Australian Footy

Today Addie and I had planned to spend the day at The Strand after deciding not to spend the money on going to the races since no one had brought really nice clothes. Unfortunately, today was very overcast and the beach was uncomfortably windy with no sun. Bummer! But, instead we got back to campus in time to shower and get dressed to attend the Townsville Cowboys rugby game. We later learned that although it was a rugby game, the Aussies call it footy because the Cowboys are apart of AFL (Australian Football League), but "rough" rugby is Union League. I'm still working on figuring all that part out.
It was very different than most sporting events I have been to. We caught a bus to the game and on it we were in constant laughter. There was a family and possibly their friends who had obviously had a great deal to drink at the Townsville Cup (races) that day. They were singing loudly and very obnoxious, much to our entertainment though! We purchased our tickets which were general admission, so we litterally sat on the grass which was inclined downward just at the edge of the field, blocked by a short fence. The stadium is called Dairy Farmers Stadium. The atmosphere actually reminded me alot of highschool football games. Families would come and lay out a blanket on the lawn and their kids would be able to run all around much like how I would in elementary school before I realized I actually liked football. Nice alternative so parents can attend and their kids can have fun too! The Cowboys, ranked just to last in their league, pulled the game off in overtime against the Newcastle Knights!

After the game, we came back to campus and some changed clothes and off to town we went. Town was packed!! Many people were out because of the races and all still dressed in their nice clothes. That was very neat because we got to see some of the interesting outfits they wear and head pieces!

Overall, turned out to be a pretty great day!