Day 290
Sunday -
15 October - Sydney Kings 103 v Illawarra Hawks 87
Vineyard – Five Dock – Qudos Bank Arena Olympic Park
I woke this morning to find Paul quite with it after his big
day yesterday. The sleep had obviously done him the world of good and he was
happy to sit in bed and begin typing up his reviews. I read for a while and
then it was time for us both to get out.
I went for a shower and returned to sort breakfast while
Paul left for a wash. I then got stuck into my photos from yesterday and began
loading his reviews online.
After checking Google, we decided we didn’t have to leave
until 10.45am, so it was a relatively relaxed start to the day. Once the time
arrived we bundled ourselves into the car and set off for Akasha Brewing in
Five Dock, an inner west suburb not far from Marrickville.
While we should have arrived at 11.40am, the traffic was
nuts and it took an extra 20 minutes, pulling into the street right on opening.
We parked in another businesses parking bay and hoped the tow away sign was
only for during the week and proceeded to the brewery door.
While I was busy taking photos, Paul found Wes, one of the
owners who we were told to find on arrival. They were already talking like old
mates by the time I sat down.
He gave us the run down of the brewery and I got the feeling
he could sell ice to eskimos. He was very charismatic and really had a passion
for his brewery, though he is not the brewer, he is the money man and it showed
with his gorgeous old porsche out the front and when they got talking bikes,
Paul was in heaven.
The beers came out and I was required to sample the pale
ale, which was ok, but I wouldn’t be running back for more. We were glad there
was a food truck on hand and we were able to have lunch as we continued to
talk.
By now we were getting conscious of the time, as we needed
to get to Olympic Park for the basketball. Paul downed the beers, was given
some for the road. I left our mark on the wall and then it was a speedy exit.
I followed the GPS instructions navigating us to the large
mulit-storey car park next to Qudos Bank Arena and after we had parked we
popped out in the forecourt and among the hype of pregame Sydney Kings
basketball.
We took some photos outside the arena, were given a quick
dry towel and then made our way inside. The tickets I had were ones sent to my
phone and not having done it before, I was a little concerned, but the machine
scanned the code and in we went.
We located our entry door, showed our seat numbers to the
staff and were directed to two chairs four rows from the front. It turned out
to be the perfect spot, on the diagonal and next to the Kings bench.
We opted to wear our wildcats gear, but I think we blended
in with the Hawks fans and players. We settled in for the match that started at
3pm. It was a fairly scrappy affair and neither team was really impressing us.
We could see why they are both without a win and on the bottom of the ladder.
The second half provided the Kings with more spark and they
pulled away to a comfortable lead, not looking to give it up and it stayed that
way for the remainder of the half eventually winning by 16 points.
We were pleased to see the Kings establishment putting on a
more polished fan based entertainment package, unlike what we witnessed in
Adelaide, but they still have a long way to go and with only 6000 present they
really need to tap into their local population and get them into the arena to
make it a threatening space for opposition teams. But hey I have been educated
by the best NBL club in the league and what they offer is by far and away far
more outstanding than what I am seeing from the rest of the league.
Once the game was all done, we made our way back to the car
and home to the van. It was an early one to day getting in just before 6pm. We
had plenty of time to get into our homework and there was plenty to do. Paul
had it relatively easy, just having to write up Akasha, meanwhile I had all the
photos to sort, add to Facebook, the blog and then put all of his reviews up on
the website with the photos. All in all, it took me three hours! Paul had
retreated to bed long before I was done.
I was glad when I finally was able to switch off, rub my
tired computer eyes and crawl into bed.
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