Saturday 22nd May 2004, Day 252/366 - Charlestown, New South Wales.

FA Cup Final

FA Cup Final day and I'm in Oz.

Went out for a drive. Started out at Mount Sugarloaf which today had a hazy view back over Newcastle. We then carried on out to Cessnock in the heart of the Hunter Valley Wineries. Went into a few wineries, but didn't sample any of the goods, too many asians and really I don't care what it tastes like, just that it gets me drunk. We had lunch in Morpeth which was very pleasant.

Decided to do something energetic in the afternoon. The choice was snooker, golf or Squash. Stupidly I chose Squash. I haven't played in years, at least 15. I wasn't any good then either. Today though I had good control of the T, but that's no use if you can't hit the ball. In fact I don't think either of us hit any clean winners. All our points came from the opponent missing the ball or total mishits.

In the evening we went out to dinner with Jacinta (Vincents Sister) and Maureen (her friend). The FA Cup doesn't kick off till 12 here, so it's going to be a long night. What's the reason for Cook your own restaurants? Why bother going out?

As warmup to the FA Cup final the Super 12 final was on. The Brumbies (Canberra) beat the Crusaders (Christchurch) 47-38. Great display of attacking Rugby. Christchurch did well to make a game of it having conceded 5 tries in the first 20 minutes.

We holed up into an Irish bar in Hamilton. My mate behind the bar (the celt), switched the life band off at 5 minutes to midnight. They didn't understand why, but for some reason I had to watch the Cup Final. I wouldn't have been bothered had I been at home or maybe my interest lay in there being a huge underdog. This is going to sound a bit weird, but it felt good to hear Andy Gray and Martin Tyler again. I was engrossed in the game, but a little dissappointed that Millwall didn't get really stuck in. I promised Vincent Blood and Guts. We all know how it turned out.

I'm pleased to report that trying to find a taxi at 2am is hard all over the world. When you do find one the usual procedures apply. Namely giving the driver stick.