AUSSIE FOOTBALL

There is football. It is called soccer. There is rugby. That is big in New South Wales. There is Australian football. That is called football. That is big in Australia. Especially in Victoria. Half of the teams in the premier are from Melbourne. Football is something between soccer and rugby. Nearer to rugby though. You only score by kicking the ball between poles that are 4 together. If the ball is kicked between the two left ones or the two right ones, gives 1 point. Ball kicked in the middle gives 6 points. If hit to the pole, that is always 1 point. The ball is similar shape like in American football, or in rugby. But it is similar material than in soccerball.This makes kicking challenging. The field is almost circle, and there are 18 players of both teams on the field at the same time. There are certain rules what comes to tackling and running with the ball, but after watching a few games (4x30 minutes each) together with a football fan, you start to get the idea.

Every Australian has a favorite team. Even if one doesn't really follow, or says he or she hates football, they still have a favorite team. It is in their family heritage and blood. One day at a playground at a camping site in Torquay 2 kids maybe 3 years old asked Virve what is her favorite team. For them it was clear, that everyone has one. Back then we didn't understand what sport they were talking about. I support St. Kilda now, because I liked that area in Melbourne. St.Kilda has never conquered the premiership. We also booked our hotel from St.Kilda for 3 nights before the flight to Christchurch, New Zealand.

In Daylesford, we did a nice walk around the lake in town. Virve and Iita talked to a woman with a puppy. Her name is Sue. Turned out that her mother is from Finland. She invited us to her home for a dinner in the evening and of course we went. She was really curious of Finland, where she didn't travel to yet. Her mother is already in a eldery home and due to dementia speaks only Finnish now. Sue is most likely going to travel to Gold Coast in June. We agreed to go to a football game together there.