Eventually we made it to our starting destination and began another trek across the rugged Australian terrain. Actually it was a steep ascent on a nice paved road that wound round and round the mountain up to the lookout at the apex. Today’s weather was much more humid than our previous days and it was not long before everyone had worked up a nice sweat. As we journeyed on, you could look out on the occasion and tell that beyond the trees existed a great view of the city, but we had to wait until the lookout point to get a clear picture unobstructed by trees and other vegetation. Here are some pictures taken from the top of Mt. Coot-tha:
We spent some time walking around the peak and taking a few ganders at the merchandise for sale in the gift shop (I bought a neat boomerang at the best prices seen to date!). Without tarrying too long, we decided to walk back down the mountain on the trail-side since our walk up had been somewhat of a letdown. This trail was more like the trail through the Blue Mountains, though thankfully not as steep and definitely not as lengthy. We had heard tales of a “falls” along the trail, though soon after starting our trek we saw a dried up riverbed and with incredible accuracy predicted there was no “falls.” Here are some pictures as we descended the mountain on the trail:
Aboriginal Art Trail
Aboriginal Art Trail
We exited the trail at a park area and went in search of a bus stop that would take us back down to the city. Thankfully Anoop had a GPS on his iPad and after a mile or so walking beside the road, we found a suitable bus stop. (Nothing like technological navigation!) A couple of bus rides later, we were back at our hotel in Woolloongabba. In retrospect, I think Mt. Coot-tha is receiving a bit too much attention. The view was pretty neat, but not exactly what I was hoping for out of the #1 Brisbane attraction. However, it was definitely worth the trip!
I took a good nap in the afternoon before getting up to do some blogging (Anoop had purchased several 2 hour codes to use in our rooms). I blogged until about 5:30 when we met in the Cinema room on the 6th floor for a meeting. In this meeting, Captain Anoop gave us a detailed description of how to play cricket. Why? At 6:30 we were headed directly across the street to “The Gabba” to our first ever cricket match – Brisbane Heat vs. Hobart Hurricanes! Here’s a look at the cricket class:
After learning all of the rules, we ventured over to the stadium and joined the other 15,134 fans that attended the match. I won’t go into all of the details about how the game is played, but there are a few things that are important to note. First, there are several versions of the game, the longest lasting 5 days. Tonight’s match would not go that length (though there is currently a 5 day match underway in South Africa), but instead would be capped at 20 overs, or 120 pitches (or bowls, 6 per over) for each team. One other interesting fact about cricket is that many of the formats include a 30 minute break for tea – no joking. To say that cricket is like baseball (which is what I’ve always heard) is far from accurate. Apart from the fact that someone (a bowler) throws a ball that a batter hits and the team who scores the most runs wins the game, there really are very few congruous elements between the two sports.
The scoring in the match started off quickly, with Brisbane batting first. But first, let’s see what Captain Anoop predicted:
Brisbane ended up scoring 201 runs with their 120 pitches, including 4 on the last pitch which turned out to be the difference in the game. Why? Well, after several mind-numbing overs, the Hurricanes finally started hitting and scoring runs. For the last few plays of the game, lets take a live look at the action:
End of Match - Blow-By-Blow
(Note that the last pitch was caught, though it would have been worth 4 runs and the win had it gotten past the Brisbane player. Brisbane won the game, 201-198. Anoop said it is very rare that a cricket match comes down to the last pitch!)
What a match! I was pretty bored in the middle, but the beginning and end were actually pretty exciting. The crowd’s excitement definitely created a fun atmosphere! The game lasted about 3 ½ hours, so it was fairly late by the time we got back to the hotel. I got a shower and hit the hay not long after getting back to the room. Tomorrow was the beginning of two free days for the group, which had been planned over the last few hours (nothing like the last minute!). We would be heading to Surfer’s Paradise along the Gold Coast of Australia!
I like the art!
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