Sydney adventures

Von nzvr4poker, 31.08.2009, 532 Aufrufe, 1 Kommentar | Kommentar hinzufügen

For the final leg of my Australian trip, I made my way up from Melbourne to Sydney mid-afternoon on Thursday. I had lots of things lined up for my four days and nights in the city I called home for the first six months of the year. I met up with Gaylene so I would have some company for all the different activities.

On Friday we decided to go to Taronga Zoo. We left early on in the morning from the western suburbs and caught the train to the Circular Quay city stop. A quick ferry trip took us across to the zoo which is located on a kind of island that hooks up to North Sydney. During our time at the zoo I remembered that there was a rugby league game on that night at the Sydney Football Stadium and I asked Gaylene if we should go. Her favourite team, the Wests Tigers were playing the arch-rival Parramatta Eels and their superstar player, Jarryd Hayne. We agreed and after seeing the roaring lions and the friendly Sumatran tiger we made our way back into the city to the stadium.

Rugby league is a similar game to rugby union but with only 13 players for each team on the field at once. I believe this coupled with the differences in rules is what makes it a more exciting game than rugby union. Superstar players are better able to showcase their skills. Jarryd Hayne was outstanding and his amazing kick and gather on the full-time siren sealed the game for Parramatta as they won the game 26-18.

On Saturday I met up with a couple of poker mates of mine down at the casino in Sydney. Chris Levick, Josh Cunningham, Gaylene and I had some drinks and talked some poker. Following that, I needed to get an All Blacks (New Zealand rugby union team) jersey ahead of the big rugby union match against the Australian national rugby team – “The “Wallabies”. Each year the two nations play a series of games between each other with the winner receiving the Bledisloe Cup. New Zealand won the first game in Auckland and so if they won in Sydney they would have an unassailable 2-0 lead. The game was due to start at 8 pm so we found a sports shop in the city and I found a suitable jersey and black and white scarf to represent and cheer for New Zealand. Gaylene had her Wallabies scarf and a green and gold scarf.

We looked quite the part as we took the trains heading west to Stadium Australia in the suburb of Homebush. On the way into the stadium a camera crew asked us to cheer on our respective teams so I was asked to say “Go, All Blacks!” and Gaylene had to reply “No, what’s wrong with you! Go Wallabies!” After that entertaining moment, we made the walk around the winding concrete concourse access ways to our seats. It was a long trek up for us as we were seated about ten rows from the back. The stadium was awash with the colours of green, gold and black as 80,000 people attended the game. The pre-game festivities included the singing of both national anthems and the always stirring “haka” challenge which is a kind of war dance performed by New Zealand teams before a sports contest.

Australia started stronger and had kicked four penalties to just the one for New Zealand as they had a nine point (12-3) lead at half-time. However an inspirational positional change by the coach at half-time and a spirited second half performance allowed New Zealand to sneak home by a point, winning 19-18.World class first-five eighth (wearing jersey number ten), Dan Carter ended up kicking the winning penalty goal with two minutes remaining. About 35-40 percent of the crowd were New Zealander’s and they continued to celebrate throughout the night with many singing and dancing into the streets of Sydney.

Sunday was my last day in Sydney before I was due to head home to New Zealand early on the following day. As you all know, I am an avid sports fan and the Australian (Boomers) and New Zealand (Tall Blacks) basketball teams were playing off in the first of two games for the Oceania championship and seedings for next year’s world cup in Turkey. The game was also out in Homebush but this time we chose to drive. The Australian team were strong favourites to win but New Zealand should never be ruled out of a sports contest and should never be written off. I played basketball at school with Mika Vukona who is now one of the key players in the New Zealand team. His valuable contribution to the team was evident as he grabbed lots of rebounds and contributed a few key baskets keeping the Tall Blacks in the game at half-time, as New Zealand trailed 43-42.

At the three quarter break Australia had edged further ahead to be leading by three points. New Zealand bounced back to start the fourth quarter in a positive fashion, establishing a lead of three points for themselves, to lead 66-63 with just 7:05 remaining in the game. However, the experience and talent of the Australians was too much for New Zealand with the likes of Joe Ingles and NBA (National Basketball Association) star Nathan Jawai (who now plays on Dirt Nowitzki’s Dallas Mavericks team) leading Australia to a 84-77 victory.

It was a great trip for me to the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney and I thoroughly enjoyed the poker and the activities ahead of some rest before my next trip overseas to North America.

Anyways I was having a look in the Pokerstars lobby and I see that they have satellites to the APPT Auckland event. Seeming that it is practically my home town tournament I guess I should play in it. The satellites look good value for money so I think I will have a crack at them before I go on my big trip to North America. So I will have my hands full in the next couple of weeks sorting everything out. Until then best of luck on the tables and I will let you know how I do in the satellites soon.