• Karen HechingerAustralia 2025Traveler
    Catching the Australian Rules Football men's final match at Kicks Sports Bar, Melbourne
    The Geelong Cats vs. the Brisbane Lions. These people are SERIOUS about their football.Halftime score - even!This halftime stat doesn't reflect the runaway second half. Final score 122-75 BrisbaneView of Melbourne from our hotel room1View from our hotelSome neat architectureTaking the tram to a local women's AFL match (Aust Rules Football)Women's AFL match - Essedon vs. North MelbournePre-match warm-upsAnd we're off!Halftime song & dance - the crowd gets into it!41-51 in the 4th quarter - close matchA few shots of the harbor in Melbourne

    29. Melbourne & ARF

    September 27 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Melbourne is a bustling city of 5.35 million people, and capital of the state of Victoria. We returned our rental car here after our Great Ocean Road trip & spent a few days doing what the locals do - watching Australian Rules Football (ARF).

    We caught the national men's final match, Geelong vs. Brisbane, at a local sports bar - what a blast! The tie score at halftime (first time since 1909 that this happened) gave no indication of the runaway second half with a final score of 147-75 to Brisbane.

    Although it looked like mayhem in the beginning, Mike and I had picked up some of the rules of the game after having tracked down a live ladies match in north Melbourne. The local fans were out in droves and very passionate about the game. Super fun experience!    Read more