Footy

So my favorite sport here in Australia is Australian Rules Football, aka Aussies Rules, AFL or footy. There is actually an entire Fox Sports channel dedicated to this sport.  I decided I needed to know more about footy, so went down the rabbit hole for a history lesson.

1857-Tom Wills returned to Australia after schooling in England.  Advocated footy as a way of keeping cricketer fit during the off-season.

1857-New game devised by Wills, H.C.A Harrison, W.J. Hammersley, and J.B. Thompson.

August 7th, 1858-1st recorded match between Scotch College & Melbourne Grammar School.  Melbourne Football Club formed.

1859-Geelong Football Club formed

1866-updated set of rules

1870's-Footy becoming the "game of the people"; crowds getting larger at matches.

1873-Team uniforms were introduced

1877-oval-shaped ball was used for matches.  Prior to, it was a round ball.

1896-Victorian Football League formed.  Foundation clubs included: Carlton, Collinwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda & South Melbourne.

1904-1st indigenous person, Joe Johnson, to play at senior level.

1908-Richmond and University joined the league.

1914-University left the league.

1925-Footscray, Hawthorne & North Melbourne joined the league.

1982-South Melbourne relocated at became the Sydney Swans.

1987-West Coast and Brisbane joined.

1990-Victorian Football League renamed to Australian Football League.

1991-Adelaide joined.

1995-Fremantle joined.

1997-Port Adelaide joined.

2011-Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney joined.  Currently 18 team national competition that is still here today.

2016-Women's AFL competition.

2017-Women's inaugural season
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Footy is a contact sport with two teams of 18 players on an oval-shaped field.  It is usually played on a cricket ground.  It is a form of football with roots traceable from the early forms of rugby and Gaelic football.  The game is 4 quarters that are 20 mins each.  Halftime is 20 mins long.  Three subs are allowed on the bench during the game and can sub at any time during the match.  No padding is worn by the players.  They are allowed to wear shinguards, mouthguard, and soft protective headgear.   The ball is slight larger and rounder than an American football; it is not designed to be thrown.  Players are able to move anywhere on the ground when play in progress, but just like soccer, there are some positions that people tend to play.

So there are goal posts that are about 7 yards apart from each other.  Scoring is done by kicking the ball between the 2 larger goal posts without being touch is a goal & scores 6 points.  If the ball passes between the behind posts (outside 2 posts) by any other means, then it is a behind and scores 1 point. If the ball hits the goal, a behind is scored.

When a goal is scored, the goal umpire does this.  If a behind is scored, only one hand does the motion. The umpire then waves flags above their head to confirm the goal or behind to the goal umpire at the opposite end of the ground. I want this job.  Looks like so much fun! And their facial expressions are all like this too.  

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A player may hold a ball for an unlimited amount of time when not being held by an opponent.  A player lying on or over the ball is considered to be in possession of the ball. A player running with the ball must bounce the ball or touch it to the ground once every 15 meters.  A player in possession of the ball and held by an opponent must kick or handball the ball.  To handball the ball correctly, a player must hold the ball in one hand & hit it with the clenched fist of the other hand.The hand holding must not move relative to the player's body.

A mark is allowed when the ball is caught from a kick which has traveled a minimum distance of 10 meters, and the ball has traveled in the air without being touched by another player.  The player taking the mark may play on immediately, or go back and kick over the position where he took the mark.

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So these are the basic rules of footy.  My team is the Sydney Swans.  Hopefully we will be going to a game at some point.  I have been trying to catch the games on TV.  

Here's a youtube video that will give you a little taste of Footy.

As always, thanks for checking in.  Let me know if there is anything you would like to know about while we are here in Australia.

xoxo, Ann and Aram

BBQ Adventure

We have been wanting a grill in the backyard, but they are so expensive here to get a Weber.  I started looking on Gumtree (Aussie version of Craigslist) and found a brand new Weber charcoal grill down in Wollongong.  I figured, why not, I'll message the seller.  Surprisingly he responded back quickly and was willing to meet us about halfway.  Halfway is in Waterfall..definitely had to google where that was. It's literally in between the Royal National Park and Heathcote National Park. And it's the last stop on the train before having to switch to a different train line.

