2013 Grand Final

Today was the last day of the 2013 NRL season, with the Grand Final being played between two Sydney area teams, the Sydney Roosters and Manly Sea Eagles. To wrap up the season, and the footy tipping competition that he'd been running, Craig hosted a barbecue out at his place.

What's an Aussie gathering without a barbie?

Broncos vs Tigers

Both of us have been having a bit of cold/flu issues this week, so Kara stayed home from tonight's game. We sent out free ticket offers to friends via text, Twitter and Facebook, but there were no takers. So I went in to the game on my own, layered against the cold. T-shirt under my jersey, fleece-lined jeans, and a beanie.

Beanie on my head, metal on my headphones.

Titans vs Cowboys

It's my weekend off, and I had the chance to see all three Queensland rugby league teams in the one round - so I took it.

We already have our season tickets for the Broncos tonight (vs NZ Warriors), so I bought a ticket to yesterday's game as well, with the Gold Coast Titans hosting the North Queensland Cowboys at home. Skilled Park at Robina is only a short (and free, with game ticket!) train ride south of here.

Sunday markets packing up across from Woodridge train station.

Hiram's Visit

I grew up as a missionary kid in Ghana, West Africa. One of the other families we worked with over there was the Rings, from the US. Among their many children were Ethan (my age) and Hiram (my brother's age), and we've been friends pretty much ever since. When I got married in Seattle back in June 2007, Ethan flew most of the way across the country to be a groomsman, and Hiram also flew across the US to attend as a guest.

I hadn't seen Hiram (other than keeping up with his worldwide travels, and music, online) since our wedding day. He's currently spending a couple months in Canberra doing research as part of his PhD studies in Singapore, so arranged to spend a weekend up north visiting the Davies families. He's now the second Ring to stay in our house, as Ethan was here on a work visit not long after we moved in to this place.

Friday, 22 March

He's here!

Holidays, Day 1

FRIDAY 8 MARCH

My first day off was also the first night of WOMADelaide, but I had a slight clash of timetables - Friday 8 March was the first Broncos game of the season, and was being played at home!

Being season ticket holders (for a second year), Kara and I of course went. But due to my Saturday flight plans (departing 6am), I stayed up late Thursday and had a really long sleep-in on the Friday to prepare for my all-nighter.

End of the season

I'm a relative newcomer to rugby league. I started watching State Of Origin games in about 1997/1998, and have watched that competition every year since. But it was only in about 2010 that I really started to watch any regular season NRL games on TV, and in 2011 I went to my first live game at Suncorp Stadium.

Over the course of 2011, Kara would watch the Friday night footy with me as well. Earlier this year, as a Valentine's Day outing, she bought tickets to the first Broncos home game of the 2012 season. The Broncos lost to the Cowboys, but it was a good night out, and Kara enjoyed her first live experience of rugby league.

The deal we got for the first game led to a discounted offer on season tickets for the rest of the home games - which we jumped at. This is the first time either of us have had season tickets to a sport of any kind. With free shuttle buses, and free travel on Brisbane Transport buses and all the trains, it's easy to get to the games, and even easier to get home. The choices of food at the stadium are reasonable considering, and sometimes we take our own food, like sandwiches, or cheese and crackers. All in all, it's a cheap date night.

My wife, the rugby league convert - note the cap and scarf in Broncos colours!