Mainly Inside a Theatre

Canberra got to host a BBL game between the Sydney Thunder and the Melbourne Renegades. We were quite excited as Canberra has not got a BBL team and we think it's rather fun. So we headed to the Manuka Oval to see the game... only to find it was all sold out (it's a tiny ground with capacity of 13,550) and of course we had not been organised enough to buy tickets in advance. While this was not great news for us, it is hopefully great news for the future of the tournament in the town. So we repaired to The Durham where we had a paddle of beer and watched it on the television instead. 

l-r: Hope Brewhouse God Save the Queen; HopDog Beerworks A Feat of Stevens; Feral Brewing Company War Hog

We drove home that night through a cracking storm. These are not my photos, but they are so good I thought I would share them. 

Photo by Theresa Hall published in The Canberra Times

Photo by Matt Tomkins published in The Canberra Times

As I have been spending most of my time outside work inside a theatre, here are a few snaps from rehearsals of Oh, What a Lovely War!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last year we watched the Australian Open final drinking BentSpoke Crankshaft IPA, which had just come eighth in the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers Poll. This year we watched the Australian Open final drinking BentSpoke Crankshaft IPA, which has just come third in the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers Poll. Not that we're creatures of habit or anything...

BentSpoke beer goggles

Melbourne weekend

We had a fabulous weekend in Melbourne catching up with friends, but first I got in a quick bike ride around Lake Burley Griffin.

So here we are in Melbourne, and the graffiti on our street is full of good advice. 

We were meeting The Mischievous Minx and the Great Galah who were there for her significant birthday present which was tickets to the Australian Open. Naturally, we met in a pub: Young & Jackson's to be precise. 

Recreating an old photo (it was with milk when she was a kid)

Hard to believe from the GG's face, but this was early in the evening

We took them to the BBL at the MCG to see the Melbourne Stars take on the Sydney Sixers. It was a beautiful evening and an enjoyable game. They soon got into the swing of it,with boundary drinks and smiles all round.

BBL at the MCG

 

The next morning we walked and tram-ed around the city, taking in the sights.

The Great Galah wanted us to take a photo of this street name - I can't imagine why...

Great Galah was also rather taken with this window display

There was a giant screen set up in Federation Square on which the tennis games were being shown. We sat in deck chairs and watched them for a bit. With doughnuts.

Flinders Street Station and Federation Square

Such a beautiful couple.

While they went back to the tennis, we headed to Moon Dog Brewery, where we escaped the heat (and it was very hot) and watched Andy Murray lose his final. It was tough, but we had beer to dull the pain.

Moon Dog in a shaft of light

A final breakfast next morning  by the Yarra before we had to drive home. It was a lovely weekend, and I will really miss these guys. Good friends are the best thing ever.