11.59- Blondie

Considering the time I got in last night, I got up at stupid o'clock to catch a bus, to catch a train, to catch a bus to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. It was a bit of a logistical challenge to even find the bus stop in the first place, but I got there nearly four hours after I started-if I had found the right bus stop, I have saved two hours but  I am a tourist! I got a major tick in the box, and cuddled a koala. It pressed all my maternal instincts and I wanted to stay and play. They do smell of eucalyptus, and are likely to poo or wee at any time, but I missed that experience. I also fed Skippy, ready to eat him later in the week.....

From there it was back to the bus to Brisbane to work out how to get to the Gabba for an AFL game between the Brisabne Lions and the Geelong Cats. The ground has happy memories for Lions fans, as it was probably where the sea of red first came to prominence in the media in 2001. The Australian papers claim that was where their fans learnt to support the team, wearing colours etc. the Gabba wasn't chosen as a venue for the match for that reason. It is still fantastic to visit the stadium. The Aussies make a great deal of effort to get their supporters to and from the ground free of charge, even as far out as Surfers Paradise. This keeps the cot of the day down. The fares came to 17 dollars one way and the ticket was 25, making it easy for a family to afford a day out more often. The Brisbane Tourist office were short on detail whenI asked them where to catch the bus to the ground, so I asked a local family how to get there. They invited me to walk with them to the ground, to sit with them, and also bought me tea, a fantastic gesture. The bloke was a really big Geelong fan, and was happy to answer my questions about the game. I thought it was just a bunch of well toned men in tight shorts and big biceps jumping about. well it is , but ther is a game around that. Geelong are top of the table, and Brisbane are bumping along at the bottom, so a big win was expected by Geelong, and by the end of the third quarter, with Geelong leading by 52 points. But nothing is certain in sport and steadily in the fourth quarter, Brisbane started to come back, reducing the lead. For some reason Geelong started to panic,. What was sleepily bumping along to a win was changing. The Brisbane fans had started to leave at the end of the fourth quarter. The masochists that stayed saw something remarkable, ad in the second minute of injury time, they kicked a goal to win by five points. Somehow, for the second time in two days, the Lions had scraped a win, and I had watched two significant sporting events. It ain't over until its over.