So Brooks and I decided to go have an adventure and caught the train and took about a 1-1.5 hour train ride south.  While waiting for the guy to show up, there was a sign that said "Kiss and Ride"...so random.  I still chuckle at the name for parking lots..."Car Parks".

We met the guy, Rod, saw the grill, paid him and then went back to the train.  The train came about 10 mins later and the conductor came up to us and asked if there was a gas tank.  Apparently that's not allowed on the train.  When we said "no", he was so happy and even offered to carry the BBQ onto the train for us.  We didn't get too many weird looks until closer to the central business district.  We had to change trains at Central, which is the busiest train station in Sydney, and I had to carry this Weber through there and up an escalator.

Just sitting on the train with the new BBQ

One guy said, "seriously a Weber?!?"  We made it to our stop and Aram met us there to help carry this BBQ home. It was great and we used the next night to make pizzas on the grill.  We did buy shrimp to put on the grill, just so we could say "Shrimp on the barby".  Which we aren't quite sure how that saying came to be due to the fact they call shrimp prawns here.

Overall it was an adventure and well worth it because we had some awesome pizza :)

Lightning Strike

So Wednesday morning around 4:30 am, there was a massive lightning strike with subsequent thunder.  It was extremely loud and shook the house.  Apparently people in Sydney thought it was a bomb or a plane crashed.  Per Sydney weather news, "There is a good chance that this morning's thunder was made louder than usual by a something called 'inversion lightning.' This rare but well-documented phenomenon causes sound from a cloud-to-ground lightning strike to be trapped near the ground instead of dissipating vertically into the sky.

A temperature inversion happens when cool air near the ground lies below a layer of warmer air. This creates an invisible boundary in the sky that separates two layers of air with different temperatures and densities. Sound produced near the ground bounces off this inversion boundary and can travel much further than it typically would."

 I was randomly awake during this time because my sleep cycle is still a little off.  Aram woke up to this and said it was probably the loudest thunder he has heard since he was at camp.  

I guess Sydney doesn't get a lot of thunder or lightning here.  Just lots of rain.  

Figuring It Out

It's been two weeks since I arrived and I feel like I am finally figuring out the trains and ferries. Also feel like my sleep pattern is a little more normal, but still find myself waking up at random times during the night.

My new favorite sweets are call TimTams.  Seriously so good!

I have kept exploring new areas within walking distance.  It's so nice to be able to walk every where.  I've definitely been getting in my step requirements for the day!

May Gibbs is apparently a big deal here is Australia.  Here is a link to read more on her.

Ran across this gem in the neighborhood the other day.

This is a neighborhood garden that if you help out, then you can have some of the produce.  Lots of plants there, but I have no clue what they are!

Found this cool area called Kurraba Point Reserve.  It's a nice grass area on the harbour with views of the bridge.  I could always see this place from the Neutral Bay ferry.  Once I got there, found some cool historical facts too.

Looking back at Neutral Bay.

 These are seriously some of the coolest flowers.  They are so simple, but beautiful.  There is a house just down the street from us that has them.  I stop and look at them every time.

Some of Lela's friends are staying here at the house. So I took them out to Manly Beach.  Was pretty proud of myself for getting us to the Ferry and the correct wharf.  Finally getting the hang of this transportation.  It was much less crowded at the beach compared to the weekend.

Seriously the clearest water ever.

Overlooking the Pacific Ocean

Totally lucked out on catching the ferry back without having to wait and we were able to see the sun setting behind the Harbour Bridge and with the Opera House.

Overall getting the hang of things and loving that I am not in the Phoenix heat :)

Xoxo,

Ann and Aram

One Week In Australia

Cannot believe it has been one week already since I arrived.  Still don't really know where I am going, but I do have it down pat for the walk across the Sydney Harbor Bridge and back :)  It's the only bit of flat land I've found so far to run...but still have to go up/down hills to get there.

View from my run the other day

I got to see Aram's campus the other day and tried to "study" some information for the OCS---that didn't work out too well.  We spent part of a day going to Costco, IKEA, and searching in some other stores for things.  Easy trips aren't easy and they take awhile that's for sure.  You also only buy what you can carry.

