Wallabies Win
Up and running with the morning news and a cuppa as I get
ready for my last day in Brizzy and then a train trip to the Gold Coast some
time this arvo.
Last night I struck out for dinner around 6:30, stopping by the front desk to consult reception for a recommendation. I went out along Albert Street to a pub that had been recommended as “really Australia,” thought when I went in it was clearly an Irish pub. Wanting to search around a bit more I walked down Albert to the park and then down the River and walked along the restaurants along the waterfront, but none of them quite fit what I was looking for.
I headed back to the pub and ordered, sitting down to watch the footy. Last night he Qantas Wallabies (Australia’s rugby team) played round two against the British and Irish Lions. The Wallabies took a walloping last week, and the series was set to end if the Wallabies lost again. Throughout the game it seemed the Wallabies were doing everything to lose.
Finally, in the 76th minute the first try (a touchdown in rugby) was scored, and with a good kick the Wallabies took the lead 16-15. With 8 seconds left until full time, a major mistake gave the Lions the ball back and field position, though as the game passed into the 81st minute (over time) things got dicey and the Wallabies caught a lucky break, pushing the Lions back to midfield, but not without an opportunity for a winning three point kick (a field goal in American football, but I have no idea what it is in rugby). Fortunately the ball didn’t have the needed 60 meter distance. And after two and half agonizing minutes past full time, the teams will meet in the deciding third game Saturday week in Sydney.
I had what seems to have been my first real Aussie sport/pub experience. At the start of the game I got to sing along with the others (who were mostly inebriated) ‘Advance Australia Fair,’ the national anthem. (I learned the anthem early on, which is a bit of a sense of pride considering the fact that a large number of Aussies don’t know it. It is also slightly ironic as I rail on it in my thesis as perpetuating ideals of the ‘White Australia’ policy and continued marginalization of the indigenous peoples.) Anyways, I also got to do a lot of ‘oi’ing in response to ‘Aussie’s (Aussie Aussie Aussie – Oi Oi Oi – Aussie Aussie Aussie – Oi Oi Oi – Aussie – Oi – Aussie – Oi – Aussie Aussie Aussie – Oi Oi Oi) and even sang ‘Waltzing Matilda’ at the half (I suppose a bit like ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ during the seventh inning stretch. While I don’t understand all the nuances of the game, I have been picking up things (like scrums and such).
This morning I am heading out to do a bit more exploring of Brizzy with Stuart, one of the professors up from Tazzy for the conference. He proved a really great guy to meet – he gave an interesting paper on the development of early colonial style and taste in Van Demon’s Land (what is now Tasmania) and happens to be the outgoing president of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australian and New Zealand (SAHANZ), whose annual is the next stop on my journey. I’m looking forward to touring around this morning before heading off to the Gold Coast.
Last night I struck out for dinner around 6:30, stopping by the front desk to consult reception for a recommendation. I went out along Albert Street to a pub that had been recommended as “really Australia,” thought when I went in it was clearly an Irish pub. Wanting to search around a bit more I walked down Albert to the park and then down the River and walked along the restaurants along the waterfront, but none of them quite fit what I was looking for.
I headed back to the pub and ordered, sitting down to watch the footy. Last night he Qantas Wallabies (Australia’s rugby team) played round two against the British and Irish Lions. The Wallabies took a walloping last week, and the series was set to end if the Wallabies lost again. Throughout the game it seemed the Wallabies were doing everything to lose.
Finally, in the 76th minute the first try (a touchdown in rugby) was scored, and with a good kick the Wallabies took the lead 16-15. With 8 seconds left until full time, a major mistake gave the Lions the ball back and field position, though as the game passed into the 81st minute (over time) things got dicey and the Wallabies caught a lucky break, pushing the Lions back to midfield, but not without an opportunity for a winning three point kick (a field goal in American football, but I have no idea what it is in rugby). Fortunately the ball didn’t have the needed 60 meter distance. And after two and half agonizing minutes past full time, the teams will meet in the deciding third game Saturday week in Sydney.
I had what seems to have been my first real Aussie sport/pub experience. At the start of the game I got to sing along with the others (who were mostly inebriated) ‘Advance Australia Fair,’ the national anthem. (I learned the anthem early on, which is a bit of a sense of pride considering the fact that a large number of Aussies don’t know it. It is also slightly ironic as I rail on it in my thesis as perpetuating ideals of the ‘White Australia’ policy and continued marginalization of the indigenous peoples.) Anyways, I also got to do a lot of ‘oi’ing in response to ‘Aussie’s (Aussie Aussie Aussie – Oi Oi Oi – Aussie Aussie Aussie – Oi Oi Oi – Aussie – Oi – Aussie – Oi – Aussie Aussie Aussie – Oi Oi Oi) and even sang ‘Waltzing Matilda’ at the half (I suppose a bit like ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ during the seventh inning stretch. While I don’t understand all the nuances of the game, I have been picking up things (like scrums and such).
This morning I am heading out to do a bit more exploring of Brizzy with Stuart, one of the professors up from Tazzy for the conference. He proved a really great guy to meet – he gave an interesting paper on the development of early colonial style and taste in Van Demon’s Land (what is now Tasmania) and happens to be the outgoing president of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australian and New Zealand (SAHANZ), whose annual is the next stop on my journey. I’m looking forward to touring around this morning before heading off to the Gold Coast.
Comments
Post a Comment