madonna to name a few.

Whether you are a fellow Australian visiting Melbourne, or an overseas traveller, I highly recommend catching an AFL game at the MCG.  The atmosphere is fantastic, the stadium is well set up and it’s a chance to see our National game played in the largest stadium in the country with a seating capacity of 100,018.  Recommended games due to atmosphere would be Carlton vs Collingwood, or Essendon vs Richmond.  Friday night football also tends to draw a big crowd.  With most of the leagues teams residing in Melbourne (10 out of 18), games against two Victorian teams naturally draw a larger crowd at the MCG.

Make sure you rug up at the G – It gets cold!

Having a beer during Friday night footy!

The MCG is a short distance from the CBD, a short tram or train ride or approximately a 20 minute walk.

The Great Ocean Road

While I am yet to do this one myself, it is most definitely on the bucket list and therefore I had to add it as a must see. Australian Heritage Listed, the Great Ocean Road stretches between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool for 243 kilometres.

The road was built by soldiers who had returned from war between 1919 – 1932, it is the world’s largest war memorial.  It was built in honour of World War 1 casualities. 

A highlight I’m told is the 12 Apostles limestone stack formations in the water.

Melbourne, Australia ~ Part One

Published 26 June 2013, by Jess

Melbourne is the capital city of the Australian state of Victoria and the second most populated city in Australia with approximately more than four (4) million people.

Melbourne is a mix of hipster meets grungy street artist with various funky cafes, bars and shopping.  This is particularly evident in suburbs like St Kilda.  If you’re a lover of multiculturalism and the arts, then Melbourne is the place for you.

This city has a lot to offer, having been there five (5) times already, each time seems to be a new experience, with restaurants and bars ever-changing.

When leaving your hotel room, I suggest you be ready for the craziness that is Melbourne weather.  Melbourne is well known for its ‘4 seasons in 1 day’ weather, so take a jacket, an umbrella and sunglasses, prepare yourself for anything.

Places of Interest

 St Kilda

I think St Kilda would have to be my favourite part of Melbourne.  It offers travellers a mix of everything that is Melbourne – from the beach, to the shopping, to the bars and restaurants.  St Kilda has it all!

Acland Street is a must for any traveller to St Kilda.  Lining one side of the street is cake shop after cake shop, if you can resist what’s on offer then you have more will power than I do. 

Be aware that cakes on Acland Street are not cheap. Portions are big however I wouldn’t agree that the price tag is warranted. I paid $6.50 AUD for a Peppermint Chocolate slice.

Shopping

On the opposite side of Acland Street is the shopping.  The stores are very ‘one of a kind’ orientated, offering some pieces that I hadn’t seen anywhere else in Melbourne shops….and I shopped a lot! There was a great mixture of prices, from fantastic sale items to the completely ridiculous.

The Beach

The beach area is a great place to enjoy a beautiful Melbourne summers day.  You will find a few restaurants and cafes with some great views of the beach.

St Kilda Beach

Luna Park

A very old amusement park and somewhat the centrepiece of St Kilda as it is the first thing you see.  All five times I’ve been to Melbourne, LunaPark was closed each time I ventured to St Kilda.

Locals Recommendations

While I haven’t been to any of these places, I was told by a local that these are great spots to check out while in the St Kilda area;

Bars – Vineyard, The Branch and Veludo

Food – Radio Mexico and Za’Ba

Shopping Recommendations In Melbourne

Bourke Street Mall – Myer, David Jones. Myer puts on an amazing Christmas Window in December.

Chadstone – Large, multi-storey shopping centre/mall

Direct Factory Outlets (DFO) South Wharf – Between the CBD and Docklands, fantastic cheap shopping, highly recommended.

Discount Outlets Spencer Street Station – Discounted, last season items. You can find a few bargains if you really look hard.

Melbourne Central – multi-storey shopping centre/mall

Bridge Road – Located in Richmond, popular for DFO’s and up and coming local designers.

Chapel Street – Known for its Exclusive upmarket fashion designers, the shopping tends to have a hefty price tag here.

Food and Bars

Mamak – An incredible Indonesian restaurant on Lonsdale Street.  Incredible not just for the quality food, but for the price. Between 4 people, we ordered 4 dishes + rice, 2 desserts and a drink each and only paid $25 a head.

The Hardware Societe – Located on Hardware Lane. Do yourself a favour and have breakfast here, you won’t regret it.  The interior design is very industrial, the seating varies from private tables to communal benches and the food is fantastic. The best scrambled eggs of my life!

The Merrywell – The Merrywell can be found in the Crowne Casino and offers an upmarket pub style alternative. The food is great, I hear the Angus Burger comes highly recommended but my recommendation is the Pulled Pork Quesadilla’s.

Drinks at The Merrywell while waiting for food.

Tequila & Tapa’s Bar – Found on Hardware Lane, the ambience created has resulted in a very cute and cosy bar. The bar is small in size though, so finding a free table can sometimes be an issue.

Lygon Street – Located in Carlton, Lygon Street is an extremely popular among tourists for its Italian influence.  Personally, I think the hype is a little over-rated.  Italian men stand outside their restaurants and if you stop and look at the menu, you’ve as good as sat at one of their tables, there is no getting away.

The Crown Casino – A great mix of bars and restaurants for everyone, plus the casino if you are a gambler.  Highly recommend checking out the Crowne.

Rooftop Bar/Cookie – Located on Swanston Street, the Rooftop Bar had a really great vibe to it.  I think this would be an excellent place to hang out in the summer months. During winter, it was a little on the cold side, it also didn’t help that half of the outdoor heaters were off for some unknown reason.  Cookie was more a restaurant style bar, tables all set up like a restaurant and didn’t really invite mingling amongst others which is what I think a bar should offer. Good cocktails though.

Drinks at Rooftop Bar.

Corner Hotel – Close proximity to the MCG and found on Swan Street. Great idea to check this place out before seeing a football game. The rooftop is big and it’s a great atmosphere before the game.