Sydney Cricket Ground

Tuesday, 26 May 2015

AFL flags outside the rugby/soccer stadium

Hoping for a massage

Keep off the grass!

Indoor nets

19th Century turnstile

Outdoor practice nets plus tennis court (Mr Waugh on the left)

Sydney Skyline

Sydney Cricket Ground

Media Room

Make believe brewery

Long Bar

Aussie's change room

Aussie walk to the ground

Walking on the grass allowed here!

Paul Kelly

We did drive across it!

Our goal this morning was to make our way to the Sydney Cricket Ground for a tour of Allianz Stadium and the Sydney Cricket Ground.  Doris TomTom took us through the Lane Cove Tunnel (7kms long) and then under Sydney Harbour without any hassle; we did miss the turn into the carpark road, so had to do a blocky.  A big thrill as we walked towards the start point was seeing Steve Waugh walking towards me.  The tour commenced in the rugby/soccer stadium (with all the Sydney Swans banners right outside) and a visit to the home side’s dressing room – very impressive with their hot and cold baths, medical room, massage tables and large warm-up space.  We walked down the race to the ground, but weren’t allowed stand on the actual grass!

Our tour continued to the indoor cricket nets, which have been set up to represent conditions at Perth, the remainder of Australia, England and India/Pakistan, the outdoor nets, which were under covers; we even spotted Steve Waugh’s father coaching tennis.  We continued along the Walk of Fame before entering the new Noble/Bradman Stand and being taken to the top level to see the television commentary boxes and the media room.  Going down in the lift was fun – the lift music was the Sydney Swans theme song!

Our next stop at the SCG was the Members’ Stand, with visits to both the visitors’ and home teams’ dressing rooms, a stand at the Long Bar – Cat was very disappointed that no drinks were being served – before walking down the Aussie’s steps to the turf.  We were allowed walk on this grass!  The tour finished with a visit to the SCG Museum, with its memorabilia and photos from 1852; Ricky Ponting’s helmet and bat were also on display.

Lunch was at a coffee shop in the showgrounds before we headed back to the car and asked Doris to take us to the Macquarie Shopping Centre.  All went well for a couple of hundred metres and then we missed the tunnel entrance immediately after turning right.  Not a problem, we thought, Doris will soon recalculate a route.  Unfortunately, the road we were on was directly above the tunnel and poor Doris thought we were actually in the tunnel.  It wasn’t until we were almost in the centre of the CBD and the road veered, that she realised we were somewhere else and panic set in.  We continued right through the centre of Sydney and approached the Harbour Bridge.  With about 20 lanes to choose from, Doris decided it was too much to cope with, instructed us to “Head towards Epping for 2 kms” and left us to work it out.  We did get to the shopping centre and we did get back to the caravan.  Doris has had a Bex, a cup of tea and a good lie down!

The weather has been mild and slightly overcast/hazy all day.