Saturday morning came, and it was as crisp and clear and beautiful outside as we’d ever seen. (Seriously. There’s something about the air in Australia…we loved it beyond words.)
Russ made a fantastic–albeit random–decision a few days before and had gotten tickets for the Sydney Roosters game that afternoon. We know absolutely nothing about rugby, of course. But on a run through the park, Russ had noticed that the Roosters were going to play right at the Sydney Cricket Ground, which happened to be walking distance from our apartment.
When we woke up that morning to what felt like the most glorious morning in late October, we knew Russ had made a great call. It felt too great outside to even think about museums or indoor activities, so we headed back to Bondi.
We walked down to the boardwalk and discovered that an outdoor ice skating rink had been set up.
Ice skating.
In July. (Very novel for Northern Hemispherers, that’s for sure.) Jack opted to go for a stroll while we waited for Tucker and Theo’s time slot.
Tucker loves all things X-game related (skateboarding, surfing, rock climbing…you know, all the dangerous sports), so he wanted to check out the Bondi Skatepark.
Along the boardwalk/path right in front of Bondi Beach is the Bondi Beach Graffiti Wall. Our trip to Valparaiso, Chile, had educated us a bit on art of graffiti and had shown us how beautiful it can be when done correctly. The Waverley Council took a unique approach to combat wayward spray paint wielding defacers, and opted to require that artists obtain a permit prior to painting. Artists must apply for this permit which allows him/her to design and paint one particular section of the wall which will remain untouched by others for roughly 6 months (Aussies–being Aussies–are good and respectful rule followers). Lucky for us, July is the switching time; the area was covered with artists [legally] creating new murals over old ones.
Their methods were fascinating. This wasn’t a “grab a can of spray paint and have at it” thing; much like the street art in Valparaiso, these were incredibly well-thought-out, complicated murals painted by professionals. Watching them paint was hypnotizing.
Then it was ice skating time!
Watching the boys ice skate with waves crashing behind them on Bondi Beach was surreal.
We cobbled together a makeshift lunch from a few different restaurants (Bondi Trattoria; The Bucket List) and did a little souvenir shopping before heading back to the apartment.
Then it was back to the apartment to get ready for the Roosters!
The Roosters were playing at the Sydney Cricket Ground because their regular stadium, the Sydney Football Stadium, is undergoing a massive refurbishment. As you can imagine, the Cricket Ground is pretty spectacular; we’d never been to one before but the fancy cricket areas and cricket club member areas reminded me a little of Augusta National. Check out the required dress code for members.
The only thing we knew going in to the event was that the hometown Roosters were going up against the Newcastle Knights.
the stands were jam packed… 
and the field was amazing
We knew we were going to absolutely love this when we could hear the fans singing the Roosters’ fight song as we were walking in. This may be the most perfect fight song in the history of fight songs. (Trust me: you MUST click that link.) To further hit home just how incredible this little ditty is, I’m including the entirety of its lyrics below…
Easts know how to play the game; they play it hard and fair
Easts know how to win the game; they win more than their share
They’re great to see in action, these boys who show the way
Put the Roosters on the field, they’ll show you how to play!
Here come the Roosters, the best we’ve ever seen
The red, white and bluesters, the Eastern Suburbs team
“Easts to win” shout the cry that everybody knows
If you play this football game beware the Roosters crow
They’re great to see in action, these boys who show the way
Put the Roosters on the field, they’ll show you how to play
Here come the Roosters, the best we’ve ever seen
The red, white and bluesters, the Eastern Suburbs team!
Do you see that? That’s THREE STANZAS worth of unabashed, hardcore Rooster spirit, right there. The author of this jingle gets mad props from me; it takes lyrical dexterity to coin a new word to rhyme with “Roosters” and no nickname rolls off the tongue quite like “the Eastern Suburbs team.” Every single fan, young and old alike, belts this entire song out whenever something good happens on the field (…er, pitch), whenever something bad happens, and whenever else they jolly well feel like it. There are no words to describe the awesomeness of it. Here’s our reaction as we walked to our seats for the first time:
The fight song lit a fire under us; we needed to up our Rooster spirit…
…so we made a pit stop at the free face-painting booth.
The sun began to go down, which only added to the ambiance. (FYI: sunset in Sydney was at 5:07pm that day…southern hemisphere winter and all.)
did we buy our own Roosters flag? 
you bet your tail feathers we did!
The Roosters crushed the Knights 48-10. We had no idea what was going on, but there was constant action, so we just cheered when the crowd around us did. That Saturday we were the Roosters’ biggest fans ever.
We had a blast.
We were very sad to see the game end so quickly (rugby games are only 80 minutes long (with a 10 minute rest period in the middle). It was electrifying being around that many people in their element. We walked back to the apartment, riding the high of sweet, sweet victory, and displaying our unending support of our new favorite Eastern Suburbs team by singing the fight song (which we’d memorized after our nonstop exposure to it).
Once back at the apartment, Russ pulled up a recap about the game. Give it a read…it’s hilarious (and best read aloud with an Australian accent). While we knew next to nothing about rugby, we were hooked. We closed out one of the best Saturdays of the Big Trip tucked up in our cozy apartment, singing the Roosters song and watching old clips of them playing…which still didn’t help us figure out the rules or the terminology, but that didn’t put a damper on our moods one bit.
It was a perfect Saturday.
J, T, and Theo B. 