Keep off the grass

Preparations are on the way at the Basin Reserve for the cricket season.

Trophies

I was up in Brisbane at the weekend, the purpose of this escapade was to catch some live rugby action on Saturday night! Australia (aka the Wallabies) beat South Africa (aka the Springboks) 21-6 but South Africa having won the two previous encounters this year were awarded the Nelson Mandela trophy (on the left) and the Boks are likely to get hold of the Tri Nations trophy (on the right) should they beat New Zealand (aka the All Blacks) next Saturday in Hamilton (NZ). If only the Wallabies had played earlier in the competition the way they did on Saturday, the silverware would be found at the Australia Rugby Union headquarters!

Scarves

One of the most popular sports in Australia is Australian rules football (two teams of 18 (very fit) players run around after an funny shaped ball to try and score goals and suprise surprise whoever scores the most goals wins the game. That's for the basics.. if you want to find out more, you can click here). The game was first played in Victoria in the late 1850s, which would explain why the game is so popular over there and merchandise of differents kinds sell fairly well at the Queen Victoria Market where I took this photo. Strangely enough, none of the teams "represented" in this shot are based in Victoria! (From left to right: Port Adelaide, Sydney Swans, Fremantle Dockers (aka Freo), Adelaide Crows, Brisbane Lions, West Coast Eagles, a Perth-based team). Maybe they're sold out...

The rugby union/cricket tragic that I am would not be seen dead in one of those scarves but they make a good photo.. I think :)

Olympic glory

Lake Wendouree Olympic Precinct

Not every country town can boast a bit of Olympic glory, Ballarat does! Thanks to Lake Wendouree which hosted the rowing, kayaking and canoeing events for the 1956 Summer Olympics. Ballarat's other sporting claim to fame is Steve Moneghetti, a long distance runner who was at the peak of his career in the 90s and who gave his name to the 6-k track around the lake.

Love to hate you

Australia and New Zealand enjoy a love-hate relationship and here it is at its peak:

Last night in Sydney the Wallabies (Australia) got the better out of the All Blacks (New Zealand) - 34 to 19.