I've spent a view days just exploring around.  It's a workout every time I go explore.  I found a place called Wendy's Secret Garden.  The wife of an Australian artist channeled her grief after her husband passed away into this amazing oasis in the city.  I cannot wait until all the flora blooms to see how amazing this place is.

One of the many sets of stairs throughout the garden

Lavendar Bay

View from a little bench I spent some time at journaling experiences.

I walked down a little further and there was a path around the bay.  Loved seeing all the boats docked with the Harbor bridge in the background.

As I kept walking around the bay, the views seriously kept getting better.

Thought I was on a public staircase...got the stern eye from the resident--whoops!

Aram and I went downtown Sydney one day.  I get so lost down there.  You can come up into different parts of the town from the train--have yet to find the same way.  But there are some seriously  cool buildings.

Today I woke up today so sore.  There was no way I was running the bridge today.  I decided to take a walk on our side of the bay.  Found a Maccallum seawater pool. "The architectural style of the current pool dates back to the 1920s and was restored in keeping with this heritage theme by Council 1985-1986."  

Yup I could swim here and stare at this view.

Weather here cannot decide whether it is summer or fall.  There was a street with 3 houses that had rose gardens all in the front yard.  I don't know if I've ever seen so many different colors of roses. But then I kept walking and it was fall with the beautiful leaves.  

Overall things have been going good here and it's so amazing to be back with Aram.  

Weekend at Manly Beach

Aram's parents surprised us with a ocean view hotel room at Manly Beach for the weekend.  We ended up taking an Uber there since it is about 30 mins from the house.  Uber drivers are a little interesting as they really don't say a word to you at all.  We got there Friday evening and of course it was pitch black so we couldn't see much.  But in the morning, we woke up to the most amazing view.

It was so peaceful and amazing to hear the waves.  There were also sand volleyball courts right below so we could sit on the balcony and watch volleyball.  Aram and I actually got up pretty early to walk along the boardwalk to go get breakfast.  The thing we noticed the most was how pretty the water was with the bluish-green color. Also the water is so clear!  You could see the sand below very easily.  

We ate breakfast at The Boathouse Shelly Beach.  I'll give the Aussies credit, they definitely know how to do breakfast.  Coffee is good, but never seems to be hot enough for me.  And don't even think about drip coffee, that is apparently a specialty.

I thought these were the coolest chandeliers made from seashells.

Here's the beach right in front of the cafe.  Water is still pretty cold, but people were swimming in the ocean, scuba diving and snorkeling.  I'd say the water was warmer than San Diego water, but still way too cold for me in the winter time here.  

It was amazing just looking around.  Also to note, since we now live in a country that drives on the left hand side of the road, that also applies to walking paths.  It was so awkward walking on that side the entire time.  Had to do a little research, but this is the Fairy Bower Rockpool.  "It is triangular in shape and the sculptures that sit along the rock edge are known as 'The Sea Nymphs' or 'The Oceanides', were created by Helen Leete. Built by local residents in 1929, Fairy Bower rockpool is one of a number of historic pools cut and blasted along the New South Wales coast as saltwater bathing became popular."

The sculptures were actually ruined in a storm and the locals are trying to raise money to get it fixed.

Still just couldn't get over the color of the water and Aram said he understands why people spend so much money to live next to the ocean because he got some of the best sleep ever from the waves.  

Watching some surfers and some sand volleyball

We took a hike along the coast and had some amazing views.  We also realized that how the hike was set up that it would never be allowed in the States.  You could literally go to the edge of a cliff and there were no guardrails.  

Taking a break because we are tired from hills

Panorama view

Aram and I got pizza for take away and have concluded, they have good toppings, but the crust sucks.  I have no clue if Aussies actually like it this way.

Next morning, I woke up even earlier to see the sun rise and get some photos.

It was amazing sitting there with a cup of hot chocolate and wrapped up in a blanket watching this.  There was almost no one out, so all you heard was the birds and the waves.  

We went for breakfast at Havana Beach Cafe and Lounge and had some oceans views to go along with it.  Ended up taking the ferry back to Neutral Bay for the walk home.  Ferry ride views below.  

That's all for now.  Thanks for checking it out!

xo, Ann & Aram